This isn’t soft-sexism. It’s hard sexism, but I’m going to tell it anyway. I started teaching at a university with a PhD and two years experience. A man starts teaching (the same subject, the same job description) at the same time, with no experience and a masters degree. The man earned TWICE as much as I did. Two…

Oh, we did. Exploding fist-bumps.

Prepare for the most English thing that any of you have ever, or will ever, have the privilege of hearing: in the CofE (that's the Anglican church) wedding ceremony the bride and groom are never asked to kiss. They are told to shake hands. This took both my husband and I by surprise. The Canon didn't bother to mention…

Ha! I do watch, but I hadn't made that connection. Though it's staringly obvious now that I think about it. My mom was always very careful with my sister's skin but not with mine, at least not at first. She was much more worried about my body hair. It really worried her.

So maybe it's a gender thing? I'm white, but olive. My sister is Filipina and very light skinned. She was always the maganda girl. But maybe light skin is considered feminine?

My foster-mother is Filipina. I'm having flashbacks. I really need to thread my eyebrows. Also, my feet and nose, and hands are too big, and I walk like a man. It's funny though. My Mom is, in America, generally considered the prettiest Castro girl. She's small, slim, and her features are delicate. But because she's…

200 for a stepper is not bad. I don't care that it's Oprah's. I just want a gym quality machine.

Ah, the benefits of having a 2k wedding after a 3 month engagement. We fought a lot in the first year (which seems to be both normal and part of the adjustment that nobody seems to talk about - though it's a pretty good argument for cohabitation first) but then when we got used to living together we just got happier…

How about no-pants? Or house-tights? Those are a thing, right? Seriously, if bad garments really caused divorces my husband would finally buy some more, non-torn boxers and I'd have to stop airing my vagina.

Actually, the early church was VERY pro-woman. And Christ actually asked women to get out of the kitchen and join the conversation. The problem began with Paul (who was a misogynist and whose works, unfortunately, seem to have trumped the books on which the religion was based) and (later) Augustine who converted and…

Yo, pro-choice, pro-contraception member of the Church of England right here. Of course, in the UK contraceptives (and abortions) are free for everybody. A lot of us actually really lobby for this, and give time and money to organizations (such as planned parenthood) that work to spread the word in the USA. By the…

2k. Most of that came in the form of CofE church fees. My dress was $200. Our wedding bands were $400. My husband's suit was $200. We had the reception in his parent's garden and the party lasted about 16 hours. It was very fun, there was little stress, and everyone had a good time.

I think that I am naturally monogamous. I am attracted to other people, but I have no desire (or - I suspect- ability) to become emotionally involved with anyone else. It takes a lot of energy to be that vulnerable. It is, frankly, very difficult for me to be that vulnerable with even one person. But it's worth the…

I didn't until I got married (at 27) and spent the night in a hotel for my honeymoon.

Traveling with my father (a Motel 6 connoisseur) the following happened (my age is in parenthesis):

1) I awoke to find a large cockroach inside my retainer case (age 9)
2) I got in between the sheets and my leg slid in a substance that, as an adult, I am convinced was sperm but which, at the time, I described as 'cold…

Watching Little Edie circle round the revelation in the documentary Greg Gardens, I was struck by the thought that we all secretly long for self-awareness. If our lives are a puzzle that we must solve, sometimes (if we suspect that the finished image will be an ugly one) it's easier to let it go unsolved. If the…

Yeah. That was our sentiment.

No, it was real. Without question. What I meant was that she thought of it as an object, and not a part of a person.

I really think that it's because she didnt think of it as human. She was really, really shocked that she got in trouble over this. She got very snotty.

When my husband and I went to the Paris Catacombs a woman (blond, American, and - it turned out - extremely wealthy) pried a child-sized skull out of the wall and shoved it into her purse. Thankfully, there was a guard sitting by the door who checked everyone's bag as they exited. Apparently, people try to steal human…