Things turned out very differently than I expected… — I threw out the pack of condoms in my bathroom cabinet today. They hadn’t even expired yet, but the moment I saw them during my tidying, I grabbed them and hurled them into the garbage bin. I will not be needing them, thank you very much. It seems pretty wild…

Analyzing the concerted effort to turn Target into a cautionary tale — Pride Month has started off with a bang. According to Elon Musk, Target will (allegedly) soon be facing a massive class-action lawsuit from its shareholders. Why? In Musk’s own words, “…for destruction of shareholder value.” Target’s stock value has plummeted by over $13 billion. It’s lost nearly 1/5 of…

It’s time for the way we talk about and experience intimacy to reflect women, not just men — I can’t do it anymore. I cannot acknowledge the word “foreplay” in any way. I absolutely refuse. What the hell is foreplay? Is it not sex? Do you know why we started using this word? It came into popular use in the 60s to describe all the parts of heterosexual…

A month out, how do I plan for something I’m not looking forward to? — I hate my birthday. Though not for the usual reasons. I’ve always been excited to age. I was mostly thrilled when my 40th birthday came along, except for the fact that I was two years out from being left for a younger woman by the man I thought I would…

It’s not just the harassment — it’s the time it takes to clean it all up — My thumb is tired for the first time since I learned how to type. Every day for the past several weeks, I’ve had to spend way too much time deleting hateful comments — whether they were hateful to me or to another marginalized demographic — and blocking the people who…

We can’t keep pretending that this fate is (allegedly) reserved for women without children — “This isn’t how I thought the end of my life would go,” my father said, recently. I share his sentiment, but can only imagine his emotional distress. My father had a stroke in 2010 that left him partially paralyzed. In subsequent years, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and his eyesight…

It’s time for the fairy tale to die — Step right up, step right up! We’ve got just the cure for your ailments! We’ve got the scratch for your itch! So unhappy, little lady, so unhappy! You’ve felt so alone. So sad. The world feels like a lonely place. And nothing you do ever feels like it’s going to…

A feminist manifesto — *This is an essay about gender roles and institutional sexism that uses generalizations to make a point. If you find this upsetting, please protect your mental health by choosing not to read it. I’m sorry but we can’t do it anymore. We cannot toe this line. We cannot jump through…

When everything and nothing feels like a miracle — Trigger warning: Medical trauma, mental health, suicidal thoughts, miscarriage, abortion Do you believe in God? Please forgive the personal question. I usually consider inquiries about people’s spiritual beliefs to be as inappropriate as asking them about their sex lives or who they voted for. But I can’t help but ask…