What if you could get a medical diagnosis for free? No confusing copays, no being put on hold trying to argue an unexpected bill with your insurance company. A first, and second, and third opinion, all at once. Do we have the government to thank? Nope, just TV. Read more
I tried to throw myself in front of a train on my 30th birthday. I spent an hour, two—time was gauzy—trying to get myself airborne. But a chain kept pulling me up short, the kind that allows backyard dogs just so close to the fence. At the time I thought it was God. Read more
The conflation of sex and gender, and the use of gender essentialism and straight up sexism in science writing, contribute to an overall culture in which it’s easy for people to assume that sperm is what makes a man, that vaginas are what make a woman, and that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Read more
Memoirs of disability are often studies in suffering. But what I’ve found in my research is that normate readers don’t actually want to read stories of suffering—not by itself, at least. They want suffering-plus. They want some form of Aristotelian catharsis—a release. Read more
Women have played a huge role in the history of body art, but remain underrepresented in the culture. Read more
In a world that wants me to see strength as rigid, being femme allows me to find it in vulnerability and community. Read more
For LGBTQ people, mainstream yoga culture can be alienating. But a community-specific practice can heal more than the body. Read more
I didn’t want to fail at breastfeeding. It was not an option. As I reread my worn copy of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, I started to panic. I knew deep down something was wrong, and she wasn’t getting enough milk, but I was doing everything right, and I wanted it to work so badly. Read more
Given how widespread FSDs supposedly are, are this many women really suffering from sexual dysfunction, or are their ‘symptoms’ not symptoms at all? Read more
In my village, and according to my family, owning lipstick was unacceptable. But to me, lipstick represented freedom. Read more
