First Person Margaret McMullan Oct 30, 2025

Can Italy’s History Offer Lessons for Surviving Our Current Moment?

Margaret McMullan Oct 30, 2025

On the writer’s travels to Italy, she discovered Trump is less like Hitler and more like the buffoonish Mussolini. Only time will tell if he and his minions face a similar comeuppance.

Body Image Kate Bernyk May 15, 2025

Am I the Last Fat Person in America?

Kate Bernyk May 15, 2025

With the increasing availability of GLP-1 receptor agonists like Ozempic and Monjauro, there are fewer fat people than ever. But not everyone believes being thinner is better for them.

LGBTQ Temim Fruchter Jun 14, 2024

I’m Here, I’m Queer, I’m 45 and Still Making New Friends

Temim Fruchter Jun 14, 2024

By our 40s, many folks have already solidified their social circles. But it's not so uncommon for middle-age LGBTQ people to flout such conventions—out of necessity and desire.

First Person Yvonne Conza Mar 21, 2024

We’ve All Been Forced to Be a “Fearless Girl”

Yvonne Conza Mar 21, 2024

The writer wondered why the statue elicited a strong reaction in her until she realized that everything about it—from the story behind its creation to image itself—evokes what it's like to be female in America.

View of a woman from the back. Across her head, shoulder and back, there are red bolts indicating painful spots.

First Person Carli Cutchin Mar 7, 2024

No, That Persistent Pain Is Not in Your Head

Carli Cutchin Mar 7, 2024

When women seek medical help for chronic pain, especially for gynecological-related issues, health providers are still scrutinizing their mental and emotional health.

First Person Freda Love Smith Sep 21, 2023

I Quit Social Media and Lived to Tell

Freda Love Smith Sep 21, 2023

In this excerpt from the memoir I QUIT EVERYTHING, the Gen-X writer—a retired drummer and vocalist for several alt rock bands—reflects on the addictive nature of social media, and the liberation of signing off.

First Person Ebony S. Murphy Sep 8, 2023

I Wasn’t Ready to Turn 40

Ebony S. Murphy Sep 8, 2023

Getting older often feels like a rude awakening. But for this writer, who was about to surpass her late mother’s age, the number 39 took on a whole other meaning.

First Person Laura Bogart Jul 28, 2023

That Time Barbie and I Had an Epiphany

Laura Bogart Jul 28, 2023

The writer never imagined identifying with Barbie. But Greta Gerwig’s thought-provoking portrait of the doll’s rude awakening of experiencing misogyny in the real world mirrored the author’s own coming-out experience.

First Person Margot Mifflin Jun 15, 2023

Will My Old IUD Become a Relic?

Margot Mifflin Jun 15, 2023

Coming of age in the 1970s, this writer never understood why she kept her old IUD all these years. Now she does: Since the Dobbs decision, many GOP lawmakers have set their sights on birth control.

First Person Kristi Coulter Sep 9, 2022

What Will It Take for Men to Believe Women?

Kristi Coulter Sep 9, 2022

Cis-men dismiss women as hysterical when we tell them our lives are in danger. Then they act surprised when our worst fears are realized.