Voices

(Image: publicdomainpictures.net)

The Reasons Why I Don't Want My Son To Learn To Read

I know it won't be long until he can read the headlines before I can bury the truth. He will learn to read, and then to suffer. Words will haunt him.

Read...
image credit: Thinkstock

A Survivor's Fury: On Brock Turner's Shortened Sentence 

Content Notice: rape, sexual assault

My rape was 20 years ago and I still need a trigger warning for Brock Turner.

Read...
“Fuck you, [Embassy Suites]. I’m livid,” Mazzalai Nguyen writes in her post...

This Breastfeeding Mom Was Told To Pump In A Hotel Bathroom. She Had Other Ideas.

“I told them they don’t eat lunch in the bathroom, so it’s gross to expect me to contaminate baby’s milk in there.”

Read...
"In a culture where men are taught to be aggressive, dominant, and condescending, my father was nurturing, quiet, and never once treated his daughters and son differently." Image: Thinkstock

How My Father Helped Me Become The Feminist I Am Today

It would be easy to point to my mother as the originator of my lifelong feminism. She kept her last name when my parents married in the ‘80s, refused to perpetuate schoolyard gender norms, and encouraged my sister and me not to let anyone limit us by our gender... My mother may have been the louder influence, but ignoring my father’s impact does us both a disservice.

Read...
Some French towns have banned the burkini bathing suit. Image: Shutterstock.

Banning The Burkini Reinforces A Single Story About Muslim Women: 'They Need Saving.'

The recent series of burkini bans in resorts across France was met with sensationalist global headlines about protecting national security and women’s lives. The interdiction does not protect either of these.

Read...
"Being unable to work for a day because of depression can threaten my financial stability, as I have no nest egg to fall back on." Image: Thinkstock

How Do You Navigate Mental Illness When You're Working-Class?

Taking care of your mental health is expensive. What happens when you don’t have the means to seek the help you need?

Read...
A recent tweet from Ellen DeGeneres has got the whole world talking for all the wrong reasons.

Ellen DeGeneres Made A Joke About Usain Bolt — Except No One's Laughing

A recent tweet from Ellen DeGeneres has got the whole world talking for all the wrong reasons.

Read...
"It hurts me to know that what I experienced was rape, that I spent eight years denying it and blaming myself." Image: Thinkstock

Being Raped Forced Me To Admit That I Myself Had Been Sexually Coercive

It took me a long time to understand consent. I knew that forcing sex on someone was rape. I knew that one in five women would be raped in their lifetime. I knew that the majority of rape victims knew their attacker. But beyond that, my understanding got cloudy.

Read...