Voices

In a poll just released by Pew, only “23 percent of women are satisfied with the way things are going in the country today.” So make a point to call your elected representatives.
Tell them you want affordable and comprehensive healthcare.

The abortion pill — a combination of dosages of misoprostol and mifepristone, which inhibit the hormones necessary for pregnancy — was approved by the Food and Drug Administration 16 years ago, but requirements to access the pill vary widely across states.

When I heard that Air India had created a women-only section on its domestic flights last week, I breathed a sigh of temporary relief. Every country has a social problem (or many) that come up again and again, defying attempts to get them under control and exposing deep-seated cultural beliefs that are often unpleasant and vexing. America has gun violence (for one), China has pollution, and India has violence against women.

In the weeks since Election Day, I’ve come to realize that while I’m entitled to my feelings, resenting the Latinx folks who voted for Trump is not a productive use of my time.

It’s a hard body to live in at times. But I live here. I wake up here and I go to sleep here. I go on vacation here and I wear a bikini here. I walk the streets here. I turn heads — and not in the way that people want to turn heads. I haul my fat ass up on my beach cruiser here. I take the criticism, the emails, the comments, and whatever other unpleasantries come with living in this body.

Chronic illness and injury has taught me — is still teaching me — patience. These days are not a consolation prize for what I didn’t win, for where I didn’t or couldn’t succeed, for a better life I might have had if only…They are my life.

My mom was in her late forties when she began to develop headaches and stomachaches so severe she sometimes couldn’t get out of bed.

My mom was in her late forties when she began to develop headaches and stomachaches so severe she sometimes couldn’t get out of bed.