Last weekend, Amanda Hess wrote a piece for The New York Times about new “murder podcasts” that have been appealing to women. She explored why women might be drawn to such grisly tales: “A 2010 study suggests that women in particular are drawn to true crime because it provides an outlet for managing anxieties about becoming victims, and to glean survival skills on how to escape or outsmart predators.” This made me consider my love
Note: Demystified Approved posts are not sponsored content. They are products and services we actually use, love and believe more women should know about! If you have a suggestion for a Demystified Approved post let us know in the comments below, or email us. Like so many women, my period has always been a THING. Preceded by anywhere from 5 – 10 days of emotional PMS symptoms that my doctor once referred to as my
Because hindsight is always 20/20, I realize now that the issue began before that fall day when my hair was coming out in fistfuls. Until that day I had been blissfully ignoring the fact that slowly, over the past year, my hair had gotten thinner and thinner, to the point that one could see my blindingly white scalp through my bangs. That day in November of 2013, when strands began coming out every time I
My grandma is what’s known as, in internet lingo, “a petty legend.” Currently age 90, she has held grudges that have lasted longer than many people’s lives. Someone who gave her a rude look at a wedding in 1947? An enemy to this day. Someone who insulted one of her daughters’ academic performance in 1962? They have “fat ankles,” and when she sees them on the bus, she takes pleasure in acting as coldly towards
Last week I found myself perplexed and disturbed as the Aziz Ansari story broke. Not only were Atlantic and New York Times op-ed writers minimizing the victim’s experience by calling it a “disappointing hookup,” “a lousy romantic encounter,” and overall bad sex—many of my feminist friends were echoing this sentiment, too. Sensationalized tone aside, I believe that the Babe.net piece is one of the most important stories to come out of #metoo. This time, it wasn’t a
I expected losing my virginity to hurt, but I did not expect being penetrated to feel like having a knife enter me and rip me in half. It took long enough for the boy to actually be able to insert his penis into my vagina, which seemed to just not want to let anyone in, although I was more than ready and willing to have sex. Once his penis finally entered me, I clenched my
A few months ago, I came across some shattering statistics about female sexuality in my Human Behavior class. Apparently, between 20 and 30% of women in the US and Europe experience female orgasmic disorder (basically, not being able to or having a hard time coming, with the added dimension of feeling distressed about it)*. Also, 30% of women AROUND THE WORLD experience female sexual interest/arousal disorder, featuring a reduction of interest in sex, and, again,
A few weeks ago, I was having drinks with an ex-colleague who told me a story about my previous boss. This supervisor, “Tina,” had recently gone off during a work party, condemning the many sexual abusers coming to light. She brought up her daughters and how it infuriated her that they had to watch out for those who might harass or demean them. Beer to my lips, I smiled and shook my head with disbelief.
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My roommates and I decorated our Christmas tree just after Thanksgiving. It’s a real tree, driven down by my roommate Deborah from her family’s farm in New Hampshire, though, weirdly, it doesn’t have that pine smell. We wrapped the tree in strings of colored lights (well, to be honest, my roommates did the wrapping after I draped them over my scooter and took selfies with them garlanded over my head) and all hung the respective
My favorite painting, “Lady Lilith” by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, shows a beautiful woman watching herself in the mirror as she combs her long red hair. The same beauty that makes her worthy of a portrait is also what makes her literally demonic: in Jewish folklore, Lilith was Adam’s first wife, a female demon who was banished from the Garden of Eden after refusing to be subservient to him. Rossetti said of his painting, “Lady Lilith…
