Sarah Khan

I’ve been doing the online dating thing for a little over a year now, and it’s the first time I’ve been doing it as a staunchly, outspoken, won’t-take-any-bullshit feminist. That’s how I discovered the curious system of “revenge flagging,” which is when guys don’t take rejection gracefully or can’t deal with a bruised ego — they flag the woman’s profile as revenge.

It isn’t until I actually sat down and thought about it that I realized that the badass feminist babe I am today is predominantly the creation of a mixed bag of women I’ve encountered in my life.

For the last six years, I have been living with depression. Despite the fact that I have extremely low moments when there is an inexplicable and unreachable pain inside me that demotes me into a sobbing, self-harming, low self-esteemed shell of the person that I actually am, there are a number of ways that living with (not suffering from) depression has improved my life and made me a better human being.

Welcome to the 21st century, in which women have more power than ever before, yet have less power than ever before as well.

If you are 18 or over, dating online and using apps, sexting might be something you do. While we hear horror stories about sexting paving the way for revenge porn, we often forget that sexting can be fun and liberating. But there are ways to do it that will make you feel not only like a sexting goddess, but also safe and in control rather than victimized.

Recently, my poop schedule got a little wonky and instead of going first thing in the morning (like I prefer), my bowel movements have unfortunately been at work. Usually, this wouldn’t be any issue, except the time I got unintentionally poop shamed.

I’m proud to say my mother is a supporter of SlutWalk, is staunchly against victim-blaming, and all for empowering women. But when it comes to me, her ideals seem to change.