class

What The Poor Won't Tell You

All I wanted, most days, was a cute apartment with big windows, sheer curtains billowing in the breeze, where I could sit comfortably and read a book.

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When you hold travel up on some kind of pedestal, you sound classist as hell. Image: Joshua Earle/Unsplash.

Your Obsession With Travel Sure Feels Classist To Me

I don’t get out much — and it’s not because I don’t have a sense of adventure or don’t care about learning about the larger world: It’s because I’m broke.

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"My family is who they are, and for the most part, I’ve learned to live with that. But being engaged and planning a wedding has definitely challenged my ability to accept."

Becoming Bride: My Brother Won't Be Coming To My Wedding

So, I got an email from my brother yesterday telling me that he’s not coming to the wedding. “I want to be there,” he writes, “I really do, but the idea of being consigned to [our mother and her boyfriend’s] care for the duration of the trip is driving me mad. You know, the whole lack of autonomy and being on someone else's time and all that.”

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These stereotypes have not only been used in the past to perpetuate violence against Men of Color. They’re ever-present factors in how Black and Brown men navigate the world. Image: Thinkstock.

4 Racist Stereotypes White Patriarchy Invented To 'Protect' White Womanhood

Men of Color, especially Black men, have historically been coded as animalistic abusers and r*pists when it comes to white women. This stems from the idea that Men of Color literally want to steal and sully the belongings of white men. In turn, it becomes the “duty” of white men to protect white women — not because they truly care about white women, but because white women are the property of white men.

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"We’re painfully aware of the fact that we’re “the only one” in the room, or one of very few. Don’t make it worse." Image: Author

3 Ways To Avoid Tokenizing People (Because I'm Sick Of It)

It’s like being a deer in the headlights. You’re in imminent danger. You know it. But you can’t move. You can’t speak. No reaction whatsoever. You just stand or sit there, frozen in time, waiting for the crash.

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As many as 71% of millennials have mentally checked out' on their jobs; 55% of them are 'not engaged' at their workplaces. Image: WOCinTech (CC BY 2.0).

How To Survive A Toxic Workplace

About a year ago, I was working at a small company of less than 10 employees. I didn’t feel valued, and everyone around me berated one another. Although I was fortunate enough to escape being treated with derision by my coworkers, I’m positive had I stayed any longer, it wouldn’t have been the case.

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I just wasn’t getting signals that I was as safe as I needed to be. Image: Thinkstock.

My Therapist Fired Me — And I'm OK With It

My therapist of six months — let’s call her L — was letting me go. It was so subtle that I wasn’t even sure what was happening; I had to ask.

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I loved the pool with the all-consuming fervor I reserved for so many of summer’s pleasures. Image: alondav/Pixabay.

The Plus Side Of Being A Plus-Size Lifeguard

From my earliest memories of splashing my siblings at the community swimming pool, I had an idea of what lifeguards looked like — young, tall, and lithe, with tanned limbs and form-fitting swimsuits meant to accentuate the athleticism of their bodies.

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