Voices

Support your local brick-and-mortar bookstore! Image: Jody Amable.

A Grown-A** Woman Reads Harry Potter: The Magic of Death 

So far, Deathly Hallows is, to me, about the divide between the living, the dead, and the living who have seen death. Harry and I are part of an exclusive club: Those under 30 who have experienced death. And when I say “experienced,” I don’t mean “witnessed.” I mean really, really felt it, all the way through.

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What does Marvel have against casting Asians in film?

Dear Marvel: Where Are All The Actors Of Color?

Why is Marvel casting white actors to play Asian characters?

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Take The Cake: Diet Culture And Police Violence

I understand the connections between the violence that leads to police shootings and the violence that leads people to starve themselves. I know with complete certainty that diet culture is a manifestation of the state’s expectation of assimilation and of social control, both of which are manifestations of institutional violence.

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Some people understood me immediately. They too had been suicidal, and they could empathize easily. Image: Thinkstock

What My Suicide Attempt Taught Me About Love

Suicidality is a strange thing. Sometimes you think you’ve shaken it off, but it’s actually still there, quietly brewing under the surface until something triggers it.

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Taystee sobs, kneeling on the ground, with a CO standing behind her. Image: Netflix.

Orange Is The New Black Is Trauma Porn Written For White People [spoilers]

It’s like the writers and producers sat around and said, “Let’s put all the most f*cked up recent cultural references in one season and be the most forward, innovative, social justice show out there!” It’s literally the exploitation and voyeurism of our pain on a platter for the world to gawk at and consume.

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Young people deserve to have information about where, when, and how to access abortion. Image: Thinkstock.

Why We Need To Include Abortion In Sex Ed

Even though in the U.S., abortion is a safe and legal option, conservative lawmakers in my state have made sure that among the hundreds of regulations restricting access to legal abortion, restricting the mere mention of it in public schools is up at the tippy top.

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If our kids hear us excusing rape or sexual assault in any way, they will internalize that message. Image: Krewr Studio/Pexels.

6 Ways We (Accidentally) Teach Our Kids Rape Culture

As moms and dads, we probably don’t talk directly about rape to kids, at least not until they’re older. But we’re still sending messages about sex and consent all the time. Because of that, we need to make sure we’re not teaching them some very dangerous lessons, even if just by accident.

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There is no way you can understand what a big deal being American is, because you’ve always had it.” Image: Thinkstock.

What Immigration Taught Me About The Fourth Of July

While I would like to think that I paused for a minute or two to think about what it means to be American, I was mostly focused on looking forward to the fireworks show.
But all of that changed for me last year. Three weeks before the Fourth of July, my husband became a citizen of the United States.

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