Voices

Sexual assault doesn’t discriminate based on body weight, and none of us should take our safety for granted. My fat doesn't protect me.

Whenever you see a mom rocking her “mom-leggings,” and you judge or shame her, I beg you to take an effing step back, get off your high horse and take a second to understand that she’s just been through a lot and these leggings are giving her life.

I have come to learn that most of the things I hate are things I can manage (if not eradicate) with boundaries, introspection, a sense of my needs as valuable, and the language to articulate what is happening.

As a woman, it feels damn near impossible to be heard sometimes. But we are working hard at this life thing, and we deserve to be taken seriously. Here are five tips to get closer to that goal.

More importantly, when we lose our spouses, even if we’re at our worst, our friends and family need to come closer, not leave us to ourselves. Try reaching out to a recent widow even if you don’t know her very well.

I wish that function and style didn’t have to be mutually exclusive for sport. Can’t I have a running shoe that's pretty? Or at least unobtrusive?

We are all flawed. So lean into yourself — glory in your strengths, accept your weaknesses, realize that mistakes you’ve made are not dead-ends. Rather, they’ve led you to the beautiful person you are becoming.

Perhaps the reason I’m so self-conscious about people seeing my ankles is that I’ve never been able to shake the feeling that the scars were my own fault. My father has severe addiction issues, along with a temper that would make Cruella de Vil cower. Rationally, I know he was probably half asleep and high as a kite when he made me that bowl of soup. Still, a part of me has always felt that I must have done something to deserve what happened.