Girl Talk: Nightmare In Yoga Class

Yogagasm?
What the heck is a yogagasm? Read More »
Weight Gain Rules
This writer is loving her weight gain. Read More »
Bikram Yoga Love
Bikram yoga is turning me into one of those women. Read More »

I was late to yoga, and when I walked in, carrying too many things, everyone was already on their mats.

Yoga is still really new for me. It still feels awkward and difficult, and I’m still at the point where I feel really proud of myself for going. Look at you, being all healthy! I think, of myself, as I enter the building. I nod a modest “you’re welcome” to my dysfunctional spine. I am here for you, I think. Because I love you.

So even after arriving late, I was feeling pretty good about everything.

Ten minutes in, though, I noticed, while in some twisted, intimate pose, that there were holes in my pants. Exactly where you don’t want holes. Especially when you’re doing yoga, and the person behind you will see parts of your body that not even your kinkiest boyfriend wanted you to display like that.  Oh no. This is bad.

The pants were black. My underwear was white. My only white pair, I think.

I craned my neck. There were three holes … no, five. In a row along the inner seam. Perfect. There’s my vagina. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: My Weekend Boyfriend

Sex Drought?
Here are six ways to end a sex a slump. Read More »
Tips For Wild Adventures
Six ways to ensure an unforgettable experience. Read More »
Casual Sex Tips
sex
The 10 commandments of casual sex. Read More »

When I decided to visit one of my best friends from college in her new city of Austin, Texas, I was 26, single, and crashing with my parents in suburban New Jersey. It had been more than a year since I’d so much as shared a bed with a guy, even for one night. I was experiencing more than a sexual dry-spell; it was a full-fledged draught. I hoped the long weekend away would include, at the very least, an innocent make out session. For my own sanity, I needed to break the streak.

I’d long struggled with the concept of desiring sex. Having been through 12 years of Catholic school, (16 if you count college), I’d grew up with crucifixes in the classroom and religion courses, which taught me pre-marital sex was a sin. But by the time I was a high school sophomore, as cliché as it sounds, everyone was doing it. My pack of girlfriends and I were in serious relationships, our boyfriends wanted to have sex, and we were just as curious. I tried to imagine a half dozen well-mannered girls being turned away at the pearly gates for having slept with our first loves. It just didn’t make sense to me. So I lost my virginity just shy of my 16th birthday to my first love. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: Anjelica Huston Is My Beauty Role Model

My Nose Job
One writer talks about getting a nose job. Read More »
Brave Style
10 things this writer will wear when she's braver. Read More »

You know how girls who are trying to lose weight tape pictures of sleek, gorgeous models to the fridge? I want a huge photo of Anjelica Huston, in “Smash,” on my wall, to remind me of what to aspire to.

Anjelica Huston is 60. And yeah, maybe she’s had some work done. And yeah, her hair is not its natural color. And yeah, she is wearing a lot of makeup. (Actually, that’s maybe my only complaint—all the makeup. I can tell that she’d be stunning without it.) But even with it, and the dyed hair, and the possible tweaking that seems inevitable for women over the age of 35 on television, she is still undeniably different. She is still strikingly unique. No one else looks even close to anything like her. And instead of letting this be a weakness, she makes it her signature. She makes it her strength. Instead of disappearing into the crowd, she stands at the middle of it and shouts until everyone turns to pay attention. And all eyes stay on her. Her look refuses to be typical. It refuses to be “appropriate.” And her character on “Smash” fits her look perfectly. She is Eileen Rand, a brash, determined producer who emerges from her wealthy, philandering ex-husband’s shadow to take the reins and put on a play that she thinks will sweep Broadway. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: I Would Like To Have Guy Friends

Friends We Need
Six types of friends every woman needs. Read More »
Friendship Turned Love
One writer talks about how she fell in love with her best friend. Read More »
FWB Rules
Here are some rules to make your friendship with benefits work. Read More »

For the longest time, I have only had one guy friend. And I used to date him, in college. Which complicates things. It makes my husband Bear uncomfortable. It makes me uncomfortable, too. Not the him being my friend part. That’s fine. It happened naturally. We’re horrible gossips together.  But I wish I could erase our dating past. I shouldn’t have dated him. Even while I was dating him, I was hazily aware of that.

I am bad at guy friends. I have only had a few. Which makes me totally uncool, I know. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: Confessions Of A Serial Friend Dumper

Toxic Friendships
15 toxic friends you need to dump ASAP. Read More »
New Vs. Old Friends
The allure of new friendships over old ones. Read More »
College Friendships
campus confidential
Friendships at college aren't about having one big clique. Read More »

Halfway through my freshman year of high school, I found myself two states away from my childhood home of Seattle. I was sure my new school would offer an opportunity to shed my former identity as a shy, socially-inept girl and reinvent myself as the outgoing, popular girl that I knew was hiding somewhere inside. Sadly, that girl never surfaced. I was just as shy in California as I was in Washington, and my reinvention wasn’t coming as easily as I’d hoped.

After a few awkward weeks of eating lunch in the library, I met Erica*. We connected instantly and after only a few weeks, we were inseparable. We shared a love of science fiction, which we indulged by penning deliciously awful fan fiction after school. We talked for hours about everything from our Jedi alter egos to our difficult family lives. We drooled over boys together and dished gossip without inhibition. I knew Erica inside and out, as she did me.

In short, our bond was everything a friendship should be.

Two years later, I dumped her. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: Maybe We’re All Just Too Selfish & Immature To Find Love

Guys' Pre-Date Nerves
The guys on our IM share! Read More »
Dating Don'ts: Criticism
It's time to put a moratorium on beating yourself up. Read More »

I’ve been thinking a lot about a date I had this weekend. I’m not sure that the guy and I are a right fit for some compatibility reasons, but we did end up having an interesting conversation over coffee on Saturday night. We were discussing the different ways that online dating sucks for girls and for guys. Girls, I was telling him, are inundated with creepy, overly sexual messages from random dudes, including dudes who are way, way, waaaaay too old for us. And this guy was telling me how for dudes, one of the worst things he experiences on a date with a girl is when she is too guarded and gives off a vibe of “I don’t need you.”

The  stereotype may be that women are “too needy,” this guy told me, but the reality of dating strong, successful, accomplished, financially independent women is the exact opposite. “Okay, great, so what role am I supposed to have?” This guy asked me hypothetically. “It’s great if a girl’s got her life together. I think that’s awesome! But I need her to want me to be there because she needs a partner in some way, or else, what’s the point?”  Keep reading »

Girl Talk: My Grandma’s Vibrator Gives Me Hope

Masturbation Myths
Stupid misconceptions men have about the way women masturbate. Read More »
Grandma Dealbreaker
He brought his grandma on our date. Read More »
What Kind Of Vibe?
Find out which vibrator is right for you with this flowchart! Read More »

A decade ago, my grandmother, then 82, broke her hip. Her recovery involved a month in the hospital while she learned to walk comfortably again, a month that drove my mother, my grandmother’s sole caretaker, to the brink of insanity.

“I can’t go on,” she’d moan. “Calgon, take me away.”

Such was her constant refrain, and this was owing to the fact my grandmother’s behavior while infirm was impossible. Every half-hour my mother fielded a phone call from the hospital: “Bring me my robe! Different hand soap! Scotch tape!” she’d demand.

She’d be angry with a nurse or the limited food selection in the cafeteria, and the constant catering to such needs without nary a please or thank you? It was too much for one woman, my mother, to bear. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: The Harm In Labeling Someone “Harmless”

The Soapbox
Why "creep-shaming" is total BS. Read More »
Drunk Is A Feminist Issue
Why women everywhere should be concerned about binge-drinking. Read More »
Too Drunk?
If you're a drunk woman who gets raped, will you be taken seriously? Read More »

I just got back from a totally blissful six-day vacation in Tulum, Mexico, a quiet beach town about two hours from Cancun. I went alone. I’ve traveled solo (i.e. not in the company of a friend, boyfriend, or family member) before, but always as part of an organized group. This trip was the first time I was traveling alone without built-in activities and social opportunities. It was wonderful. I really enjoy my own company and loved having the freedom to do whatever I wanted — including nothing. But as a single woman traveling alone to a foreign country, I also knew I needed to be cautious and mindful of my safety. I took cabs at night if the area I was going to wasn’t well-lit, I locked my cabana door tight at night even though the ocean breeze would have cooled things down, and I kept a watchful eye on my drink at all times. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: I Don’t Know Why I’m Crying

On Crying
A writer talks about a time when everyone saw her cry. Read More »
Explaining Depression
What does it really feel like to suffer from depression? Read More »

Do you remember laying flat on your bed, eyes gushing like Old Faithful, unsightly snot dripping down way too close to your open mouth? This is you after your dog died. This is you after a break up. This is you after failing to assemble an Ikea chair.

This image comes frighteningly close to what I was doing this week. My best friend and roommate moved to another state and an onslaught of huge life changes came my way. While making like weeping roadkill, Kate Bush’s song, “Suspended in Gaffa” came through my head. I don’t know why I’m crying, Kate croons.

“Wait, I don’t know why I’m crying,” I thought to myself.

So, I did my homework. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: I’m A Lesbian Mom

Mother's Day
Everything you need to celebrate mom. Read More »
Lesbian Den Mother
Today's Lady News photo
The Boy Scouts refuse to let a lesbian mother lead her son's troop. Read More »
Obama Supports Gays
Barack Obama photo
The president comes out in support of same-sex unions. Read More »

When I think about Mother’s Day, I usually picture a dad in plaid pajama pants destroying the kitchen with his kids in a clumsy effort to make his wife breakfast in bed. There is flour everywhere, kids are enthusiastically beating something in a bowl and Dad is putting a single red rose in a vase. The entourage brings breakfast to Mom, who is leisurely reclining on a mountain of pillows. Soon her kids are nibbling at the pancakes on her tray and her husband tells her she has an appointment for a massage/manicure/facial in a few hours. “Until then,” he says proudly, “you’re off duty.”

Mother’s Day looks a little different in our house. Because our four-year old son has two moms, it’s not always clear who gets special treatment that day. We both work hard all year and could both use a whole day “off.” Keep reading »