Girl Talk: I’m A Compulsive Zit Popper

My Picking Problem
How I gave myself a bald spot and other stories of life with dermatillomania. Read More »
Gross Beauty Rituals
The gross things we do to be beautiful. Read More »
Female Farts
Some common types of female farts. Read More »

I have a confession to make: I’m a popper. Not a popper of pills, mind you. I am a popper of pimples. I know that’s gross, and I’m sorry. However, I do think that, at the very least, I owe it to you, dear reader, to hold myself responsible: My name is Sara Barron, and I’m a pimple-popping addict.

My mother was also an addict, and these sorts of things, see, they run in the family. I first noticed I had a problem just as soon as I went through puberty. I’d get delightful bursts of whiteheads on my face and, I swear to god, it was like they were talking to me. Pop me … pop me … you simply HAVE to pop me. The idea that some people get zits, and are capable of just leaving them alone seems utterly bizarre to me. If you’d said, “Sara: Here’s the deal. There’s a ripe and massive whitehead on your face. You can either A) Pop it, but then you have to run the Boston Marathon, or B) Not pop it, but then you won’t have to run the Boston Marathon,” I’d be like, “Get me some bandaids for my nipples, motherf**ker. I will be running that marathon. And I will be popping that zit.” Keep reading »

Girl Talk: Should I Be More Scarred By My Date Rape?

I Was Date Raped
Amelia was date raped in college by a guy she liked. Read More »
New "Rape" Definition
A new definition of rape has been approved by the FBI. Read More »
Drunk Is A Feminist Issue
Why women should be concerned about binge-drinking. Read More »

Last week, I met a friend for dinner. The restaurant we tried to go to was crowded, so we decided to wander around and look for a different place to eat. We turned down the next block and my pulse raced. It was the block of the restaurant my date rapist worked at.

I considered asking my friend if we could walk down a different block, but that seemed silly. And then another thought crossed my mind. What if she spotted the restaurant and wanted to eat there? What would I say? I tried to mask my anxiety. I was more anxious about telling her why I didn’t want to walk down that block than I was of potentially running into him. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: Why Dating Is Like “Goldilocks & The Three Bears”

Dating Don'ts: "Girls"
Allison Williams on Girls photo
Five dating don'ts from the "Girls" premiere. Read More »
Things "Girls" Got Right
13 things from the "Girls" premiere that seemed universally accurate. Read More »

I’ve been trying on men lately like Goldilocks testing out chairs and porridge, vacillating between one extreme and the other — scalding hot and limply cold, too soft and too damn hard.

Sunday night’s premiere episode of HBO’s new comedy “Girls” drove home this idea of extremes when it comes to self-selecting men: the difficulty of finding one that is just right and why we continue to dwell on the very, very wrong ones.

Judging from my social media streams and a litany of text messages from friends, most of us watching “Girls” were struck by the dilemma of dating the asshole versus dating the nice guy and how neither is a viable option. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: He’s Not The Problem — It’s Your Unreasonable Expectations

Dating Victim
I am not a dating victim -- and neither are you. Read More »
Guys To Date
Here are 18 guys you should give a shot in 2012. Read More »

You think he’s an idiot. He thinks you’re a nut case. You insist he doesn’t understand you. He insists you’re a nut case. You get angry and maybe even cry. He shrugs his shoulders, assumes it’s a personal problem that has nothing to do with him, and chalks all it up to you being an overly emotional irrational nut case.

Sound painfully familiar? Keep reading »

Girl Talk: Don’t Judge Me For Not Drinking

Dry Dater
I don't drink on dates anymore. Read More »
I Quit Drinking
no drinking photo
What happens when our author quit her epic boozing. Read More »
Drunk Is A Feminist Issue
Why women everywhere should be concerned about binge-drinking. Read More »

I ran with a pretty tame crowd as a high schooler. We considered it a wild night if  we’d wrapped a musical theater production and all piled into someone’s basement to watch the entire Star Wars trilogy on VHS and surreptitiously make out with each other. I liked it that way, and never sought out anything more raucous, so the first time anyone actually offered me a drink was in college. And when I say, “offered,” I mean, “forced me to consume through endless, irritating cajoling.” My housemates heard that I’d never been drunk and insisted that we do a shot together. It was some vile concoction called Black Haus, and knocking it back nearly made me gag. They pushed for another shot, but I stood my ground. I loved them, but I wasn’t going to guzzle a substance that tasted like blackberry-flavored cough syrup to prove it. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: I Was An Unplanned Pregnancy

I Took Plan B
Our writer took the morning-after-pill to thwart unwanted pregnancy. Read More »
My Miscarriage
One writer discusses her miscarriage. Read More »
Support PP!
How you can help protect access to reproductive health care. Read More »
Pregnancy Test
Am I pregnant or not? Only one way to find out. Read More »

I was born out of wedlock in Minnesota, to a white mother and an Afghan (not the blanket, the country) father. It was considered pretty scandalous for my mom to be a single mother with a brown baby back in 1979 in Minnesota.

My mother had been with my father off and on for nearly seven years before I came along. Just before my conception, Mom had “escaped” down to South Carolina to stay with her sister after my father informed her that he was already in an arranged marriage with his 15-year-old cousin, who would be arriving soon from Afghanistan. My father’s family had arranged the marriage before relocating to the Unites States; apparently, they felt the need to bring tradition — the child bride tradition—along with them.

You can’t blame my father for wanting my mom for the time that he did, though, as his intended wife was a nine-year-old in Kabul when he met my mom at a Twin Cities bar in 1973, coincidentally the year Roe v. Wade was decided. Still, just before his teen wife was to arrive, my father drove all the way from Minnesota to South Carolina to conceive me in the back seat of his Camaro. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: I’m A Binge Eater (Sometimes)

Secret Eating
One writer talks about being a secret eater. Read More »
Secret Single Behavior
The 20 things we're kind of ashamed that we do when we're alone. Read More »
Body Dysmorphic Disorder
One woman's experience battling this disorder. Read More »

A few weeks ago, I was sitting at my boyfriend’s living room table, alone, in the middle of a weekday afternoon, my laptop open, trying to fend off both a cold and a bad mood. I was frustrated that I couldn’t pick amongst the multiple documents I had open that required my urgent attention, and angry at myself for feeling tired and frustrated, a vicious cycle of inertia and self-hatred. Rationally, I know that I’m lucky to be able to be my own boss and make my own schedule, so when I fall down on the job, I get upset. I was also antsy because I was in suburbia; I live in New York City, and right outside my door, within a one-block walk, are a bagel shop, a diner, three 24-hour delis, a nail salon, a dry cleaner and more. Where he lives, I can walk for coffee in just five minutes, but I’m pretty much the only one walking. I felt trapped, and stressed, and cranky, and turned to something I thought would soothe those feelings: food. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: Our Drinks Were Roofied

Date Rape Drug Test
date rape drug photo
A date rape drug test may soon be available. Read More »
Terrible Advice
woman drinking beer photo
Dear Prudence gave crap advice regarding a possible date rape. Read More »
I Was Date Raped
Amelia was date raped in college by a guy she liked. Read More »

“We have a ride to the club tonight,” my friend announced. We left our dormitory and headed into the vehicle of a man my friend met a party.

In the vehicle, a young man that I recognized from a nightclub we frequented was in the driver’s seat. I asked his name because, other than dancing with him a few times, I knew nothing about this guy. As a matter of fact, I had no clue how he knew my friend, since the last few visits he was on my dance card.

“I recognize you,” I had actually said to him before asking his name.

His surprise and hesitation about revealing his name was all it took to make me suspicious. That’s because in addition to being a hypochondriac, I’m a killer-chondriac. As a killer-chondriac, I think everyone is the killer until proven otherwise. But what I realized that night was we don’t think of other ways strangers can do harm. So I dulled the alarm bells.  

Girl Talk: I’m The Uncool Older Sister

My Wonderful Brother
Her brother keeps her sane. Read More »
Military Sister
My brother joined the armed forces. Read More »
My Brother, The Addict
addiction photo
What if someone you love is addicted to drugs? Read More »

I used to be a cool older sister. I had all sorts of secret older sister knowledge. So when I told my little brother Gabe that I was a witch and I could fly, he believed me. That was pretty awesome.

I was seven, and he was four.

“If you don’t unload my section of the dishwasher, I’ll put a spell on you!” I said.

He got nervous.

I hated unloading the dishwasher. I still do, actually. Keep reading »

Girl Talk: He Was The Prom Queen

My Prom Date
This writer ended up going to prom with her former bully. Read More »
I Slept With My Gay BF
You know you want to know the hows and whys. Read More »
9 Signs He's Gay
Are you always making the first move? Maybe he's gay. Read More »

When I received a Facebook request from a statuesque woman named “Carol Lee,” I knew the face but not the name. Mentally, I scanned my Midwest childhood, former life as a musical theater dancer, and transition into grad school. I have always loved colorful people, and she did look familiar.

“Do you remember me?” Carol Lee wrote in the message that followed.

I didn’t, until I read the next line. “I took you to prom in 1993.”

My curser blinked along with my cognitive dissonance. Carol Lee was a dead ringer for my high school friend Matt because she was Matt! Keep reading »