We may not be able to recall when we first heard the term “shelter in place” but it is being bandied about frequently now that we have shootings and major disasters occurring almost daily. Our understanding of the term means…
There Is No Safe Space
For the past few months it seemed like there was a school shooting every week. Those took the top news slots. Until they didn’t. Until they were bumped from the place above the fold by college students protesting against what…
What Not To Wear: Caitlyn Jenner Style
God help me. I grew up once upon a time when colleges didn’t provide safe spaces, when sexual harassment was de rigueur, when date rape was my fault for leading the guy on, when women could definitely not be anything…
How To Get Away With No Makeup and Hair
(This originally Appeared in The Broad Side) Recently, during a debilitating illness and after reading three novels and catching up on all my past New Yorkers, Elles, Allures, and Harper’s, I needed something to binge watch. I was hesitant to…
That “Little Pink Pill” Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up to Be
Here is what Viagra does: it allows a man to get an erection so that he can have intercourse with a woman when his body isn’t cooperating due to age, illness or medication side effects. Here is what Viagra doesn’t…
Dear Jessica Valenti, You’re Missing the Cat Calls?
Dear Jessica: At 36, I was still getting catcalled in the street. At 46, I was being accosted by men on the streets of Paris and in cafes where I sat, by myself, reading and writing. At 50, and divorced,…
Yeah, But I Still Feel Bad About My Face
Some days I look in the mirror and I think: You look pretty good for a woman pushing 60. Other days I glance at myself and wonder: Who is that woman? She looks nothing like me. More than once I…
Psst! You Can’t Handle the Truth About Women!
Hey you. Yes, you. Come here. Yes. Closer. I have something to tell you. Are you ready? Are you sure? Can you handle it? Ok. Here it is. Women over 37 have sex. They have relationships. They are attractive. They…
Wife Bonuses, Mad Men and The Mommy Wars
In a recent Sunday issue of the New York Times two very different articles on women and their households appeared. One, “Poor Little Rich Woman,” is already stirring up controversy for the so-called “wife bonuses” that some of these uber…
Téa Leoni Saves the World
Better than Keri Russell who is tough but on the wrong side, way more interesting than any Wonder Woman incarnation, more fully realized than any of the female FBI agents or cops who abound in television dramas, and far less…