I vividly remember the moment when I first discovered Zara. I was 19, on a trip to the UK, when I stumbled into an alternative universe of...
There are some words that are only ever used to describe women: Ditsy, feisty, frumpy, loose, and hysterical are just a few that spring to mind,...
If you’re aged between 16 and 22 years of age, what would you say are the most challenging aspects of being a young woman in today’s world?...
I have mixed feelings about school uniforms. Sure, my high school was neat and identifiable because we all wore the same thing. But is appearance...
Language note: Possum uses they/them pronouns.
How many pop punk stars do you know who fly to Wellington specially to see the Muppets in...
Sometimes I love New Zealand’s ‘she’ll be right’ attitude. Not stressing over the details is great for things like playing sports or planning a...
The justice system is the skeleton of our society. Without it, everything would fall apart. When it’s broken, it causes pain, and requires...
“What are you going to do with that?” When I tell people that I study English at university, that’s the response I get. If I mention that Law is...
Imagine this: you’ve come home from uni, you’re ready to start your kickass, girl power-fuelled career – #LeanIn #GirlBoss – and you suddenly...
I first heard the word ‘incel’ (involuntary celibate) four or five years ago. I’d come across the term before infamous loser Elliot Rodger went on...
Hollywood gets a lot wrong when it comes to women. It’s disappointing yet unsurprising that largely male production teams have no idea how women...
When you hear the word ‘nice’ what do you think about? Does it denote kindness? Is it vanilla? Is it male? Is it female?
I have a problem...
I’m having a bit of a renaissance period in my life. My daughter is just entering her teens and one of the things we’ve...
When I was a little girl, I used to purposefully hate on the colour pink. I was a purple girl, thank you very much. Pink was far too girly ....
Let’s talk about love and sex in 2018. What is it? Where do we find it? Does love mean romance? And how has our increased ‘wokeness’ impacted upon...
The first thing to acknowledge in any discussion of nude selfies is that there’s nothing wrong with actually taking them.
People take them...
The music video for Helen Corry’s new song La Femme drops today, and we’re stoked to premiere it here on Villainesse. It’s the kind of video you...
When did you first see porn? I vividly remember stumbling across a grainy old website circa 2001 (okay, I didn’t exactly ‘stumble’… I may have...
Cast your mind back, girls. Do you remember when it started happening to you? Was it in primary years? Earlier? High school? Or when you entered...
New Zealand has a party culture. Whether you like that culture or not, it undeniably exists. Binge drinking is a rite of passage and for a lot of...
LinkedIn wants me to connect with my ex.
God knows why. It wasn’t exactly a good idea the first time round.
Gone are the days of...
Let’s face it, New Zealand’s sex ed is generally pretty terrible when it comes to gender and sexuality. I don’t think the word ‘lesbian’ was...
Runaway is a Dunedin-based games company. In the lead-up to International Women’s Day, they started a Girls Behind the Games campaign to encourage...
Last week, Villainesse caught up with Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter. We wanted to know what work was happening in our government towards...
Life as a 17-year-old is already challenging enough. Balancing school, new-found freedom, responsibilities, trying to have a social life, holding...
I can remember sitting in health class, learning about wet dreams. At the time I probably thought ‘This is gross, TMI’. Now, I appreciate the fact...
As a society, we are suckers for a good power couple. Beyonce and Jay-Z, Barack and...
The first time gets a lot of sensationalised press. The mixture of expectation and anxiety make it an experience like no other. Whatever happens,...
I sometimes wish that real sex were like movie sex. A shared lustful look followed by a bit of kissing, hastily removed clothing, instant...
In my experience, the first few trips to get contraception and protection from Family Planning or the doctor require a whole team of girls....
When I was at school, the only time I heard the word ‘consent’ was when we had to get parental permission to go on a school trip. Somewhere...
When I was 15 I made myself a Tumblr. Tumblr for me was like a portal to the rest of the world. I grew up in a small town where...
Do you ever feel like you’re being watched? Or that we’re all being brain-washed into dumbing down our thoughts,...
Do you remember how you learnt about sex and relationships? Was it a cosy, friendly chat with one or both of your parents about navigating your...
Body Double is a play about female sexual pleasure. Have I got your attention now? It certainly grabbed mine, when I went...
Women are creatures of wisdom. Call it intuition,...
Women are creatures of wisdom. Call it intuition, experience,...
Women are creatures of wisdom. Call it intuition, experience, insight, a hunch, whatever… the world would be a better place if women were listened...
Sex, porn, relationships and consent will be put under the spotlight in the new 12-part web series The REAL Sex Talk , launching online on...
Women are creatures of wisdom. Call it intuition, experience, insight, a hunch, whatever… the...
The death of a loved one is gruelling, even in the best...
A lot of industries are dominated by men. It’s an unfortunate, retrograde fact, but it’s true. Workplaces were built for men, by men, and not a...
Ko Rangitumau te maunga. Ko Ruamāhanga te awa...
If you based your knowledge of sexual consent on popular movies, books, and songs, you would probably be a rapist. So why is Western pop culture...
Books are one of my reasons to get out of bed each morning. It’s a cliché, but reading opens up new worlds. However, a lot of the time , those...
As a student, you have a lot of freedom. Your work week is often flexible, you can skip classes, you have StudyLink to get you through the tight...
New Zealand comedian Louise Beuvink was frustrated with gender roles and society’s expectations of women, so she created Ladylike: A Modern Guide...
I regret taking the pill. Not because I’m against contraception, or I didn’t like taking medication daily, but because my enjoyment of life was...
Bad. Naughty. They’re judging words; shaming words; they are words we use to tell children off. They’re also the words you’ll hear women use to...
In the age of the internet, the entire web may become an arena of political dialogue and debate. Freedom of speech rules at the center of this...
Some movies give you chills for a good reason, like brilliant cinematography or acting....
Ata mārie diary!
Watercress and avocado on toast for...
While reading Uma Thurman’s recent interview in the New York Times detailing her story of the breakdown in her working...
Right now, somewhere in a high rise building, a discussion is taking place. “How can we sell this product to women?” There are no women around...
The first word I ever uttered was the word ‘kaukau’, meaning to swim in Māori. My family used to take summer trips to Marokopa - a notoriously...
Waitangi Day is just around the corner, which means that thinly-veiled racism season has...
I’m used to being told to “stop with the feminist shit”. If I had a dollar for every time I’d heard that...
I have never really considered Te Ao Māori a world that is uncomfortable with death. While my Pākehā friends have been to maybe a few funerals in...
Like death and taxes, Don Brash is one of life’s inevitabilities. No year is complete...
It starts when we’re babies ourselves. We can barely walk, and we’re presented with a tiny plastic humanoid dressed in a cute onesie that, truth...
Aaaaaand we’re back!
Did you miss us? We missed you!
Happy New Year and all that stuff – if it’s still okay to say that on the 22...
