For something that affects 10% of people who have a uterus, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) does not get a lot of airtime. I have PCOS. I know...
Adéle Haenel, star of critical hit Portrait of a Lady on Fire, was one of the first...
Every woman likely remembers the first time she was sexualised.
Maybe you were...
When Donald Trump won the 2016 US election, my reaction was visceral. I cried. I stayed in...
One of my favourite brick-and-mortar stores in Auckland can be found on Karangahape Road. Crushes has been my default go-to for picking up gifts...
The night before I spoke to Deborah Frances-White, known and beloved the world over as The Guilty Feminist , I watched her TED talk...
I’ve been on Instagram for over three years now. In that time, there have been multiple digital decluttering outbursts involving mass unfollowing...
I was nineteen years old when I first noticed a vertical line starting to appear between my...
If the start of a new year is synonymous with setting resolutions, the start of the new decade multiplies the notion by a thousand (or at the very...
Kia ora and welcome to 2020, which I’ve hopefully dubbed “Year of Dreams (or at least please-not-Year of Screams)”. To be honest, given that this...
First published on Friday the 26 th of April, 2019, this was the most read Villainesse story of...
First published on Tuesday the 28 th of May, 2019, this piece comes in at number 4 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2019.
I...
First published on Sunday the 12 th of May, 2019, this piece comes in at number 8 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2019.
...
First published on Thursday the 8 th of August, 2019, this piece comes in at number 22 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2019....
First published on Thursday the 21 st of February, 2019, this piece comes in at number 24 in the...
First published on Tuesday the 2 nd of April, 2019, this piece comes in at number 26 in the top 30...
First published on Saturday the 4 th of May, 2019, this piece comes in at number 29 in the top 30 most read...
First published on Tuesday the 17 th of September, 2019, this piece comes in at number 30 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2019....
This time of year makes me feel somewhat reflective. While most Decembers I’m generally too busy to be able to breathe during the day, I find...
Nikki Kennedy (Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga a Mahaki and Te Whakatōhea) needed to do something to ensure the survival of Te Reo. This, combined with...
Last week, I published an article under the title Men are actually terrifying . And I was nervous about it. My editor Lizzie Marvelly rightly...
It’s feminism 101, right? Disney princesses are terrible role models that teach young girls to yearn for romantic approval from men over all else...
November has been a pretty amazing month for New Zealand’s literary scene. With two launches of highly anticipated books and the announcement of...
The terrible things to come out of the Trump presidency are insurmountable...
We’ve all done it. We’ve all heard our female friends do it. The urge to qualify the fact that you’re a feminist with “But I don’t hate men! I’m...
I was on the edge of my seat for most of the duration of Girls of the Sun , a French film by Eva Husson....
Hashtag Girl Boss spends most of her time in front of a computer. She has a dangerous hunch in her shoulders, a crick in her neck, and a sharp...
Calamity of calamities… the world is changing, and sexual harassment is no longer okay. Not that it was ever really okay, but it was undoubtedly “...
Parris Goebel is the freakiest thing to come out of New Zealand — and I say this with all the love and...
The way I see it, we’re living in a time that will be remembered as history’s tipping point. We either do something or we don’t. The planet, and...
Binge-drinking. It’s as Kiwi as pav, and as common as a gusty day in Wellington. Last week, it was announced that NZ Police are cracking down on ‘...
I’m 10 years old and the chattering of teeth is audible in the 9am mist. Teachers warm their hands with their breath as kids spread out before...
To whom it may concern,
As students of Takapuna Grammar...
I hear the word self-care tossed around a lot. Sometimes it’s a face mask; sometimes it’s going on a shopping spree; sometimes it’s an expensive...
For nerdy girls of the 90s who spent most of their time in the corner with their head in a book (that’s me, hi, nice to meet you), there were a...
Haven’t heard of Frances Hodgkins? You have just over two weeks left to make your way to Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki before the Frances...
When Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S House of Representatives, was asked about...
Changing any aspect of your lifestyle can be difficult. For those transitioning to a more planet-conscious mode of living, there will be many...
Audre Lorde (1934 - 1992) was many things - feminist, activist, lesbian, icon. She was also an immensely talented and prolific writer who penned a...
Romantic comedy is not a genre beloved by women. Go ahead, survey a bunch of women. If my guess is...
I was 16 when Lady Gaga unearthed me. I was out (to myself and my friends) as...
When I watched the piece that won Ngā Hine Pūkōrero the Word - The Front Line competition (see attached video) I felt simultaneously hollowed out...
I used to be one of them.
Even though I would never say a word against a teen mother to...
Trigger warning: rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse, violence
Whenever I feel overwhelmed – by a feeling, a situation, an issue...
This year’s Auckland Writer’s Festival brought some of the brightest and best creatives of both local and international literary scenes to our...
Conferences. I don’t know if I’ve ever attended one that I loved. If there’s a choice between sharing an air-conditioned room with 200 strangers...
No matter how comfortable we are with it, it’s undeniable that true crime is one of the most popular and lucrative sectors of pop culture ....
“I’m gonna get it, you’re going to get it, we’re all gonna get it.”
That was...
According to my mum, I’m a spitfire.
She didn’t use that exact word – being a native Mandarin speaker – but I remember, somewhere in my...
Women have historically been excluded from the world of finance, and a significant amount of stigma persists around women having conversations...
Happy International Women’s Day!
…Or is it? Happy, I mean...
We need to talk about our attitude towards food. The body positivity movement has made impressive changes to the way we think about our bodies –...
Jack Kerouac went to Mexico and slept with lots of women. Yawn. He road tripped across the country; he did...
As screen awards season continues, fans and those in the industry...
It’s a slow Saturday morning and I pore over the newspaper with my newly-wed sister. Behind the bench our mother darts around the kitchen. Bacon...
A new year, a new opportunity to smash the patriarchy.
Let’s be honest, while there were a few glimmering moments of feminist progress in...
First published on Sunday the 11th of March, 2018, this piece comes in at number 5 in the top 30 most read Villainesse...
First published on Thursday the 27th of September, 2018, this piece comes in at number 11 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2018....
First published on Thursday the 7th of June, 2018, this piece comes in at number 15 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2018.
First published on Friday the 10th of August, 2018, this piece comes in at number 23 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2018....
