Six years may as well be a decade. It feels like that long since Villainesse exploded into being, defiantly carving out a space for young, smart,...
It seems wrong for International Women’s Day to last for just 24 hours. One day. We’re already nearly two...
It’s an argument I hear with astounding frequency: how can a woman-identifying person truly be a feminist if all of...
At this point, I have lost count of all the fandoms I’m in.
Last year’s...
According to legend – both secular and religious – the ‘reason for the [Christmas] season’ comes from men. On the...
It’s not particularly feminist, it’s not even particularly romantic,...
I don’t know how I missed the publication of Paula Green’s book Wild Honey . Particularly given that the magnificent cover of this charming and...
At the start of 2020, I set myself one resolution: to read one book a week for the entire year. 52 books. The idea was that if I read more books,...
There was no blueprint for Kim Kardashian’s genre of fame – aside from the obvious. A slew of socialites,...
What makes a feminist film?
Representation in film and the media has been increasingly topical, with...
I was thirteen the first time I smoked weed.
There’s a funny little anecdote I like to tell about this experience. My boyfriend at the...
This year, for the first time in history, a science Nobel Prize was won by two women. Scientists Emmanuelle Marie Charpentier and Jennifer A....
Everything I know about Scientology, I learnt from Leah Remini, an actress who was raised in Scientology from the age of nine, but ended up...
You know those tampon ads that tell you girls can do anything? The make-up ads that talk about the importance of realising your self-worth? The...
When Lady Gaga’s sixth studio album ( Chromatica...
As a long-time fan of Taylor Swift, seeing her new album “folklore” receive such amazing reviews has been equal parts gratifying and frustrating...
If you’re a person who engages in sexual activities, or you know a person who does, or you’re a member of the Facebook group Girl Related After...
As a nineties kid, I’m watching thirty barrel around the corner with increasing fear. I’d never really been all that afraid of aging. I hung out...
My knowledge about history in general is problematically limited. But whatever small and simplistically explained fragments of history were...
“Abuelita – I love girls, the way I’m...
According to Caroline Calloway, Instagram captions are art . At least, her Instagram captions are art. She puts a lot of time into documenting her...
In 2018, inspired by the #MeToo movement and an onslaught of...
“In university, you find your tribe.”
Among other less welcome, more invasive pieces of advice that...
I’ve always been late to the play. Last year, deciding the time had finally come, I decided to read the Harry Potter series. It wasn’t that I’d...
In 2020, celebrity culture seems to be crumbling before our very eyes. What with the tone deaf videos of millionaires singing “Imagine” from their...
Pop stars are constantly evolving. It’s almost like they’re human or something. I find it fascinating to watch pop stars teasing their latest...
Over the past eight weeks, I bet an awful lot of work has been completed by people wearing pyjamas. Good work. Work that would otherwise have...
At the other end of a Skype call, Em-Haley Walker — better known as homegrown superstar Theia — greets me with double Dutch braids and a small...
Supporting small businesses and our local economy has never been more important. If you’re looking to buy something new (for yourself or as a gift...
If this pandemic has made one thing clear, it’s that there are certain people and professions that society simply cannot survive without, aptly...
It’s pretty rare for a female celebrity to be liked, universally.
I mean, no one...
Let me start by addressing that headline. This article is not...
We’re all being inundated with information about the novel coronavirus right now. It’s been happening for weeks, and it seems that every Tom, Dick...
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....
