Around age 10, I start to press my lap against the edge of the kitchen table. No one ever notices and I never make it noticeable. I don’t know...
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...
If you’re a woman who wants equality you best not have breasts.
Alright, you can have them, but they should be small, though not flat, and...
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...
I want to write a letter to the women on the edges. The mothers who allowed me to drink in their garages, their daughters who held back my hair as...
This year’s Auckland Writer’s Festival brought some of the brightest and best creatives of both local and international literary scenes to our...
Yes, that’s right. Please stop. You’re making women feel uncomfortable about a body part that is no different from any other. Women with boobs...
If you think you don’t know Nat Puff, aka Left at London, you’re probably mistaken.
She’s the internet...
The Madonna-whore dichotomy is the epitome of compartmentalisation. It describes the perception of...
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 ....
On There Will Be No Intermission, Amanda Palmer’s first solo album in seven years, the artist sings...
“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 –...
Founded in Te Atatu, ‘I Am Eva’ is the latest big thing on the NZ period scene. Perhaps they’re...
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.
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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....
First published on Wednesday the 25th of July, 2018, this piece comes in at number 26 in...
First published on Saturday the 23rd of June, 2018, this piece comes in at number 29 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2018....
Ah, Christmas. That time of year when the streets are full of drunken work parties, 90s holiday films are filling your screens and keto diets are...
I believe, as a culture, we’ve come a long way in terms of how we treat mental health. When Britney Spears...
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, unless you have a bigoted uncle.
— Or aunt, grandpa, cousin, family friend, all of the above (if...
When I think of feminist films, I think of Thelma and Louise , The Colour Purple , and the...
Y’all must be aware of...
In case you missed it, New Zealand’s abortion laws are outdated. And finally, we might be...
I had one of those should-have-said moments earlier this week, when you have the perfect opportunity to say something clever in a confronting...
It’s a difficult time to be a woman. Populism and right wing (I refuse to use the term ‘alt-right’) politics are gaining traction; vulnerable...
It feels like we are constantly losing as women right now. World events...
Ariana Grande has been called a diva , a symbol , a leader , and a killer. No link to that last one,...
We women often take on way more than we have time for, running from one commitment to the next, barely leaving time to draw breath. Whether it’s...
Abigail Johnson chatted with emerging indie artist Josie Moon about music, aesthetics, and trying to put...
It is suffrage year fellow suffragists...
In the olden days of 2012, ask.fm and anonymous questions on Tumblr were the main platform for online harassment. People could send hurtful...
For me, menstrual cups are a godsend. To some people, they’re an uncomfortable, one-time experiment that will never work for them. With most...
I remember once having a heated argument with a friend about why any woman would voluntarily wear a hijab. As a non-religious Iranian, I come from...
There are a number of gems in Aotearoa’s cultural calendar; The Comedy Festival, The Arts Festival, WOMAD and all the big summer music festies....
The local mags love to tell you what to do with your two days off a week. Which café to check out, which piece of experimental theatre take in....
I’ve recently rediscovered Hailee Steinfield’s Most Girls . It’s the song I’m most likely to be singing at the top of my lungs while I’m sitting...
Dear Jacinda,
As you’re probably aware, our baby is due any day now. I say ‘our’ because let’s face it, we all feel some sort of parental...
Last week, University of Otago staff dumped an estimated 2000 copies of Critic , a student-run magazine, in skips around campus. Why? The cover...
