This year, on September 23, New Zealand will vote on who gets to lead the country for the next three years. We've watched the unbelievable...
Paula Gosney is a coach, entrepreneur and survivor. She shares her story publicly to help others. This is her message to fellow survivors, in her...
When you’re 10, do you know what really sucks? Getting your period. I can confirm the suckiness of this situation, because I was about a month...
As the saying goes, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. In 2017, I think we can quite reasonably say that Mother Nature is pissed.
It’...
My love affair with high-heeled shoes began early. I bought my first pair of stilettos at the tender age of thirteen. To this day, I remember them...
From day one women compete. It's supposedly our nature. But what if our society has never offered us an alternative?
Ever since we were...
Editor’s note: In the lead up to Mother’s Day, we want to honour all the mums in our lives, including those who are no longer with us. Mother’s...
Most of us know that Aotearoa’s past (and present...
This month we are celebrating feminist comedy with our ‘April Fools’ series, featuring kickass Kiwi comedians...
This month we are celebrating feminist comedy with our ‘April Fools’ series, featuring kickass Kiwi comedians....
Imagine leaving home at 17 and having to support yourself all on your own. Sounds pretty tough, huh? Now also imagine this: starting your own...
With The Bachelor upon us once again, I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that the catfight is about to come back into the media vogue. Big...
Someone needs to write a feminist dictionary. Something that would answer questions like, ‘What the fuck is intersectionality?’ It would be an...
As of this week, I am exactly 78 grams lighter. I can tell you the exact weight down to the last gram because that’s what my surgeon informed me...
During a recent conversation with a young man, I mentioned that I wanted to have the feminist symbol tattooed on my upper...
To my mystical womb creature,
At your birth, you will arrive covered in amniotic fluid and mucous, you will wail and cry and be comforted...
Fact: women start businesses at about twice the rate men do.
That’s pretty awesome, right? But here’s another fact: more than 97 per cent...
First published on Monday the 11th of April, 2016, this piece was the most read Villainesse story of 2016.
Over the weekend Henderson...
First published on Monday the 15th of February, 2016, this piece comes in at number 5 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2016....
First published on Wednesday the 14th of December, 2016, this piece comes in at number 9 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2016....
First published on Wednesday the 20th of April, 2016, this piece comes in at number 16 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2016....
First published on Friday the 6th of May, 2016, this piece comes in at number 23 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2016.
“...
First published on Thursday the 10th of March, 2016, this piece comes in at number 24 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2016....
First published on Monday the 2nd of May, 2016, this piece comes in at number 25 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2016.
As...
First published on Saturday the 6th of August, 2016, this piece comes in at number 30 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2016....
Most days, being a feminist makes me feel immensely proud. Some days, it drives me to despair for the state of humanity. Other days, it makes me...
When I planned my first solo trip to Asia at 23, I received vast swathes of confusion from family, friends and colleagues. “Who are you going with...
Dr Erin Leitao is the 2016 New Zealand Fellow of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Programme . Supporting women researchers around the...
Dear Girl’s Life ,
Teenagers think grown ups know nothing, and looking at some of your covers,...
“In India, girls and boys can’t be friends.”
I heard those words the second night I...
When I read the headline ‘Some states are trying to force women to have funerals for foetuses’ I had to fight an overpowering urge to break...
From the age of 14 years-old, I was an avid Dolly magazine reader. Dolly gave me an insight to a world of maturity,...
Can knitting be considered feminist?
It’s an interesting question, sure. Let’s be real here:...
Two X chromosomes together speak volumes about human experience and...
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, and is the buzzword for girls going through school right now – especially in America,...
When you call yourself a feminist man, you get used to the odd raised eyebrow. Right or wrong, the idea is confronting to some people – including...
It’s a man’s world. Boys will be boys. The glass ceiling. Play them at their own game. The gender pay gap. The lack of women on boards. No female...
One letter. Twenty-seven signatories. Thousands of voices – and counting.
The saga of...
Dear Brock Turner,
Seeing as you are to be released early from prison on Friday,...
Are you fit, healthy and looking after yourself?
Do you drink? Do you like having a good time?
Do you like to...
Here’s a profound statement: women can...
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an unapologetic...
Let’s get right to it: sometimes, it may be best to push for change by taking action directly to the streets.
So that’s...
If you are a feminist, chances are that you’ve met someone who is not a feminist, but… There are INAFBs* lurking in places you’d never expect,...
They say that anything’s possible. I mean, just look at the folks in the UK, displaying their ability to do anything! You go Glen Coco! There’s a...
Over the years I have to confess that I’ve spent my fair share of time wondering about things like whether my love of Barbie as a child or my long...
In May, Villainesse editor Lizzie Marvelly was invited to speak at TEDx Auckland about the #MyBodyMyTerms campaign.
Delving into the...
There’s a common fallacy that is becoming increasingly widespread on the internet: that women with opinions must be required to defend their...
Shout out to all the ladies out there who don’t want kids and own it. Be rest assured that I’m not about to launch into a ten-minute monologue...
Before I begin, let me say this: the man who shot and killed 49 people at a nightclub in the US state of Florida is a worthless piece of shit who...
For the first time ever, a woman is the presumptive nominee of a...
There are some dress codes I can wholeheartedly support. Are you going to be handling corrosive chemicals, working with boiling hot oil, or...
A friend in hospitality posted something on Facebook the other day. It was a list of the finalists for the Australian Young Chef of the Year 2016...
In the third story of our Abortion series, we talk to a brave Villainesse reader about her experience with the termination she underwent, and her...
Last week I was asked whether ‘feminism’ is the right word for gender equality. It was an honest question, as far as I could tell, so I gave it an...
Empowerment. According to marketers, we all want it. ‘Empowering’ may just be the new [and equally problematic] ‘fat-free’.
And, I mean,...
