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...
Let me just address this from the jump: I certainly don’t want to move back into lockdown. For one thing, I’m not sure if New Zealanders could do...
What if I told you that Survivor is the only thing getting me through these “unprecedented times”? Yes,...
I’m lucky to live near a fantastic West Auckland library. It’s one of the newer ones, with the high ceilings and glass walls. It’s not Devonport...
Content note: Suicide
Suicide is something we seldom talk about. It’s a difficult conversation at the best of times. Now, as we enter our...
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...
Small local businesses have been hit hard by Covid-19.
Most are classed “non-essential”, some depend on physical sales and others charge...
You probably don’t want to watch Normal People with your mum.
If possible,...
If you know Girls Related - After Dark (a.k.a. GRAD), then you will understand my struggle at putting the group into words. If you don’t know GRAD...
So what happens next?
What happens when there’s no 1pm Jacinda-and-Ashley Show? When there’s no wage subsidy? When we’re allowed to go out...
If this pandemic has made one thing clear, it’s that there are certain people and professions that society simply cannot survive without, aptly...
What a hand we’ve been dealt, huh?
I often get to thinking that, had I been born around a decade earlier, I would have hit the sweet spot...
Whether you’re looking for ways to fill your time while social distancing, having an acute case of wanderlust within the confines of your bubble,...
When I saw a tweet that claimed dolphins had returned to the Venice canals , my heart felt the...
It’s pretty rare for a female celebrity to be liked, universally.
I mean, no one...
As indisputably reckless and inexcusably selfish as it is for people to travel to their holiday homes during lockdown (#stayhomeNZ), on some level...
Because of the lockdown, I’ve finally had time to get around to watching Parasite (a cinematic...
As the number of new cases drops each day, the consensus is pretty much clear: New Zealand has done a pretty good job so far with this whole Covid...
Let me start by addressing that headline. This article is not...
The messaging around COVID-19 has been crystal clear: stay at home. Don’t interact with others. It’s simple and easy to follow and everyone should...
Once upon a time, entering Auckland’s Academy Cinema was like entering a prohibition-era speakeasy. The first challenge was finding the door (and...
Obviously, there’s never a good time to have body image issues or a history with eating disorders, but this feels like a particularly shitty time...
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 many New Zealanders, the lockdown is starting to grind at our nerves. We’re anxious, irritable...
We’re all stuck in our houses, which leaves plenty of time for... not much,...
New Zealanders are social people. Even I, a card-carrying introvert, can attest to that.
It’s not just that we like to have a yarn – we...
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...
We’re living in scary times, have you heard?
For the last few weeks I’ve been pretty much addicted to the news. I’ve become entirely...
So here we are – in the middle of history.
It’s strange feeling history moan from under us, isn’t it? Knowing that the actions we take...
Trigger warning: this review includes mention of violence, sexual assault, and homicide.
When I’d previously imagined what the...
I don’t know about you but for me, one hour’s worth of work is starting to feel like eight.
Turns out living through a pandemic is bloody...
Let me start by saying this: there’s nothing a feminist could do to halt my belief in the rights of women.
That being said, sometimes I...
The big fangled monster coming for grocery workers was supposed to be automation.
It hasn’t taken long, relatively speaking, for us to...
Adéle Haenel, star of critical hit Portrait of a Lady on Fire, was one of the first...
Is anyone else feeling nervous? As...
At the end of this month, Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle will renounce their titles in favour of...
I certainly wouldn’t blame you if you haven’t read bell hooks’ Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center...
It’s difficult for people to fathom the idea that a first world country like Aotearoa is affected by an issue like period poverty. The co-founder...
Every woman likely remembers the first time she was sexualised.
Maybe you were...
People talk about #MeToo incidents as if they are binary. This type of behaviour makes for a #MeToo. This type of behaviour doesn’t . That’s just...
Janet Frame was a “rebel, a seeker of freedom and a passionate champion of the imagination”, according to the theatremakers who adapted her...
S-heroes. Aotearoa is abundant with them. But how is International Women’s Day looking through the eyes of our legendary wāhine? I caught up with...
When Donald Trump won the 2016 US election, my reaction was visceral. I cried. I stayed in...
In a different world, we wouldn’t know where politicians stood on pregnancy termination.
Whenever the issue comes up in our parliament, I’...
I have a feeling no-one really knows how they felt at 18 until they’re not 18 anymore.
And it’s only a...
It happens every time.
In 2017, when Harvey Weinstein was first embroiled in his numerous sexual assault charges, it was Lindsay Lohan of...
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...
New Zealand has been sinophobic for long enough that many of us have forgotten that we are.
The...
If the world never produced another Jane Austen adaptation, we’d be fine. There are at least 15...
This week, I watched in fascinated horror as the online world decided, by comparing a few interview clips...
The night before I spoke to Deborah Frances-White, known and beloved the world over as The Guilty Feminist , I watched her TED talk...
“Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?” That’s the central question in Lin Manuel Miranda’s musical, Hamilton . But for women in history, the...
Sometime over the summer, an Anime House opened up at my local Westfield Mall. I wandered in one day to peruse the merchandise, and came face to...
NOTE:...
I’ve been on Instagram for over three years now. In that time, there have been multiple digital decluttering outbursts involving mass unfollowing...
Asking for help isn’t the easiest thing in the world… but here I am, asking you for your support. If you love reading Villainesse, would you...
In my short lifetime, the way we think of gender and the way we rely on gender roles in everyday life has changed tremendously.
When I was...
For those of us who grew up on, in or around the internet, it’ll always be...
Thirty years ago the Māori flag was launched at Hikoi ki Waitangi 1990 .
1990 was also...
I was nineteen years old when I first noticed a vertical line starting to appear between my...
Disclaimer: I am not a personal financial or investment advisor. The advice in this article does not constitute financial, accounting, or legal...
