When you were young, did anyone ever tell you that they loved you? That’s a question court cultural report writer Associate Professor Khylee...
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...
I’m scared of hammers. It’s embarrassingly ridiculous, but it’s true. Over the past year or so, I’ve surprised myself by completing a few DIY...
“There’s no hair dye, just saying…”
Six little words that said so much. When Newshub asked...
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...
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...
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...
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 5 th of July, 2019, this piece comes in at number 7 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...
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 “...
A tone-deaf Hollywood actor, an up-and-coming British director and a Northern Irish playwright with very different ideas try to put on a play… It...
Happy International Women’s Day!
…Or is it? Happy, I mean...
Māori music is at the very heart of the Auckland Arts Festival this year, with Tōku Reo Waiata taking centre stage as the centrepiece festival...
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 9th of December, 2018, this piece comes in at number 1 in the top 30 most read...
First published on Monday the 30th of April, 2018, this piece comes in at number 2 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2018.
I...
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 Friday the 23rd of March, 2018, this piece comes in at number 22 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2018.
First published on Friday the 26th of January, 2018, this piece comes in at number 24 in...
First published on Saturday the 14th of April, 2018, this piece comes in at number 28 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2018....
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....
What a year. I don’t know anyone who isn’t staggering to the finish this December, counting down the days until they can finish work and fall face...
In 1893, we were not classified as people in New Zealand. Personhood hadn’t yet been extended to women. We were non-entities; vital to the future...
It feels like I write a piece like this once every few months. Another day, another cringe-worthy example of cultural appropriation, this time...
A few years ago I had no idea what the term ‘TERF’ meant. It popped up occasionally in my Twitter feed...
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...
I remember hearing the lyric, ‘I was 27 surviving my return to Saturn’ in Katy Perry’s By The Grace Of God some years ago. I thought it was some...
For the first time ever, this Queen’s Birthday weekend, the number of women receiving honours outnumbered the...
Honestly, drunk Pākehā doing the haka in London on Waitangi Day was bad enough. As a...
I vividly remember the moment when I first discovered Zara. I was 19, on a trip to the UK, when I stumbled into an alternative universe of...
Language note: Possum uses they/them pronouns.
How many pop punk stars do you know who fly to Wellington specially to see the Muppets in...
The justice system is the skeleton of our society. Without it, everything would fall apart. When it’s broken, it causes pain, and requires...
Imagine this: you’ve come home from uni, you’re ready to start your kickass, girl power-fuelled career – #LeanIn #GirlBoss – and you suddenly...
When I was a little girl, I used to purposefully hate on the colour pink. I was a purple girl, thank you very much. Pink was far too girly ....
Let’s talk about love and sex in 2018. What is it? Where do we find it? Does love mean romance? And how has our increased ‘wokeness’ impacted upon...
LinkedIn wants me to connect with my ex.
God knows why. It wasn’t exactly a good idea the first time round.
Gone are the days of...
When I was at school, the only time I heard the word ‘consent’ was when we had to get parental permission to go on a school trip. Somewhere...
New Zealand comedian Louise Beuvink was frustrated with gender roles and society’s expectations of women, so she created Ladylike: A Modern Guide...
Waitangi Day is just around the corner, which means that thinly-veiled racism season has...
It starts when we’re babies ourselves. We can barely walk, and we’re presented with a tiny plastic humanoid dressed in a cute onesie that, truth...
Aaaaaand we’re back!
Did you miss us? We missed you!
Happy New Year and all that stuff – if it’s still okay to say that on the 22...
First published on Thursday the 16th of March, 2017, this piece comes in at number 4 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2017....
First published on Wednesday the 3rd of May, 2017, this piece comes in at number 5 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2017.
First published on Saturday the 24th of July, 2017, this piece comes in at number 13 in the...
First published on Thursday the 12th of October, 2017, this piece comes in at number 15 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2017....
First published on Tuesday the 11th of April, 2017, this piece comes in at number 16 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2017....
First published on Tuesday the 25th of April, 2017, this piece comes in at number 17 in the...
First published on Saturday the 22nd of July, 2017, this piece comes in at number 20 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2017....
First published on Sunday the 19th of November, 2017, this piece comes in at number 24 in...
First published on Friday the 21st of April, 2017, this piece comes in at number 25 in the top 30 most read Villainesse stories of 2017.
It’s hard to know how to describe 2017. The year of female anger? The year when shitty things that have been happening to women for time...
It’s been a long time since I wrote a letter to Santa. Now I think back, letters to the North Pole are somewhat wasted on the young. I’m quite...
1. Does the New Zealand Defence Force have a sexual assault problem? Victims speak out about the handling of sexual assault in the Defence Force...
1. Does a man being discharged without conviction after grabbing his daughter by the neck and holding her down, kicking his wife in the ribs and...
1. Will you be eligible for free tertiary education? Government releases details about its free education scheme.
2. What the fuck,...
Christmas songs hold a special place in my heart. I’m one of those strange people who start listening to them well before it is decent to do so,...
1. Is this the end for Angela Merkel? Coalition talks collapse in Germany.
2. Should...
1. Who came up with the ridiculous idea to punish women for not naming the fathers of their children anyway? New Government moves to scrap law...
1. When will the link between domestic violence and mass shootings be taken seriously...
