Good news for all the Wordle lovers bent over your phone — All the nuns who told me to "sit up straight" in Catholic school owe me an apology. (And a better explanation for immaculate conception cause I ain't buying that shit anymore.) We have all heard the conventional wisdom — sitting up straight is better for your back. Well, my straight-backed…

Does the history of trolls show us that anyone can become one? — Before the buzzing hum of AOL modems, before the fluorescent clutter of MySpace, and before Harvard students logged onto “The Facebook,” there was “The WELL.” The WELL began as the brainchild of internet trailblazers Stewart Brand and Larry Brilliant. In the 1980s, Brand was the publisher of The Whole Earth…

So why aren’t doctors prescribing it? — The first time I tried hormonal birth control, I vomited into my college dormitory toilet for hours. That nausea continued for weeks. Weeks turned into months of trying one hormonal birth control pill after another. When my weight dropped below 105 lbs, my doctor told me it was time to…

Yes, women can tell when a man watches too much porn — When Shakespeare wrote “all the world’s a stage,” he probably didn’t imagine our private sex lives becoming stages. Unfortunately, our modern world has placed even sex on a grand stage. In 1970, legendary sex researchers Masters and Johnson coined the term “spectatoring” to refer to sex in which someone focuses…

Before we start pointing fingers, let’s look at the actual data — I recently read an opinion piece from Gabrielle Blair with the salacious title, “100% of Pregnancies Are Caused By Men.” Although she disingenuously chose to write her title in the passive voice, there is nothing passive about this title. Since her article, many other opinion pieces have a “let’s flay…

Huxley’s Brave New World is happening. Will science eliminate the need for a woman’s uterus? — As the debate around abortion rights heats up, many have asked — what is motherhood? What is fatherhood? What will happen if couples are not allowed to decide when they become parents or the size of their families? Although I don’t want to leave men out of this debate, women…

My broomstick needs some sacrificial baby grease to escape this nonsense. — People tend to quote the historical figures they most valorize. But it’s not only the person they admire. It’s also the time period. In the latest version of America The Beautiful (But only for Scary White Dudes), Pope Alito quotes seventeenth-century witch hunter and bible-thumping wackadoodle Sir Matthew Hale nine…

Over 20 percent of the population lives with chronic pain. Let’s talk about it. — I keep a small bottle of opium hidden in a lockbox. Just two drops of its black viscous liquid would make me see tomorrow. The whole bottle would take away my tomorrow. These are the escape routes you plan when you live in chronic pain. Those around you never understand…

Here’s how women can get abortion pills through the mail, legally and safely — Hath no fury than a woman who has lost control of her body. Sadly, many women throughout history have died trying to terminate pregnancies. We can’t let this happen again. We will not return to coathangers and medieval herbs. Women still have options. In December 2021, the FDA approved the…