As she was writing the first draft of what would eventually become her debut novel, Hafsah Faizal couldn’t make it past the first act. There wasn’t anything ostensibly wrong with what she was doing. She was writing a young adult fantasy about a…

When I got the push notification on my phone about a loud explosion in Chelsea on Saturday, I, like many New Yorkers, shrugged it off. According to the report, which I quickly scanned while leaving the restaurant where I'd been having dinner with my…

Update: On Friday, it was confirmed that there were nine victim fatalities and that Mercer killed himself after Thursday's mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. On Saturday, there were reports that Mercer handed out a box to…

Update: Chris Christie is again wearing the bracelet during the third Republican debate on Wednesday, Oct. 28. Earlier: Wednesday night's GOP debate is sending the Internet ablaze for a number of reasons. (Can we talk about that plane, please?) But…

Well, this is terrifying news for Californians. An advisory issued Wednesday night by the National Tsunami Warning Center (NTWC) — a division of the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Association (NOAA) — warns that Southern California may be hit by a…

Keeping up with this election season's robust trend of jaw-dropping absurdity, the main focus of the second GOP debate will not be politics, but instead something completely obnoxious and unnecessary (you know, in addition to Donald Trump). The…

For many of us, tattoos are deeply personal. As someone with 10 of them can attest, the images and words we choose to permanently etch onto our bodies are often carefully chosen and thought out; and yet cliche quote tattoos still seem unavoidable at…

I have a "confession" to make, guys: I am a woman with facial hair. I know, I know. Who the hell do I think I am that I could admit that on such a public forum without suffering a single shred of embarrassment? Well, I think I'm... basically like…

When we talk about feminism, or, more accurately, the antithesis of feminism, we often bring up the '50s housewife and/or pinup girl fashion. We envision a woman who wore beautiful dresses and heels every day while milling around the house, dusting,…

For the uninitiated, it can be incredibly daunting to even consider the topic of gender identity, and what defines someone's gender. Thanks to awesome communities online and off, those of us who do not identify with the two traditionally acceptable…

We all know Tess Holliday as the biggest model (size 22) to sign with a major agency and as the founder of #EffYourBeautyStandards. But did you know she originally started as a plus size pinup model? In fact, I first found Tess while watching Cherry…

I spent my entire childhood surrounded by wealthy white kids. And when you go to school with all white kids, and are taught by mostly white teachers, it’s easy to begin to think you yourself are white. I know I certainly did. With skin just light…

If you've ever stepped foot into an arcade or even a bar, you've probably seen it — a game featuring a little yellow circle with a wide gaping mouth and big eyes, chasing after multicolored ghosts in the pursuit of delicious white dots and the…

The first controller I ever held in my hand was that of the N64. It was 1997, I was 6 years old, and my parents had gave me my very first console for Christmas along with two games, Yoshi Story and Mario Kart. They knew I’d have fun with it, but…

The evolution of the Disney princess has been significant over the last 20 years, but two things have remained consistent: I've loved them all, but not one of them has ever looked like me. Sure, there have been brown-skinned princesses, and sure,…

What if I told you something is happening tomorrow that will never, ever happen again in your whole life? Pretty crazy thought, right? But it's true. Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014, otherwise known as 12/13/14, is the last sequential date we will see for…