What Hollywood Still Gets Wrong About Grief
Death is not a plot twist. In real life, it’s something else entirely: messy, and grief is always with you. Mr. Big died on a Peloton. Bambi’s mom got shot in the snow. And Fleabag? She never got over the loss of her best friend, Boo—can you blame her? My husband, Joel, died in real […]
When the Refuge Becomes the Storm: How Intimate Partner Violence Affects Us Decades Later
⚠️ Content Warning: This essay discusses intimate partner violence, emotional abuse, and trauma, including suicidal ideation. Please take care while reading. He’d kick me in the leg if I said or did something he didn’t like, just a little “put-me-in-my-place” whack, I suppose. That’s how it started. I was a college student, dating my now […]
Call Me Anything But Grandma: Choosing a Grandma Name That Actually Fits
Becoming a Grandma Isn’t What It Used to Be—And Neither Are the Names Not “girl.” Not “sweetie.” And maybe not “Nana,” either. When I became a grandmother, I realized this might be the first time in my life I got to choose the grandma name everyone would call me—without anyone’s input but my own. Not […]
Is it Time to Walk Away from a Real Friendship?
Women in Midlife are Rethinking Who Belongs in Their Inner Circle and Who Needs to Go I recently asked a loaded question on Facebook: When was the last time you let a friend go? My inbox flooded with stories—some heartbreaking, some liberating. These stories struck a nerve. A few months ago I was flat on […]
Who Killed the Audience? And Can We Get Them Back?
How One Night at Lincoln Center Changed My Understanding of the Audience Date night, 1979. Avery Fisher Hall. Lincoln Center. I showed up in my only dress; my boyfriend (now husband of 42 years) wore a corduroy blazer (it was the ‘70s). We were clearly out of our league. Everyone else looked like they had […]
Reinventing The Wheel: Megan Abbott’s New Take on When Women Are Out of Options
Set during the Great Recession, Megan Abbott’s novel unpacks the seductive danger of multi-level marketing schemes—and the women they leave behind. During the pandemic, we binged true crime and cult documentaries like they were comfort food to go along with our sourdough. But it wasn’t the murderers that stuck with crime novelist, Megan Abbott. It […]
This Is a Cry for Yelp
A woman, her house, and the items that finally have something to say. Yelp claims to connect people with businesses through honest reviews. But real talk? Half of them sound like they were written by someone in a paper tiara, pajama pants, and Crocs, vlogging from aisle 9 of Walmart. It got me thinking—if they […]
Retirement Guilt Is Real: Why It Hurts So Much—and What to Do About It
I always thought retirement would feel like a celebration. A party at Avra, a Cartier watch I bought for myself, and a dirty martini before noon—served icy cold and unapologetic, just how I like it. I spent 15 years in the trenches building my last business. Just me, a laptop, and way too many late […]
Rule of Attraction: What Really Pulls You In
Attraction is a funny thing. It can be based on personality, shared interests, hormones—but if you relied on the lens of Hollywood, you’d probably say it’s purely based on appearance. Attractiveness, especially for women, has some highly narrow parameters: smooth skin, taut body, lush hair—an amped-up version of the hallmarks of youth. What Hollywood Still […]
The Joy of Sexting: How to Do It at 50+ (and Why It’s Worth It)
At a recent girls’ night, I was stunned when a friend told me she had never sexted. This is a woman who exudes sexuality, flirts with ease, and is more than a decade younger than me. Her generation invented sexting. Never? She shrugged it off, but I insisted that she is missing out on one […]
50 Years of HUSTLER: Liz Flynt on Sex, Power, and Feminism
When Larry Flynt passed in 2021, Liz Flynt took the reins of the HUSTLER empire—driven to uphold his legacy, but determined to leave a mark of her own, all the while navigating the complexities of leading such a polarizing brand. “I come to work every day. I ensure that the company is run as if […]
Marking My Son’s Birthday—With a Gift to Myself
I stared at the chain dangling before me. Did I dare? I took a breath then yanked it, dumping a bucket of ice cold water on my head. I shivered. Holy shit that was cold. I smothered a small yelp. It was so invigorating, I wanted to do it again. This was how I was […]
