From birth control to body hair, our Love Letters panel of diverse women (now in their 20’s and 30’s) share their personal experiences from high school and beyond- and the advice they wish they had received growing up. Catch up on the ‘best of’ highlights below, and click the links to view more perspectives on each topic.
On Feminism: “What does feminism mean to me now? I don’t have the tidy philosophy that I did in high school or college. But, in practice, it means making choices – sometimes hard choices, like staying at work – to keep myself economically empowered. It means not setting myself up to be screwed if something happened to us or to him. It means protecting myself against pressure to stay with him for economic reasons.” –Miss Rosebud [read more]
On Parents: “If I was required to drink a glass of milk at dinner, I wanted to know why, and if it was so healthy, why they weren’t drinking one, too. And it was my body, why did they get to dictate what went into it… I needed a logical answer to every question, and I was also keenly aware of what I felt to be “injustice.” That they had complete authority, which seemed like a grave injustice to me, and I was constantly fighting them. The more I argued for autonomy, the more my parents tried to control me, and the more I rebelled from their control.” –Miss Peony [read more]
On Dangerous Relationships: “I was seemingly in control of every aspect of my life except this one, and I didn’t want anyone to know because a.) I loved this person and thought I could help him learn how to love and trust someone, since he had been abused as a child, and b.) I was embarrassed: I was a confident, smart, funny, no-nonsense feminist. This went against everything I believed in and the life I had built for myself.” –Miss Bluebells [read more]
Petal + Sass 