On Mary’s Virginity and the How the Purity Myth Harms Women
While I understood why theft or murder was wrong, this aspect didn’t make sense to me. What did sex and my body have to do with God?
On Martha and the Harm in “Perfect” Womanhood
In the etiquette class, everything had a proper place and use—even me.
If You’re Waiting for a Sign
April says the people at church don’t talk to us because they’re motherfuckers.
On Delilah and the Villains We Make of Women Who Seek Power
Succubus, siren, gold-digger, temptress: There are so many words for a woman with money in her hands.
On Esther’s Vengeance and the Beauty of Women’s Rage
Esther, you are a queen not because of your physical perfection, but because of the horror and rage you transformed it into.
In Immigrating from Japan, I Lost Language, Home, and Pokémon
Maybe, I thought, I could play Pokémon with my peers and bridge the gap between me and my an all-white classroom. But we lose things in translation.
I Wanted to Get Married, But I Wasn’t Ready to Lose Myself
While Ruth’s words— “where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay”—made for a heart-stilling pseudomarital vow, I was not selfless enough to promise the same.
On Eve’s Temptation and the Monsters We Make of Hungry Women
There is a part of me, even after so many iterations of faith and years of living in an adult body, that is waiting for punishment, waiting to be banished from the Garden.
ハーフ (Hafu): On the Fetishization and Mistranslation of a Biracial Identity
Hafu carries insinuations of otherness; of not belonging, but being fetishized. How do I carry this name and this history at once?
温もり (Nukumori): When the Distance Between You and Your Loved Ones Disappears
Nukumori can refer to a kind of existence not dependent on physical proximity, allowing a person’s presence to linger with you even if they cannot.