People
How to Build a Life with Your Chosen Family
I was already in love with all my friends. But in my newfound singleness, I was falling in love with them more deeply.
Finally, at Fifty, I Can See Myself
I participated in the betrayal of my face because it’s easy to do when your thoughts about beauty are colonized and your appearance is a battleground.
Ballet Helped Me Reclaim My Identity as a Queer Iranian
Imagination could only take me so far. I was ready to dance—and this time my mom couldn’t say no.
The Small Beauty of Funeral Sex
There is something about sex that feels like an unequivocal “fuck you” to death, taking something back from that which has taken something from you.
Looking for My Ancient Religion in Uzbekistan
Still, I was in search of something more, something concrete, something material.
Do Not Marry a Politician and Other Kitchen Table Things
I’ve long been taught that the appearance of a good marriage, not a good marriage necessarily, is the ultimate goal.
How a Haircut Helped Me Untangle My Identity as a Queer Indian Woman
They defined beauty. They defined womanhood. And they felt so, so far away from the woman I felt myself becoming.
The Bipolar Nanny Diaries
Shame alley-ooped my fear. I worked with children and I had a mental illness. They were antithetical.
Drawing Grief
The creative release felt familiar. The soreness, the tenderness, making up new words for a new reality.
Montana Boys
We were all looking for the exceptions; all of us. Our conversations about white people had by now become banal.