I love the idea of media and film putting social ills like sexualization in a critical view, so typically I’d be intrigued by a storyline like that of Netflix’s Cuties—which follows an eleven-year-old Senegalese immigrant girl as she navigates the meaning of her femininity and seeks acceptance among her peers in a hypersexualized culture. However, as I watched clips of the film circulate on social media, I had to pause to consider whether I could view it.

Domestic minor sex trafficking is a big sprawling mess and requires much federal and state attention to combat and lots of hard work. Each state, each community has to focus on their unique local issues with it. It also requires concrete action from all of us.

Laura Vanderkam, author and TEDTalk veteran whose writing we’ve enjoyed at Verily, has a unique way of taking on the ever-present work-life balance question. For the person struggling to carry work and home obligations gracefully, Vanderkam responds by completely dismantling all you ever thought about the building blocks of work-life balance.

In addition to spawning countless conspiracy theories, Jeffrey Epstein’s untimely death in a New York correctional facility in August 2019 tells us something true: while some people may have not wanted Epstein’s secrets to be revealed, still more did. And for that, we have a Netflix documentary released last month called Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich...

Some have wondered if the #metoo movement has ended, suggesting concerns for women’s assault disappears once the accused include members of a different political party. It’s within this backdrop that on Friday Megyn Kelly stepped up, hosting an interview with Reade on her personal YouTube channel...

Pornhub’s donations of 50,000 surgical masks in response to COVID-19 are a part of “Pornhub Cares,” the official philanthropic division of the world’s largest adult site. But upon closer look, the work of Pornhub Cares is little more than a public relations campaign to distract from the abusive practices the company’s been accused of (which are rampant throughout the entire sex industry).

It’s easy to succumb to feeling overwhelmed right now. With so many experiences colliding—the stress of juggling more than I already thought I could with work and life, the thrill of the can-do American spirit; the fear of the unknown; the joy of seeing good governance in action; the anger of seeing bad governance in action; the pain of knowing people are suffering...

This week, Harvey Weinstein—movie mogul of the Weinstein Company whose misbehavior all but started the #metoo movement—was sentenced to 23 years in prison for sexual crimes against women. For many, this result comes as no surprise. Many have read Ronan Farrow’s New Yorker articles, expanded in his book Catch and Kill. Weinstein has received backlash for accusations of sexual crimes for years in the court of public opinion. But in the judicial court...

Pregnancy is hard, and it always will be. But, thanks to modern medicine, pregnancy should be life-making and not life-taking. Unfortunately, in America, maternal mortality rates have been increasing since the 1980s, according to the CDC. Further, America’s maternal crisis reveals racial disparities, as black women and Native American women are about three times as likely to die from delivery complications...

Judy wasn’t nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars. There were numerous contenders for the top film honor, so it was a tight race. But Judy is also not a picture that puts Hollywood in a good light. It would sound conspiracy-theory-like for me to say the Academy doesn’t want you to see Judy, but … I think the Academy doesn’t want us to see Judy. Previous Oscar-nominated films that have featured Hollywood have portrayed it as the good guy. Once Upon A Time in Hollywood...

Meryl Davis learned a lot on her road to becoming an Olympic champion ice dancer. Skating from the age of five and ice dancing from the age of eight, Davis and her partner won the silver medal at the 2010 Olympics and four years later, the gold. Davis has also been a champion off the ice. Three months after taking the gold at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Davis was announced the champion of Dancing with the Stars. Along the way, Davis has learned how to set goals, work towards them, and pace her

Last week, we kicked off a series of articles written by the Verily editors in response to a Washington Post piece titled “Women’s Magazines Are Dying. Will We Miss Them When They’re Gone?” The first article, written by our editor in chief Meg McDonnell can be found here. Today, we hear from Mary Rose Somarriba, current associate editor and former Culture section editor at the founding of Verily Magazine. For women’s media to succeed in today’s challenging market for publications (which we’ve s

Some tips on managing stress that everyone can benefit from. “I became okay with imperfection.” Amy, a 42-year-old doctor and mother of four told me over a martini last week. “The imperfection makes it perfect.” These words of wisdom came when I asked her how she acquired her palpable chill factor, for all the balls she juggles between home (four children under 10) and career (serving 13-15 patients a day at the hospital where she works). When so much is happening at once, she seemed to sugges

These stories were written not to trick children into dangerous situations, but to teach lessons of caution. Disney princesses and #MeToo have shared headlines recently, in a weird way. In some ways it’s a classic attempt at clickbait to make people crazy, but since it’s touching on some cultural notes that are gaining traction—criticism of Disney princesses as problematic for feminism—I couldn’t help but read on. Actress Kristen Bell, who voice-acted the role of Anna in Frozen, told Parents m

We get by with a little help from our girlfriends. Deborah Tannen is a professor of linguistics at Georgetown University and an expert on the role of communication in relationships. Her highly acclaimed You're the Only One I Can Tell: Inside the Language of Women's Friendships, takes a deep dive into the nuances of female friends' communications (and just came out in paperback in August). We know that having girlfriends to talk to contributes significantly to mental health, but we had some ques

Many of us knew her as Blossom. Some also know she has a Ph.D. in neuroscience. Twenty-four million Big Bang Theory fans know her as Amy Farrah Fowler. Two people know her as mom. Her name is Mayim Bialik, and the latest title she's added to her list of accomplishments is author of the book Girling Up: How to Be Strong, Smart and Spectacular. This book, aimed at helping girls and young women navigate the pressures of the day, isn't her first dip into cultural conversations. Bialik is also found

Our culture seems to be on a never-ending search for happiness. Surveys show women reporting happiness levels at an all-time low, and advertisements continue to vie for filling the happy gap if we just buy this product, try this lifestyle, make this change. It also shows in the books we’re buying. Comfortably sitting on the bestseller list right now is a book by Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. The Little Book of Hygge offers insights into the “Danish secrets

“Let’s have breakfast in the morning before I leave for work.” My dad used to say this to me on summer days when he went to work, and I had nothing to do. “OK, I thought. Some father-daughter bonding never hurt anyone. Even if it does involve waking up at 7 a.m.” I’d roll out of bed, splash water on my face in hopes of waking up (these were before the days of coffee for me), and stumble downstairs to meet my dad at the breakfast table. Cereal, check. Milk, check. Dad, check. But instead of ta