This year, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published some troubling findings: suicides in girls have significantly increased in the past decades. The article cited a report in which “female youth aged 10 to 14 years experienced the largest percentage increase in suicide rates compared with other age groups,” and another report found “youth aged 15 to 19 years showed suicide rates for female individuals more than doubled from 2007 to 2015.” In a commentary published alongs

For a show that has long stretched the boundaries of appropriate content in favor of an unexpected gut-punch, HBO’s Game of Thrones surprised viewers this past Sunday when the characters Jaime and Brienne had a sexual encounter. For those who have followed the two since the show’s beginning, this was unexpected, even for a last season whose writers are desperate to maintain intrigue while tying loose ends. For some, it was exciting to see these two open up to each other—while equally disappointi

From abortion workers to women who choose abortion, 'Unplanned' shows empathy for the many sides of a complex issue. Unplanned, the film about former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson and her change of heart about abortion that caused her to leave her job opens in theaters in this weekend, and is expected to cause a stir. For one of the most volatile topics in our country for nearly the past half-century, abortion is not often a topic one sees showcased at the movies. But for thos

Since the dawn of the hookup culture, women have been grappling with its effects—or lack of desired effects. Some women partake in the no-strings-attached alternative to dating thinking it will lead to romance and a deeper relationship; others partake simply because they think it’s a standard part of male-female relations. Given the media landscape depicting men and women jumping into bed with each other on date one without batting an eyelash, it’s not too surprising that real-life young people

With the IUD hurting so many women, why do we gloss over it so much? Intrauterine devices. Many people love them—or hate them. You may have heard horror stories—for example, that, not only can IUDs fail at preventing pregnancy, it can migrate and lead to a perforated uterus. (Yikes.) If you’re like me, you also may have heard peers express an unconditional love for IUDs you didn’t know was possible to feel toward an implant device. (As it happens, more than one person has told me, in the contex

Notre Dame students stand up to decrease the sexual-assault carbon footprint. “What hope does a woman have today that she can find a man who won’t mistreat and objectify her?” This was a question posed to me by a young college-aged woman at a conference, after I gave remarks on the problems women are experiencing in the hookup culture today, from sex regret to sexual assault. Part of the topic included how much pornography influences men and women to view sex as optimized for pleasing men and

Mike Gaskins has covered the connection between hormonal contraceptives and health risks in articles at Natural Womanhood. Now he has published a book called In the Name of the Pill in which he explores the history of birth control side effects from the technology’s conception to today. Gaskins is at the forefront of public exposure to birth control side effects, writing at Hormone Matters, working with doctors to bring a Citizen’s Petition to the FDA bringing greater transparency to birth contr

This past week, the London-based publication The Guardian published a reporting piece discrediting the fertility awareness app FEMM. The Guardian used FEMM’s mentions of birth control side effects, and information about its funders’ religious affiliation, to suggest to readers that fertility awareness apps cannot be trusted. The problem is The Guardian piece follows conspiracy-theory-like thinking, rather than facts and logic, in an apparent attempt to scare women away from Fertility Awareness-B

It’s a phrase Sheryl Sandberg heard often after her husband, Dave Goldberg, unexpectedly died at age 48 in 2015. In her recent book, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy, cowritten with psychology professor Adam Grant, Sandberg paints a brutally honest picture of what grief looks like. “I can’t imagine, either,” she’d often reply. “But I have no choice.” Sandberg’s words reminded me of one of my own brushes with grief. “I Can Only Imagine” by MercyMe was one of the s

Marie Claire has unveiled its "2017 Fresh Faces" as featured in the May issue coming to newsstands now. Among them is singer, model, and actress Janelle Monáe. The Kansas City native is something of a modern Renaissance woman. At 31, Monáe has garnered six Grammy nominations over a decade-plus music career, become a CoverGirl spokeswoman, and acted in two Oscar-nominated films in 2016 alone, Hidden Figures and Moonlight. Along the way, she’s sharpened her tongue for cultural commentary that doe

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