I am the mother of a 26-year-old trans woman who is just beginning her social and physical transition. We are happy she is living her authentic life and thrilled that she is confident about it. When we spend time with her, she is always with her new partner (a woman she is completely besotted with,…
The activist documentarian Morgan Spurlock blended Michael Moore-style showmanship with Gen X bro appeal in his 2004 debut feature “Super Size Me,” a relentless examination of the fast food industry. Its main target was McDonald’s, and its big reveal was that the franchise’s food was even worse for your health than you might have imagined.…
Many health and hygiene guides advise women, in particular, to avoid shaving or waxing all or most of their pubic hair to maintain their “natural barrier” against sexually transmitted infections. But is this a misconception? Completely removing pubic hair most likely does not influence the risk of STIs, according to recent findings. Many women, often…
So much of the humor on “Friends” stems from hyperbole. Joey breaks a chair and it’s “the best day ever!” Chandler and Janice have “the worst breakup ever.” Monica’s co-worker is “the funniest guy she’s ever met.” Of America’s mostly beloved sixsome, Phoebe Buffay, the corkscrew blonde, guitar-playing masseuse played by Lisa Kudrow, would seem…
The Diving Girl was born in Portland, Ore., in 1920. In my pursuit of her ghost, I find myself eyeballing three contentious Canada geese on a floating swim dock in the Willamette River. On this overcast June afternoon, cottony clouds of varying thickness hang overhead, the sun and splashes of blue visible in the gaps…
When Deborah Huffman went for her annual physical a few years ago, she saw a new doctor who handed her a paper gown, instructing her to leave it open in the back. The doctor returned a few minutes later to find Ms. Huffman wearing the gown, sobbing. What was wrong? “I pick at my skin,”…