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Posts tagged feminist

California Girl

California Girl

If I am ever in the car, and the songs Hotel California or California Girls come on the radio, I do not leave the car until the song is over. It doesn’t matter if I am at work and a meeting starts in ten minutes. It does not matter how rushed I might be later on. I need to hear that haunting, eerie guitar solo in Hotel California. I need to hear the Beach Boys reminding me with their buoyant and bubbly 1960s optimism that they wish we were all California girls, and I sit there, filled with a nostalgic, glowing, hazy pride.

HomeJulia NusbaumApril 1, 2022women writer, feministComment

The Old Porch

The Old Porch

I’ve driven by our old farm a few times, slowed down and leaned out the window to review what used to be. But yesterday was different - I pulled in. Waited.

HomeJulia NusbaumMarch 31, 2022women, feminist, writingComment

Last Call

Last Call

Tall ships lined up like regal ducks in the Delaware outside the floor to ceiling windows of the Rusty Scupper. The lights from Penns Landing illuminated their bulky masts, casting cross-shaped shadows upon the concrete. It was nearly midnight. Two parties hung on for last call: a middle-aged couple who couldn’t keep their hands off each other, and two handsome guys who’d been downing gin and tonics for nearly two hours. Exhausted after a long shift, I looked forward to washing the smoke and liquor off my body and crawling into my bed a few blocks away.

Change of HeartJulia NusbaumDecember 29, 2021Sexual assult, #metoo, law school, feministComment

You're Supposed to be Suffering

You're Supposed to be Suffering

It’s hot. I wear an old tye-dye dress and sneakers, my bangs stuck to my sweaty forehead. Photographs will later reveal I have the sort of bowl haircut stylists default to when you’re too young to know what you want, and your parents just want something cheap that won’t get gum stuck in it. I’ve come to a standstill on the sidewalk to watch a mosquito bite my bare calf.

Beauty StandardsJulia NusbaumMarch 27, 2018beauty standards, story, feminist, Self esteem, abuseComment

Skin Suit

Skin Suit

I never felt comfortable saying “my body” or “the body;” it never felt like mine, yet it also seemed more personal than “the.” Growing up, it was commented on: You’re so skinny, so petite, what a tiny peanut, you should really eat more, better hang onto that figure. No one ever said anything about my 4.0 Grade Point Average, the poetry contests I won, or the dreams I had of escaping the life of expected bodily perfection.

Beauty StandardsJulia NusbaumMarch 26, 2018beauty standards, feminist, story, Self esteem, love yourselfComment

The Family Nest

The Family Nest

Even in the musty Catskills cottage my parents rented during the summer I came of age, their bed was the place we went to heal. Even as tiny, satin ballet slippers hung from the mahogany headboard and a pink chenille spread covered it, like a sticky sweet frosting, this lumpy mattress was where we found succor.

Modern LoveJulia NusbaumMarch 3, 2018modern love, feminist, story, death of a parentComment

I-O-U

I-O-U

Cameron, my boyfriend of six months, sits across from me in the cheap, Canton Chinese restaurant where we always eat. The white-walled, empty space fills with light through the windows, and wood tables are vacantly spread throughout. We look at each other blankly. The only sounds that come out our mouths are loud chews and slurps of stir-fry noodles hitting our lips with long, hungry uncomfortableness.

Modern LoveJulia NusbaumMarch 2, 2018modern love, story, feminist, broken heart, Self esteemComment

The Modern Art of Loving Yourself

The Modern Art of Loving Yourself

Modern love doesn’t mean a type of love we haven’t seen before, but it does mean it’s a love still seen as radical by those it encounters. It makes people look twice when they see you walking down the street. It makes your friends comment, “I’m so happy for you!” on your Instagram pics. It both surprises and entangles everyone it meets, creating an aura they begin to crave as well. It’s the type of love they should really be making potions for.

Modern LoveJulia NusbaumMarch 1, 2018feminist, story, modern love, self care, self loveComment

An Ode to the Girls Who Don't Think They Deserve Good in Their Lives

An Ode to the Girls Who Don't Think They Deserve Good in Their Lives

“I think you’re better off without me.” I blubbered, my hair thick in unwashed, oily residue. My clothes, more suitable for sleeping than for wearing out, a mess. As I heard myself say those words, I almost didn’t recognize myself. I, the romantic. The believer of fairy-tales and forever afters.

Modern LoveJulia NusbaumFebruary 28, 2018modern love, story, feminist, Mental Health, depression, anxiety Comment

Stop Taking Your Pills

Stop Taking Your Pills

“Learn to make collages. Water your plant. Collect lucky pennies.”

Let’s be honest, you’re not going to make collages or collect lucky pennies. That seems like a waste of time. You do, however, eat a weed brownie and read Claudia Rankine’s Citizen in one sitting at a bar.

Modern LoveJulia NusbaumFebruary 28, 2018modern love, feminist, story, Mental Health, grief, dogs Comment

Small Gifts

Small Gifts

My mother’s treats have always been unexpected, precious morsels,
savored as much for their surprise as for their flavor—
a summer lunch of a lobster roll and coffee frappe at Gulf Hill creamery,
a butterscotch candy retrieved from deep within a purse,

Modern LoveJulia NusbaumFebruary 27, 2018modern love, story, feminist, cooking, grandmother, motherComment

When Relationships are Hard...Keep Going

When Relationships are Hard...Keep Going

I am difficult to love. I know that. And I’m pretty impossible to live with. Trust me, I recognize that too. I’m stubborn, have high expectations, and can be a smart ass. Luckily for me, I fell in love with someone with the exact same qualities. Clearly everything goes smoothly in our house on a daily basis. I’ve never found myself saying, “Do you even know what a toilet bowl brush looks like?”

Modern LoveJulia NusbaumFebruary 26, 2018modern love, feminist, story, love story, compassionComment

The Chapter I Don't Read Out Loud

The Chapter I Don't Read Out Loud

Everyone has a chapter they don't read out loud. The Why is different for everyone. Why don't they talk about it? Sometimes, it is feelings of shame, guilt, regret, pain, or loss. Other times it is feelings of joy, hope, love, triumph. If the feelings about a situation are considered to be negative, I guess I understand more why someone wouldn't share it.

Women at WorkJulia NusbaumFebruary 2, 2018women at work, feminist, story, women of powerComment

A Love Letter to All the Advocates Who Have Had Enough

A Love Letter to All the Advocates Who Have Had Enough

I still get pangs of guilt when I go by a hospital
and I remember the 3am, 7am, 11pm or Saturday 1pm calls
beckoning me to reach into myself and pull out some sort of aid for another person.
Reaching into the mess,

Women at WorkJulia NusbaumFebruary 1, 2018women at work, story, feminist, poetry, Mental Health, #metooComment

Building My Future in a Man's World

Building My Future in a Man's World

I laid all my clothes out the night before my big day, a light blue top with ironed dress pants. I spent the previous three years wearing yoga pants and a black T shirt to work. I was finally leaving food service and getting a desk job. No more slinging sandwiches. No more smelling like eggs and cheese after a long day.

Women at WorkJulia NusbaumJanuary 31, 2018women at work, story, feministComment

Saturday Girl

Saturday Girl

Two days after my fifteenth birthday
I walked proudly into Newman Costumiers
to begin my first job.

Women at WorkJulia NusbaumJanuary 30, 2018women at work, story, feministComment

What a Valiant Fight With a Letter Opener Taught Me About Life With Cerebral Palsy

What a Valiant Fight With a Letter Opener Taught Me About Life With Cerebral Palsy

The letter opener.

A humble, but truly magical office staple.

One swipe against an unruly letter, and presto -- your letter is open and you’re forever hailed as the resident entry-level administrative goddess.

Women at WorkJulia NusbaumJanuary 29, 2018women at work, feminist, storyComment

Secret Santa

Secret Santa

"No!” I said as Angie, my coworker approached. She didn’t have to say a word. It was evident by the clear bowl in her hand what she wanted. She opened her mouth to speak but again I said, “No!” I raised one hand to let her know just how serious I was about the answer to the question which she hadn’t even asked.

Holiday StoriesJulia NusbaumDecember 29, 2017holiday stories, story, feministComment

Christmas Tree

Christmas Tree

Trimming the tree was a Christmas Eve ritual
in my family.
Each year my cousin would come to help my mum.
They would carefully take the glass baubles from the box
that used to hold her big doll called Topsy.
Then they would put them all in their special place
in my family.

Holiday StoriesJulia NusbaumDecember 28, 2017holiday stories, story, feministComment

Room at the Inn

Room at the Inn

My water broke as I climbed out of bed on Christmas morning. I'd stayed up late the previous evening, listening to a reading of Dylan Thomas' “A Child's Christmas in Wales” on the radio. Afterward, I lumbered to bed and collapsed onto the mattress like a sinking ship. Less than six hours later, I was suddenly in labor with my first child.

Holiday StoriesJulia NusbaumDecember 27, 2017holiday stories, story, feministComment