5 things you might like

or might hate, but will be good for your brain anyway

As I’ve pushed pause on social media lately, I’ve noticed that I’ve turned to the Substack app on my phone as a replacement. Now, could it be argued that this medium is also a social media platform and that I am transgressing my own self-imposed rules here? Sure, one might say that. But for me at least, this space is a stark contrast from the black hole of social media. I’m reading more than I’m scrolling. I’m noticing the collective conversations and letting my brain put it all together. I’m taking notes from — or, okay, occasionally editing — other writers in my head. I’m existing far outside the bubble that had been growing so wearisome.

So, I thought, why hoard the goods? Why not share with you fine people?

And so I shall.

Indeed.

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Why Religious Tools Don't Work for Women

by

Celeste Davis

at Matriarchal Blessing

The feminine has evolved with empathy tools hardwired into the body. Women tuning into to the cries of others is an evolutionary necessity for our species. It’s built in. So when tuning into the needs of others is further and further and further pushed on us - we just dissolve. We turn the other cheek so far we disappear.

It’s not the toolkit we need.

It’s why religious tools don’t work for the feminine.

They were never meant for us.

I have a right to be here

by

lyz

at Men Yell At Me

The event organizers have now changed the route to keep runners out of the city as long as possible. Away from the rage and fear. Away from the trucks and cars that hurtle at us, crowding us, letting us know that even in this big empty state, there isn’t room for people who don’t travel like they do.

In her book Wanderlust, Rebecca Solnit writes, “Perhaps walking is best imagined as an 'indicator species,' to use an ecologist's term. An indicator species signifies the health of an ecosystem, and its endangerment or diminishment can be an early warning sign of systemic trouble. Walking is an indicator species for various kinds of freedom and pleasures: free time, free and alluring space, and unhindered bodies.”

There are bodies that America believes should not be unhindered. Black and brown bodies; gender nonconforming bodies; bodies with uteruses.

Women, Men and Book Clubs - It's a Problem

by

Kern Carter

at Writers are Superstars

What we know now as book clubs didn’t start taking its current shape till the nineteenth century. Women — still not allowed to participate in formal education — started reading groups to facilitate literary conversations independently. These reading groups were rebellious in nature.

After centuries of exclusion, [women] are the ones who dictate much of the reading habits of today’s generation. Those backroom conversations from centuries past have transformed into a persuasive power…

[Women] seem to have no problem reading books by men and even with men as lead characters. But when the perspective is reversed, the statistics clearly prove that both young boys and adult men struggle to connect with female-authored stories or stories with female leads.

Home is where your attempts to escape cease – and at a bar in New York, I stopped running

by

Mona Eltahawy

at Feminist Giant

I can’t remember how I got the sequinned skirt on but I’m pretty sure the eyeliner was wobbly. Both arms in a cast does not precision cat-eye make. But it was New Year’s Eve and what’s the point if you’re not going to sparkle, and I’m an Egyptian in New York so the black eyeliner was practically a national duty.

*Shan’s note: Okay look, this next one is vapid as hell but if you know me, you know I love a pop culture moment. It is my kryptonite, and Hunter Harris never disappoints. Her methodology alone on this post is something to be studied.

The Paparazzi Photos That Defined 2024

by

Hunter Harris

at Hung Up

Allie Jones and I met in a Google Doc to run through the best, weirdest, most iconic paparazzi shots of the year. The criteria: We each made a list of a half-dozen photos, made a case for each of them, and then annotated each other’s selections (in italics). These are listed in chronological order, from the Golden Globes to Bennifer’s breakup, and beyond.

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Exactly like the one I would’ve sent you in the mail, right down to the pen, because who doesn’t calligraph their thank you cards?

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I also want to give a shoutout to the Substack writers who listed my books among their favorites this year! My little author heart just bursts.

Lauren Cibene and Liz Cooledge Jenkins each wrote about finding hope with the women mystics through reading The Mystics Would Like a Word. Meanwhile, Liv Holloway and Rachel Snyder Miller are finding their own path of self-belonging while reading Rewilding Motherhood.

It will never stop being my deepest honor to be a part of your lives and stories. I am grateful for every minute you spend with my work. You can return the favor by dropping a link in the comments to a post that’s made you stop and think lately!

Let’s see what ya got.

Shannon