Real Life
Ben Law: Why taxis still stand a chance against Uber
Benjamin Law "I now alternate between the services promiscuously, but I still want to see the taxi industry thrive."
Must motherhood kill your creative career?
Alice Williams Like children, creativity needs to be nurtured in order to thrive. Must women sacrifice one for the other?
The strange grief of losing a grandparent you barely knew
Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen It's an odd kind of sorrow, losing someone you barely knew but who was such an important part of you, writes Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen.
There's a reason we need time to be bored
Rosecrans Baldwin How embracing boredom can make the world seem all the more appealing.
Why loving your mother-in-law is a feminist act
Jenna Price 37 years after meeting her mother-in-law, Jenna Price is now on the other side of the fence.
Why it's so hurtful when friends complain about feeling 'fat'
Rebecca Shaw We can't stop drunken men on the street being awful. But we can stop participating in the vicious fatphobic cycle.
How I came to terms with anger and vulnerability
Koraly Dimitriadis: "I am warm, shy and timid. Yet if someone pushes my vulnerability button, I can explode."
Why you can't always nurture a loved one out of depression
Dani Fleisher "At some point, I'd decided I couldn't be OK until he was. I wanted to nurture us both back to life."
True grit: Deng Thiak Adut, the Blacktown lawyer inspiring a generation of new Australians
Mark Dapin Child soldier-turned-Blacktown lawyer Deng Thiak Adut who touched hearts with his 2016 Australia Day address says derogatory comments by a law professor in 2005 inspired him to succeed.
Pipe dreams
Why hasn’t my band made the Hottest 100 yet?
Dom Knight Dom Knight reminisces about the band he never had, and the rock 'n' roll dreams unfulfilled.
Reproductive rights
I'm a successful lawyer and mother, because I had an abortion
Janice Mac Avoy "To the world, I am a lawyer who had an abortion, and, to myself, I am a lawyer because I had an abortion."
Body image
Struggling with weight in a fatphobic family
Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen What Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen's fluctuating weight has taught her about thin privilege.
House mates
What nobody tells you about living with female friends
Rebecca Varcoe Why does the prospect of women sharing a home always come with the same warning?
The irony of not wanting to be seen as a 'typical Asian'
Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen As a teen, Giselle Nguyen took pride in not being a 'typical Asian'. That is, until she learns a heartbreaking truth.
Ben Law: A lazy person's guide to keeping a diary
Benjamin Law As far back as i can remember, my new year's resolution has been the same. "From now on, Benjamin, you're going to keep a diary!"
Toxic grieving
Why do we turn to vices in times of grief?
Amy Middleton For Amy Middleton, 2015 was a year of loss, death and grief. And with it, booze and chain-smoking became a daily ritual.
Birth trauma
How PTSD from a traumatic first labour changed my second pregnancy
Priscilla Blossom Losing her daughter after a highly traumatic hospital birth left Priscilla Blossom open to anything that might result in a diferent outcome.
Living in exile
The unanchored grief of losing loved ones while in exile
Huda Al-Marashi "We wept without a body, without a grave site to focus our attention," writes Huda Al-Marashi.
Name's sake
I won't have my heritage erased by your inability to say my name
Saman Shad Why Saman Shad is tired of laughing off pronunciation failures of the lazy and insensitive.
Unkown home
The pain of seeing travel snaps from a home I cannot visit
Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen "My heritage shines brightly in my life and yet, I've never been to this place that holds all of my history."
The joy (but mostly embarrassment) of learning a new language on holiday
Jenna Price "Occasionally, a Roman will hear me say ciao and immediately start speaking in perfect English."
Day in the life of a pro-choice counsellor
Sian Jones "When people ask about the work I do, it can be difficult to capture it in just a few words."
Self Made Project
'How photographing trans guys encouraged me to transition'
Amy McNeilage When Parker Blain began taking portraits of transgender men, the project was as much about his story as theirs.
Invisible disabilities
What it's like to live with an 'invisible' disability
Natalie Rose Corrigan What does disability look like? This might seem like an absurd question. But here's why it matters to me.
On Writing
How I learned to stop writing for old white men
Claire Vaye Watkins Claire Vaye Watkins admits she used to want people to say 'she writes like a man', which in our culture means 'writes well'.
Why I am keeping my great-grandmother's wedding dress
Heather L. Hughes "I've never had wedding fantasies, not even as a little girl playing dress-up."
How casual hookup helped me overcome painful sex
Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen "With every new hookup, it became less difficult to relax. I became more confident, caring less about people's opinions."
Girls to Men
Why I decided to go through surgical transition on national TV
Billy-Joe Newington Billy-Joe Newington has become the first person in the world to have phalloplasty surgery filmed and broadcast.
Lisa Bryant
How a loved one's chronic illness affects your identity
Lisa Bryant "I used to be a writer, an advocate, a consultant, and a mother. Now I am just a mother... I'm the intensive care mum."
Paul Chai
If men were better at being friends, would they be better men?
Paul Chai Is it true that men are bad at making, and keeping, their friends?
Can anxiety cause hypochondria?
Amanda Hooton: "I've developed what I call a "displacement identifier". I know I'm anxious when I become convinced I'm suffering a terminal illness."
Benjamin Law: Who cares about 'straight voice' v 'gay voice'?
If you have a problem with the way anyone speaks – lisps, accents, impairments or general fabulousness – you're the one with a problem.
The day I finally got out of a violent, abusive relationship
The story of my life with a violent crazy man, who hit me, nearly killed me, psychologically destroyed me and mentally drained me, is true and very real.
Why my autism diagnosis was such a relief
Laura James Until I was diagnosed with high-functioning autism this summer, I had spent my whole life feeling different.
Moving on
'Why I stopped treating my post-breakup home as a temporary shelter'
Koraly Dimitriadis Home is where the heart is - but a broken heart is in even more need of a home, writes Koraly Dimitriadis.
On missing a parent years after they are gone
Jenna Price Jenna Price: "I had absolutely no idea what it is I wanted to speak to my mother about. Just that I did."
Summer Guide
A Fat Lady's Guide To Summer: The beach
Maeve Marsden Maeve Marsen goes beyond those well meaning "get a bikini, put it on your body" memes in her first instalment of this summer countdown.
Can you force yourself to become an 'outdoor type'?
Britni de la Cretaz I'm writing this from an idyllic setting that many people would call "heavenly."
First person
I shouldn't be terrorised for providing abortions
Diane Horvath-Cosper Diane Horvath-Cosper says threats and violence are not the appropriate way to debate.
Benjamin Law: How I switched to a 'standing desk' at home
Benjamin Law At the end of the day I'm essentially a lump who rapidly hits buttons for eight hours straight.
Why a connection to country is so important to Aboriginal communities
Catherine Liddle "Connection to country is inherent, we are born to it, it is how we identify ourselves, it is our family, our laws, and our legacy."
I'm sick to death of being afraid of walking alone at night
Sian Prior Thirty years ago, I marched in Reclaim the Night rallies. But how far have things come since then?
In the dark
Sian Prior Sian Prior is trying to reclaim the night, but fear keeps getting the better of her.
First person
What I have learned from a decade with diabetes
Sarah Vedomske Chronic illness has helped Sarah Vedomske to embrace life.
What it feels like to 'go viral'
Carly Findlay Here's the thing about going viral: it also makes you feel out of control.
Young, handsome and insecure
Amanda Hooton: Finding out that insecurity is a universal feeling
Amanda Hooton Even the young and handsome have their insecurities - which only adds to their appeal.
The 'vault'
The day I was given an unexpected 'vagina-ectomy'
Emma Jane This is a story about a surprise vagina-ectomy. It's also a story about an abnormal pap smear.
Is there such a thing as being 'too old' to rent?
Hannah Betts Dinner parties can often be a bore, but there are few things more tedious than being the lone renter at the table.
Benjamin Law: Confessions of a chronic scatterbrain
Benjamin Law My superpower is: I can make things disappear.
The economics of gratitude
Jenna Price If you appreciate the people who look after you – in any way – let them know.
What it's like to face a difficult diagnosis with my sister
Melanie Maizels Hysterectomy. Mastectomy. Mammogram. These are words that have never been part of my daily vocabulary until now.
The unique awkwardness of tattoo regrets
Andrea Catherwood I was in my 20s, and I thought it was the perfect symbol of my time in Asia. You know how the rest goes.
Why I changed my mind about joining a 'brag thread'
Ruby Hamad Rule number one of 'brag thread': Brag must be directly about you. None of this deflection B.S.
Benjamin Law
Benjamin Law: The joy of learning that the kids are alright
Benjamin Law It's so disorientating visiting your old high school as an adult. But it can also be a pleasant surprise.
Should you ever give up on who you said you wanted to be?
Lonnae O'Neal Sometimes we lie about what we want because we don't know whether we have what it takes to get it.
Fighting the loneliness of an invisible disease
Chelsea Brunckhorst It started with period pains. Not the kind you mask with a false smile and pop of Panadol, but the sort that leaves you in a crying mess on the floor.
Benjamin Law: We need to learn more about Indigenous Australian culture
Benjamin Law By the end of the day, I'd learnt a lot, but also felt embarrassed by how little I'd known about my own country's First People.
It's time to stop homogenising people with disabilities
Carly Findlay Much to some well-meaning folks' surprise, constantly being mistaken for someone else can be tiring.
Bitchy resting face
Is a 'resting bitchface' an asset?
Clem Bastow Should you correct your 'resting bitch face' or celebrate it?
