In this surprising history of one of America's most beloved holidays, we meet a woman who fought tirelessly for the establishment of Mother's Day, then later fought just as hard to get rid of it. When you think of Mother’s Day, bouquets of roses, perfume bottles, and pastel-colored cards with flowery script probably spring to mind. It’s hard to argue with a day designated to honor the one who gave you life, but the road to birthing Mother's Day was far rockier than one would imagine.

As many women do, I spent my teenage and adult life feeling self-conscious about my body, and I hated every inch of it. Shopping for clothes depressed me, and looking in the mirror was something I avoided.But in 2013, I discovered bullet bras, girdles, corsets and seamed stockings. I entered the world of pinup and vintage fashion where the female form is embraced, no matter what size or shape you are.In January 2014, I had learned enough about retro underwear that I decided to create a blog.

Let’s begin by saying that I was not raped. Some might say that I got off lucky. That I should be grateful that it did not go any further than it did. Which is precisely why I kept it to myself for so long.The words offered to women to describe the things that happen to us are limited. There is a vast world of possibility between “someone grabbed my butt on the subway” and “I was raped.”These are my words.

I always knew I had depression and anxiety. So when the medical field got heat for overdiagnosing them, I insulated myself from any skepticism that my mental illness was just a cool way for big pharma and doctors to make money. I knew I wasn't a part of that trend.More than a decade since those diagnoses, I found myself going through the same process all over again as a woman diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. It's as real to me as my depression and anxiety, but I again faced skepticism.

You probably know Diane Guerrero as Orange Is The New Black’s Maritza, the Latina inmate who loves pizza, is best friends with Flaca, and always has an impeccable cat eye. Or you might know her as Jane the Virgin’s Lina, Jane’s party girl bestie and coworker. Offscreen, Diane has become an advocate for immigrant rights after going viral with an LA Times op-ed and CNN interview last year.

I had almost forgotten that “bitch” is an actual term in the elite, show-dog world until I heard it being used properly and without malice at the Pennsylvania Hotel the night before Westminster.Like we do every year, my neighbor and I had gone to creep on the very expensive, pampered dogs. We were hanging out in the “poop room” - the large space in the hotel’s basement where handlers can take their dogs to relieve themselves without touching their paws to New York City concrete - when I saw a mini pinscher wearing what looked like a colorfully patterned diaper.

“You know, I think I figured out your problem. You don’t hear it when men talk to you around campus. It looks like you’re ignoring them. They must assume you’re a huge bitch.” I don’t remember which classmate said this between sips of coffee, but I will never forget how it sent me reeling. Though my college days are now behind me, this reminder of how my hearing loss intersects with my role as a woman is never far from my mind. Every one of us has multiple parts of our identity. Two components of mine are my hearing loss and my identity as a woman.

India has a serious problem with rape.The most harrowing example of rape/homicide in recent memory has to be the case of Jyoti Singh, a physiotherapy student who was brutally raped and murdered on a bus in 2012. The horrific nature of her attack — and the fact that she lived in agony for days after being gang raped, partially eviscerated with a metal rod, then thrown by the side of the road and left for dead — drew international attention to the growing problem of violence against women in India.

What makes mean girls mean? It's a question that has intrigued feminists, parents, and Hollywood for decades, but what do scientists have to say about this seemingly inevitable social phenomenon? The latest theories may blow your mind. One of my favorite books as a child was The Against Taffy Sinclair Club. It was a YA novel about a group of fifth-grade girls who form a club devoted to dissing their classmate Taffy. What was so wrong with Taffy? Well for starters, she made the egregious mistake of growing boobs. I adored this story, and for all the wrong reasons.

In South Korea, a coalition of LGBT activists are trying to start a wave against conversion therapy — a wave that’s barely visible for now.South Korea brands itself as a democratic nation, a polar opposite from its northern neighbor, and boasts one of the biggest economies in the world. But it's still largely homophobic.Edhi Park, a transgender activist for LGBT rights, knows this from experience. She was raised in a Christian family who taught her that gender aberrations like homosexuality were an illness.