In just over two months, America will be governed by President Donald Trump. And less than two weeks after the election, it already feels like we’re living in a dystopia — with white supremacists appointed to Trump’s staff, talk of Muslim internment camps, and Trump’s camp saying he never said things that there is actual video evidence of him saying. When Hulu announced that its adaptation of the Handmaid’s Tale was coming in 2017, people responded, “Yeah, we know.” And that’s not all — before November 8, several… Read more

Princess Nokia is unstoppable. As she continues her tour around the country, the New York City rapper recently surprised fans with two new music videos from her latest album 1992: witchy girl-anthem "Brujas" and gamer girl inspired "Kitana." Nokia co-directed and created the concept behind "Brujas." The video is heavily influenced by Yoruba religion — including clips modeled after Yemaya, the female water spirit who represents the mother of all things. With her gang of witches, they cast spells, Nokia co-directed and… Read more

Meat Swimmer In a new feature, we're expanding our "Parting Glance" portrait from BUST magazine! In our October/November issue, we feature the glorious painting "Meat Swimmer" (above) by Penelope Gazin as our "Parting Glance" (FYI, if you don't subscribe to BUST — you should, and you can do it right here, right now — the "Parting Glance" is a full-page feature of a work of feminist art that appears in every other issue.) Penelope shared a few more of her paintings with us for you to gaze at online — including two new… Read more

Since Trump’s election, my social media feeds are full of people from traditionally oppressed groups (women, LGBTQ, people of color, religious minorities) posting about their anger at current events and people from traditionally privileged groups (white men, often Christian) shaming them for their anger. The policing of our emotions perpetuates a culture of silencing that allows racism and misogyny to thrive. Here is why you should stop telling us not to be angry and what you should do instead. 1. Anger is an… Read more

I visited a local health clinic for a general physical exam. “Are you sexually active?” was among the many intrusive questions asked. Sometime between taking my temperature and making me stand on a scale, the young, red-haired nurse (not a natural redhead, by the way) asked me this very personal question. I’m 24 years old and no stranger to the cold, bleak buildings we call medical centers. Typically, I breeze through these sorts of questions with an air of indifference. However, this time I was in my hometown — a very… Read more

Virtual reality is finally an actual reality. Here’s why you need to try it. You’re in someone’s kitchen in the Gaza strip. To your right, a woman is busy cooking, while another woman tells you about her life here. You look down and admire the tiled floor, then turn around and check out the appliances. Next, you’re standing alone on a giant plain. The sun is setting, and when you look up, you see that there isn’t a cloud in the sky. In front of you, a herd of bison is making its way across the plain. A few curious… Read more

Enough Said “It’s hard to pin down what is so great about Holofcener’s work,” said a review of Enough Said in The New Yorker. It’s true. Like Nora Ephron before her and perhaps Lynn Shelton after her, Holofcener’s five films are easy to watch and put you into a world you may not necessarily know but somehow feels familiar. Holofcener makes her female characters not likable, exactly, but relatable. They are nice enough people but we also recognize and relate to their flaws. As The New Yorker review went on to say, “her… Read more

Memes. We all know them, love them, laugh with them, and sometimes even cry. Memes are pairings of text and images that are so relatable, we can’t help but share them. In the evolution of meme-making, a feminist subculture has been born. Meme admins and makers are creating safe spaces on their pages, challenging the hyper-aggressive aspects of internet culture, and revealing what it is like to be a girl alone on the internet. Many of these accounts critically engage with feminist theory and activism, as well as social… Read more

We recently came across this hilarious comic, "How To Drive Him Crazy In Bed," by cartoonist, illustrator, and writer Gemma Correll. Gemma kindly agreed to let us share the comic with you here. Enjoy — and try out the tips for yourself. ;) This comic originally appeared on Medium and has been reprinted with permission. More from BUST 13 Joe Biden Memes To Soothe Your Soul In This Dark, Dark World American C*nts Fight Back! With Jena Friedman: BUST Review Watch Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Shut Down A Random White Man About… Read more

Nearly a month ago, 19-year-old Heraa Hashmi was asked by a classmate why Muslims don't "condemn violence." Since then, she's been pulling up the receipts to prove her classmate's assumptions wrong. On Saturday, Hashmi tweeted the results of her effort: a 712 page long list of 5,686 examples of Muslims all over the world denouncing acts of violence and terrorism in the name of Islam. Oh, and it's completely sourced and organized by four different identifiers. (Heraa, more like Hero, am I right?) The list garnered so… Read more

Dear Straight, White, Male Friends, This election has affected me, a privileged white woman, more than I ever could have expected. I feel angry, sad, frustrated, disappointed. I am, to put it mildly, furious. I assumed that my friends, my community, and my country valued me. I assumed wrong. I assumed that my community would mourn with me. I assumed that all of you, my straight, white, male friends, would stand with me. Over the past week, I’ve discovered that I assumed wrong. As a country, as a planet, as individuals,… Read more

Q: My fiancé and I had a blockbuster sex life, but then he almost died and became disabled. It’s been almost two years since we had sex. He hates his body and is too embarrassed to be sexual. He refuses therapy. How can I help him accept his body enough to be sexual again? –Sexless in Seattle A: I, too, have a partner who was rendered rather suddenly disabled, so I feel you. Part of the issue with acquiring a disability is the shock of this happening to you at all; it did happen to you, too, in a way, so I hope you… Read more

This past week has been one of the shittiest in human existence. So there’s no better time to bring you a recipe for poop emoji cupcakes. We’ve had this excerpt from the book CAKEMOJI: Recipes & Ideas For Sweet-Talking Treats in the works for the past few weeks, since before the election, when the world was a brighter place. Back then, the cupcakes seemed funny and cute. Now, they still seem funny and cute, but they’re also very, very appropriate. So, make these to celebrate making it through the first week after… Read more

Photo via Instagram Nicki Minaj fans, get your headphones ready. She's back and better than ever. Hopeful fans were duped last month by Minaj when she tweeted about surprise-dropping a new album (nothing was ever released). The rap superstar hasn't released any new music in a while so we're glad that this new track has broke through Minaj's radio silence. Her latest remix slays to the tune of Rae Sremmurd's viral banger "Black Beatles." Appropriately titled "Black Barbies," Nicki's verses are cool and ruthless. "Island… Read more

Today in terrifying, rage-inducing, post-election news, one of Donald Trump’s surrogates has suggested that we look to America’s WWII Japanese internment camps as inspiration for what to do to Muslim Americans. According to the New York Times, Carl Higbie, who is a former spokesman for the Trump-backing Great America PAC and former Trump surrogate, made these comments during an appearance on Fox News’ “The Kelly File.” He was discussing Trump transition team member (and possibly Trump’s future Attorney General) Kris… Read more

It's been about a week since the official election results have come out. People are continuing to resist in any way they can — from petitions passed around social media, protests across the country, to donations to charities like Planned Parenthood, the National Immigrant Law Center, and the Trevor Project — but many of us are still asking if there's more we can do to undermine Donald Trump's power. #GrabYourWallet, created by digital strategist Shannon Coulter, is hitting Trump where it hurts: his family's profits.… Read more

Image via Instagram/KirbyJenner Until recently, I didn’t have a favorite Kardashian/Jenner — no shade to KUWTK fans, but as far as reality TV goes, I’m more of a Real Housewives kinda gal — that is, until I discovered the Instagram account of Kirby Jenner, Kendall Jenner’s Birkenstock-wearing, party sub-eating, mustachioed twin brother. Kirby’s account, which has 365,000 followers (including Kendall and Kylie) documents the twins’ hilarious hijinks (mooning Justin Bieber's boat! Showing up to a fashion show dressed as… Read more

Looking for hot singles in your area who feel included in the profile process of a dating app? Well, Tinder is stepping up! People using the dating app finally have an opportunity to provide more information about their gender identity, as opposed to just submitting "male" or "female." With this update users can identify as transgender, trans man, trans woman, gender queer, agender, and over 30 other identities. The update comes after Business Insider reported in June that some transgender users reported being banned… Read more

A new makeup brand provides push-back for put-downs Let’s face it: re-appropriating slurs can be a real bitch. But The Smear Campaign, a new cosmetics company with much more than beauty in mind, has a kiss-worthy solution. Inspired by a dissertation she wrote about how severely swear words affect women and female sexuality, founder Alyssa Skinner created the brand to put a bold twist on redefining derogatory terms. Using makeup as a physical tool of empowerment (and a conversation starter for the way we talk about… Read more

When the exit polls for the 2016 election were released after the election, they showed that 55 percent of 18-24-year-olds, 49 percent of college graduates, and 58 percent of postgraduates voted for Hillary Clinton for president. Yet it is important to recognize that this election is far from the first election that college students voted left— in 2012 60 percent and in 2008 66 percent of 18-29-year-olds voted for a Democratic candidate. In nearly every state, college campuses are overwhelmingly populated by… Read more

On January 20, 2017 Donald Trump will be sworn into office as the 45th president of the United States. As scary as that seems, and in the wake of hundreds of hate crimes within the week since the election, we cannot afford to stay silent against oppression promoted by the president-elect. If you need motivation to join the fight, or to continue your part in it, look for courage in these quotes about oppression, justice, and revolution. Photo via Instagram "I am angry. We should all be angry. Anger has a long history of… Read more

Brad Hoylman is a State Senator from New York’s 27th Senate District, which includes a good deal of Manhattan — including Greenwich Village, where he resides. Hoylman is an openly gay and Jewish politician; in fact, he is the only openly LGBTQ+ member of the State Senate. According to his website, “Brad is the prime sponsor of legislation legalizing gestational surrogacy in New York and banning so-called LGBTQ conversion therapy, and he is a co-sponsor of the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act.” Hoylman practices… Read more

Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton LOVINGWritten and directed by Jeff NicholsOut November 4Rating: 3/5 Almost 50 years after the Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia made interracial marriage legal across the U.S., a biopic has arrived. Writer/director Jeff Nichols (Mud) tells the story of the Lovings’ case as an intimate family drama, spending far more time in homes and cars than in courtrooms. The film opens in 1958, as Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton), who is white, and his pregnant girlfriend Mildred (Ruth Negga), who… Read more

The Piano Lesson by Henriëtte Ronner-Knip, 1897 One does not have to be a fan of classical music to be familiar with the works of French composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. The two rivals were part of the Impressionism movement in classical music, a movement inspired by Impressionist painters like Monet, Manet, and Renoir and poets such as Verlaine and Baudelaire. They were also renowned cat lovers who famously allowed their feline muses to prowl at liberty amongst their papers while composing such masterpieces… Read more

We’ve been loving the Barbies made in likenesses of real people, and now, in addition to an Ava DuVernay Barbie and a Misty Copeland Barbie, there’s an Ashley Graham Barbie. As you probably know, Ashley is a plus size model who has broken barriers by becoming the first plus-size model on the cover of Sports Illustrated, appearing in editorial fashion shoots, and repping body positivity. (She’s appeared in BUST, too.) Speaking with the Hollywood Reporter, Ashley said that she wanted her Barbie to be as close to her own… Read more

In one of his first official acts after the election, President-elect Donald Trump announced the appointment of a chief strategist even more bigoted and dangerous than he is: Steve Bannon. On Tuesday a number of Democratic senators decided they couldn't stand for that. Senators Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), and Senator-elect Chris Van Hollen (Md.) held a press conference making it very clear that they did not support the hiring of Bannon, calling him a racist… Read more

It was a dark, stormy night, or maybe a sunny afternoon in Kabul, when our casual conversation over chai and samosas drifted to a darker place. As we sat together with some of our dear Afghan friends, a few days before Halloween, the subject of the supernatural was a given topic of conversations. Everyone loves a good supernatural tale, and our Afghan hosts entertained us with some very intriguing tales of Djinns and mystics and the unexplained from the other side, intertwined with the vast history and mythology of… Read more

President-elect Donald Trump (ugh) campaigned on the oppression of vulnerable communities — women, people of color, LGBTQ folks, Latinx people, Muslim and Jewish people, immigrants, disabled people, and pretty much everyone who’s not a straight, white, wealthy, Christian, American, cis man. Not so coincidentally, the communities that Trump constantly taunted, threatened, and oppressed are also the people who are most vulnerable to bullying in schools when they are children. And now, the New York Times writes that… Read more

“I started out with my own feminine and masculine duality for each character,” says South Korean-born actress, musician, and multimedia artist Jihae about developing the characters of twin sisters Joon and Hana Seung — she plays both — in the six-part National Geographic miniseries Mars. “I found that immersing myself in both the outer and inner makings of the characters helped to separate Joon from Hana, who are also very much alike as identical twins.” The series, which takes place in the years 2016 and 2033, is a… Read more

Harlem Renaissance superstar Gladys Bentley brought infamy to her favorite venue—a notorious speakeasy called the Clam House—and created a gay nightlife scene 100 years ahead of its time. Dressed in a tailored white tuxedo and backed up by a chorus line of female impersonators, singer/pianist Gladys Bentley was outrageous—even at a time when Harlem was legendary for its nightlife. A 1936 article in The Afro American described her stage act this way: “Prancing about in her cream-colored full dress suit, her hair closely… Read more

Say it in style with this artist’s jewelry collection! From earrings featuring tampons dipped in dark red glitter to a necklace that reads chubby pussy, L.A.-based artist Corinne Loperfido has perfected a balance between the weird and the inspirational. The bulk of her jewelry collection is plexiglass pieces she digitally designs and laser cuts; colorful earrings ($15–$42) and thick-chained necklaces ($42–$62) featuring graphic slogans—witchy shit, lick my clit, and booty not booze are just a few—meant to defy the… Read more

In wake of the election of President-Elect Trump and a Republican-run Senate and House, many people are understandable, absolutely terrified. This rings particularly true for people who currently live on the fringe of our societies, and who have just become even more vulnerable. My Facebook news feed is filled with many people saying to relax—'nothing's happened yet'. This sentiment is overwhelming projected from white, straight males (Not entirely—but the majority). While there isn't direct malice behind these… Read more

On Monday we said goodbye to one of the country's leading political journalists, Gwen Ifill. The host of Washington Week, and PBS News Hour died due to complications from uterine cancer at the age of 61. Ifill was an American Peabody Award-winning journalist, best-selling author, and the moderator for two vice presidential debates, in 2004 and 2008. As an African-American woman in a typically male-dominated field, she faced discrimination throughout her career, but continued to work tirelessly to objectively cover… Read more

After Donald Trump was elected president on November 8, there were calls to those who opposed him to give the president-elect a chance; to wait and see what decisions he made before protesting. And not even a week after the election, President-elect Trump hired white nationalist Steve Bannon as his chief strategist. Before joining the Trump campaign Bannon led the conservative news website Breitbart. He used the site to promote his bigotry, calling it the "platform for the alt-right movement." You say alt-right, I say… Read more

With Donald Trump as America’s president-elect, we need women to tell their stories now more than ever. And that’s especially true when those women are talking about reproductive justice, misogyny, racism, and xenophobia. Enter Jena Friedman, 33, a bold new voice in feminist comedy, whose one-hour comedy special, American Cunt, debuted last month on Seeso, NBC’s new digital platform, and who appeared on Colbert’s live election night coverage, imploring women to “get your abortions now, because we’re going to be fucked… Read more

I have a memory of my mother so clear I almost feel as if I was there. My mother is sitting in a circle with the other moms of my kindergarten class and her eyes fire up as each woman introduces herself. I am Ji-eun’s mother.I am Ah-ram’s mother.I am Min-sook’s mother. In my mind, even though it was not part of her story, my mom’s voice booms when it is her turn. “My name is Kim Hyun-sook,” she says so proudly it almost puts the other moms to shame. Korea is not a country that does not know the importance of a name.… Read more

This summer, I moved out of my liberal bubble of a city and headed for a small town an hour up the coast. My reasons for leaving the city were all related to my mental health: the combination of working two jobs to afford the Boston rent, the noise and the pace of its streets, and the catcalls and invasions of space I experienced almost daily was contributing to a head full of chaos and fear. A series of traumas, and the resulting anxiety, had led me to develop an eating disorder that was on its way to killing me. One… Read more

Prods to help your flaccid partner get a stiffy in a jiffy What do you do when you and your partner want to get it on but their dick isn’t up to the challenge? Of course, there are all types of sex to be had that don’t focus on penile penetration, but sometimes you wanna get it in when you get it on. If your sex friend is being cockblocked by everyday life—stress at work, SSRIs, or, in the case of my significant other, whiskey shots—there are ways to get stiff without a little blue pill. (If your partner is having… Read more

In the days since the election, President Obama has been incredibly polite and gracious while dealing with Donald J. Trump — the very man who started the conspiracy theory that Obama was secretly born in Kenya and who stands for everything Obama is against. Obama has to be polite to Trump in order to secure the peaceful transfer of power — but he’s subtly undermining Trump all the while. How? By acting like he expects the best of Trump — and talking about it. As reported by the New York Times, yesterday, Obama said… Read more

Nearly one week ago, it was decided that an outwardly intolerant bigot would be the next President of the United States. Donald J. Trump, a racist, homophobic, xenophobic, misogynist rapist, a reality T.V. star with absolutely no prior political experience, has been appointed to lead this country, with an equally-as-awful VP Mike Pence by his side. I don’t think I need to delve into the details to explain what, exactly, is so terrifying about this decision. Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re fully aware… Read more

Hasn’t Michelle Obama’s week been shitty enough? Two government officials in Clay, West Virginia are making headlines for their racist comments about Michelle Obama. As reported by the Washington Post and Jezebel, the then-director of Clay County Development Corp. Pamela Ramsay Taylor celebrated Donald Trump’s victory with these remarks on Facebook: “It will be so refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady back in the White House. I’m tired of seeing an ape in heels.”Clay’s mayor, Beverly Whaling,… Read more

Image via BBC During a conversation on BBC Newsnight Friday, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the We Should All Be Feminists author, shut down grumpy troll/American Spectator editor-in-chief R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. when he insisted that Trump “hasn’t been racist.” “If you’re a white man, you don’t get to define what racism is,” she said. “It’s not about your opinion. Racism is an objective reality, and Donald Trump has inhabited that reality.” Tyrrell’s response to that elegantly stated truth? “You know, the false consciousness… Read more

Image via Etsy/SummerHolidayVintage Now is a more crucial time than ever to be heard by our representatives in Congress. But people may not know the most effective way to get their attention. Emily Ellsworth, a former Congressional staffer, explains on Twitter why you should be picking up the phone: 1. Staffers don't check social media. 2. Consider good old-fashioned snail mail... 3. ...but it's better to pick up the phone! 4. Staffers can't answer all letters personally, but they have to answer phone calls: 5.… Read more

On Sunday, Paul Ryan on CNN explained his plans for Affordable Care Act once Donald Trump takes office, and well, things are not looking so good for women. Trump vehemently promised his supporters he would repeal the ACA once he took office but he has already backed off his word to completely replace the program. After he met with Obama, he declared he'll allow young adults to remain on their parents' insurance plans until they're 26 and ensure that people with pre-existing conditions will not be denied coverage or… Read more

Most of us couldn’t survive day-to-day without the internet and its host of benign distractions. But for many others, the internet is quite literally a survival tool — one that connects them with the rest of the world and gives them a voice to speak out against tyranny. And since the world now seems gripped by unprecedented political turmoil, it’s worth a look at how the internet — and social media specifically — has helped protests and political uprisings gain traction all across the world, from the Dakota Access… Read more

I can’t recall when the lump fully developed. It’s not visible in its shadow, but it follows me the way uncertainty follows a curious mind. In the United States, nearly 1 in 8 million women will develop invasive breast cancer during their lifetime. This year, 246,660 cases will be diagnosed in women, along with 61,000 new cases of women with carcinoma, the non-invasive form of breast cancer. My mother is one of 2.8 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. Her sister, Amalia, conquered the same malicious… Read more

In 1939, First Lady Eleonor Roosevelt publicly condemned the Daughters of the American Revolution after they refused to allow celebrated opera singer Marian Anderson, who was black, to perform at DAR Constitution Hall. After sending this letter and resigning from the DAR — a move that inspired thousands of others to do the same — Eleanor Roosevelt invited Anderson to sing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, a concert that 75,000 people attended. We're excited to bring you Roosevelt's letter in full, an excerpt from… Read more

One of the only glimmers of light in this dark, post-election world is the rise of Joe Biden memes. In these memes, photos of Vice President Joe Biden with President Barack Obama (or other Democratic politicians) are captioned with dialogue that shows Biden coming up with diabolical pranks against Donald Trump. While they shouldn’t distract you from actual action, like protesting, donating, calling your representatives, and protecting vulnerable communities, these memes might give you just a tiny bit of relief. More… Read more

Curries are the secret champions of flexible comfort food: a richly aromatic base that’s not exactly a soup or a stew, but still packed with bangin’ flavor that screams, “Yes, add that random ingredient, it will still taste amazing!” Even fruit. Virtually any tropical fruit is a winner in curry, but the fantastically fatty queen of them all, avocado, creates a delicious velvety base in this classic Thai green curry. Like anything made with fresh avocado, this curry should be consumed immediately. Avocado Green Curry… Read more

In the days since the election, president-elect Donald Trump (it hurts to type that) has begun assembling his staff. And along with the unsurprising choice of RNC chairman Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff, Trump chose someone who might be even worse for the United States than Donald Trump himself: Stephen K. Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News and the former CEO of the Trump campaign. Bannon is now Trump's senior counselor and chief West Wing strategist. Breitbart, as you might know, is an… Read more