Real Life

The only New Year's resolution Nicola Appleton kept was to give up clothes shopping for a year.

I quit clothes shopping for a year and this is what I learnt

Nicola Appleton

Susan Berg is using the swim to raise funds for a domestic violence shelter, after becoming a survivor of family abuse.

This is how the sole survivor of a boat accident overcomes fear

Daisy Dumas

Pink Shopping Lady with doughnut using technology

Why sometimes it pays to forget being frugal

COMMENT
Kate Hagerty

"I may have friends scattered around the globe but I don't have anyone near me."

What it's like when you don't have a girl gang

Jennifer Morton

You must be fun at parties and other insults from the treacherous edge of the internet.

Why I secretly dread the holiday party season

Sally Friedman

"Our relationship was an IOU exchange that only went one way."

My boyfriend didn't want to be a rapist, but he was

Michelle Jones*

"A doula has your back," says Helen Callanan.

Doulas aren't just for birth - they're now helping families through death too

Evelyn Lewin

Everything had been organised, down to the dress and the wedding cake.

My daughter cancelled her wedding, and this is why I'm proud of her

COMMENT
Jenna Price

Death is a huge part of life and the more you know about it, the better off you are.

How embracing death can make our lives richer

Daisy Dumas

Sarah Christian was seven years old when she lost a patch of hair the size of a 20-cent piece.

Think dating is hard? Try navigating it with alopecia

Daisy Dumas

Was sex easier for me when I was able-bodied? Unquestionably. Is it still fun for me now? Hell, yes.

I wish I had started having sex sooner

Litsa Dremousis

The flight to safety takes the support of an entire society.

'Get the baby and run!' screamed my mother. And I did. And I've never forgotten

COMMENT
Andie Fox

"When I grow up I want to be a detective", Tom Newby wrote in 2004.

Tom's kindergarten teacher kept his work from 2004 then left him this note on the eve of his final year exams

Jenna Price
1 hr ago

After sharing sardines with a local stray, James Hughes learns they can be hard to snub.

What I learned over a few dinners with a stray cat

James Hughes

It can be difficult to know exactly when to discuss mental health issues in the delicate early stage of a relationship.

Dating with a mental illness

Linda Moon

Aminata Conteh-Biger on the stage in The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe. The making of the play has now been ...

'I was kidnapped and raped for being too beautiful'

Daisy Dumas

Bellagio on Como.

Italy's lavish lakes that will leave you speechless

Michael Gebicki

"I've learnt to ignore doctors when they use my age as an excuse for anything."

I no longer listen when doctors tell me I'm 'too young', and neither should you

COMMENT
Jessica Seaborn

The idea of my father being unfaithful had been inconceivable at first.

Family secrets: 'I met my dad's mistress at his funeral'

Susan Morris

As a child, Ee'da Brahim's skin was bleached. She now writes and performs poetry to give her a sense of belonging in her ...

'My mum used to bleach me when I was little'

Daisy Dumas

"Inevitably, when one person is visibly disabled and the other is not, assumptions are made about who is dependent upon ...

The frustrating 'appearance politics' of travelling while disabled

Naomi Chainey

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 18: Australian pop icon Kylie Minogue performs on stage during her 'Kiss Me Once Tour' at ...

How I came to love gay music

Patrick Lenton

What courage Maggie has shown as she's learnt to love herself amid cancer's assault.

I gave my sister my bone marrow to help her fight lymphoma

Elizabeth Lesser

"I love my sister, but she can bugger off with that smug look she gives me when people ask who is older," writes Celeste ...

I look older than my older sister, and it's all her fault

Celeste Barber

"Returning home brings with it an expectation that everything will be the same, but the people I left behind have moved ...

The hardest part of moving overseas is the reverse culture shock of coming home

Mihal Greener

Celeste Barber on her wedding day with her bridesmaids.

My friend was my bridesmaid, but I wasn't hers

Celeste Barber

Benjamin Law

The one thing you need when travelling with Mum

Benjamin Law

Series of interesting people portraits on a white background and red velvet curtain.

I don't eat meat because I'm a feminist

Madison Griffiths

"It's possible to get a climax AND the baby. Still get tingly thinking about it."

Childbirth can be orgasmic, I promise

Jenna Price

Celeste Barber.

I got in trouble at yoga

Celeste Barber

Men's fears keep women from experiencing the new and different and exciting; it has us doubting ourselves.

Why women shouldn't be told that travelling alone is unsafe

COMMENT
Ann Deslandes

Former PM Julia Gillard must have felt a teensy weensy bit of schadenfreude over former PM Tony Abbott's short-lived ...

When you get a little bit of pleasure from someone else's pain

Kerri Sackville

The frustrations and joys of Kate Ryan's two-armed surroundings are a glimpse into a set of daily challenges that most ...

What it's like to live as a one-armed woman in a two-armed world

Daisy Dumas

My father was an alcoholic.

I wish I had asked my alcoholic father, 'Do you have any regrets?'

Bern Morley

These days, well wishes come in the form of a Facebook comment, and though they mean just as much, they lack the ...

Why I'll never let go of my childhood letters

Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen

"I love men, but they can be a liability - one I'm not willing to risk when I'm on my own in a foreign place."

I'm bisexual at home but a lesbian when travelling overseas

Breena Kerr

Grief can be expressed in different ways.

How grief affects us in different ways

Alexandra Newmarch

The fabulous Tess Holliday flexing at Mooloolaba.

A Fat Lady's Guide To Summer: The beach

Summer Guide
Maeve Marsden

"I was a single woman, and I wanted to name myself."

I'm a single woman - I decided to change my last name anyway

What's in a name
Jane Marcellus

Tara Winkler (seen here with Cambodian children in 2007) set up her own orphanage in Battambang, in the west of the ...

I unknowingly participated in an orphanage racket

Child exploitation
Tara Winkler

By marrying a same sex partner overseas, I have essentially now forfeited my right to marry at all.

I got same-sex married and now I can't get divorced

Divorce equality
Olivia Wilson

To build a career on a potentially devastating breach of trust, and keep rising when that breach keeps being thrown back ...

Before you judge me, here's why I got a Kim Kardashian tattoo

Ally Garrett

Writer Rebecca Shaw

Why it's so hurtful when friends complain about feeling 'fat'

Rebecca Shaw

Giselle Nguyen: "With every new hookup, it became less difficult to relax. I became more confident, caring less about ...

How casual hookup helped me overcome painful sex

Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen

The fabulous Tess Holliday flexing at Mooloolaba.

A Fat Lady's Guide To Summer: The beach

Summer Guide
Maeve Marsden

Rowe no longer feels compelled to hide behind a mask.

Jessica Rowe: I no longer feel compelled to hide behind a mask

Rosemarie Milsom

Writer Clem Bastow is a competitive jam maker.

How many groups do you belong to?

Self-identification
Clem Bastow

"Being able to 'pass' can be a major advantage, but it doesn't define who we are as people or what we can achieve in our ...

Living as a transgender woman who doesn't yet 'pass'

Passing Pressure
Kate Doak

Jana Hocking with her mother.

I accidentally fed my mum magic mushrooms for dinner

Jana Hocking

Marcia Ella-Duncan

I was the first Aboriginal woman to represent Australian netball

Marcia Ella-Duncan
Marcia Ella-Duncan

catnip flower

I am a North Korean defector

Real life
Yeonmi Park

catnip flower

Why Chinese parents don't say I love you

Real life
Candice Chung

catnip flower

The unspoken consequences of 'natural' birth

Birthing
Mavis King

Woman_TN

What happens to your body after an eating disorder

Real life
Chloe Angyal

catnip flower

The boys who killed James Bulger

Real crime
Jane Cornwell

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