Category: Bullish Life
Bullish Life: I Have A New Idea For How To Reduce Rape
I recently did an interview in which I was asked how I became such a risk taker, and how other women can become more comfortable with risk. I gave a long answer. Most of the time we hesitate to take risks, what we’re really afraid of isn’t jail or death: it’s embarrassment, rejection, and the [...]
Bullish Life: “Wedding Homework,” Plus a Gentle(wo)manly Wedding Vow Suggestion
In the next 30 days, I’m finishing a masters degree, launching a company, and getting married. Personally, I thrive on the excitement. I also thrive on espresso. My fiance and I (see Bullish Life: How I Met My (Soon-to-Be) Husband On OKCupid) are not religious and do not share any close friends who might want [...]
Bullish Life: On Miscarriages, Goldfish, And Misunderstandings As The Price Of Freedom
Dear Jen, My blatant overshare is that I’ve had two miscarriages this winter, and what I didn’t realize before was that miscarriage totally blows. Women get all the worst shit to deal with! Nobody really gets it (including your partner, even if he kindly doesn’t judge your need to drown yourself in the antiseptic waters [...]
Bullish Life: How to Really Change People’s Minds (Hint: Later)
When I was in college, the Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance led members and allies in participating in the national Day of Silence, a “national youth-run effort using silence to protest the actual silencing of LGBT people due to harassment, bias and abuse in schools.” On a particular day, we would not speak, and we would wear [...]
Bullish Life: Starting a Business After a Break-up
Hi Jen, So my boyfriend basically dumped me after Thanksgiving, and I have spent a lot of the week reading your articles, like (off the top of my head) the one on breaking free from terrible situations, the one about the 3 romantic mistakes young women make, responding to disappointment with awesomeness, motivating yourself to [...]
Bullish Life: What To Do About the Roommate From Hell
I once had a roommate who appeared to be drinking an entire case (24 cans) of Miller Lite every single night. One night, she threatened someone with a small knife. The next day, I asked her to leave. When she was sober, she was totally reasonable. “Oh, I threatened someone with a knife! That is [...]
Bullish Life: How Much Survivalism Should We All Engage In, Without Building Bomb Shelters?
I once went on a two-week hiking/camping trip over a stretch of the Appalachian Trail. I did not train for this trip. I did, however, make numerous trips to Asian grocery stores to buy dehydrated everything (vegetarian squid made out of yam flour, with tentacle-suckers painted on!), enough to feed three people for several days. [...]
Bullish Life: When Men Are Too Emotional To Have A Rational Argument
On the night of the election, I was alone in my apartment, refreshing CNN.com. The electoral tally went above 270. I refreshed again! Finally, the headline! I wanted to share with someone, so I went downstairs and told my doorman. I assumed he would be pro-Obama, and I was not wrong. I think I said, [...]
Bullish Life: Weight Lifting For Ladies And Unicorns
Dear Jen, I just found Bullish/TheGloss and want to say thank you. I also want to say that when I read you were/are(?) a bodybuilder it made me that much more excited! I’ve recently discovered weightlifting and want it to actually matter. Thank you for saying it’s okay (and GOOD) to lift heavy things. This [...]
Bullish Life: When To Cut Your Losses And Walk Away
The above is a still from the end of the 1988 classic Heathers, from right around the part when Winona Ryder blows up her boyfriend and declares herself the “new sheriff in town.” Let’s see a letter from a reader who’s friend is stuck in a shrubbery-filled rut. How do you know when it’s time [...]
