Photo by Teslariu Mihai on Unsplash Existentialist philosophers remind us that human beings often choose comfort over conflict. To live in bad faith, as Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir argue, is to surrender freedom for the security of familiarity. Instead of embracing responsibility for our choices, we cling to patterns and roles that feel...
Photo by Olu Famule on Unsplash Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys is more than a story of two boys trapped in a brutal reform school. It’s also a study in masculinity — what boys are told to be, what they’re punished for being, and how friendship and vulnerability reshape those expectations. Through Elwood and Turner,...
Photo by Andras Vas on Unsplash When Dave Eggers published The Circle in 2013, some readers dismissed it as dystopian satire — a cautionary tale about a fictional Google–Amazon–Facebook mashup gone too far. But more than a decade later, Eggers’ world feels less like satire and more like a mirror. Mae Holland, the novel’s protagonist,...
Photo by Ksenia Yakovleva on Unsplash Halloween, for many, is a night of costumes, candy, and carved pumpkins. But before plastic pumpkins and fun-size chocolate bars, there was Samhain—a sacred Celtic festival marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of the darker half of the year. This ancient holiday wasn’t just a seasonal...
Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash When The Devil Wears Prada hit theaters in 2006, many saw it as a stylish workplace comedy with unforgettable one-liners (“That’s all.”). But beneath the designer gowns and icy glares, the film offers a sharp critique of materialism, gendered workplace culture, and the pressure women face to conform to...
Photo by Daniel Lincoln on Unsplash It’s almost impossible to walk into a Halloween store without stumbling into a wall of sequins, corsets, and miniskirts. Somewhere between the Mean Girls “I’m a mouse, duh” reference and today’s TikTok trends, women’s Halloween costumes became almost exclusively about how much skin they reveal—no matter the character. Nurse?...
Photo by Ksenia Yakovleva on Unsplash “When a woman thinks alone, she thinks evil.” — common proverb in early modern Europe, quoted in Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici Witches have been burned at the stake, cast as villains, glamorized on screen, turned into Halloween costumes, and sold back to us as empowerment merchandise....
Photo by Ksenia Yakovleva on Unsplash Griffin Dunne’s 1998 cult classic Practical Magic may be remembered for its cozy New England aesthetic, margarita nights, and the irresistible charm of Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as the Owens sisters—but beneath its whimsical surface, the film is a rich text for exploring gender, sexuality, and feminist resistance....
Photo by Viktor Talashuk on Unsplash As the smell of fresh pencils, pumpkin spice, and anxiety wafts through the air, another back-to-school ritual returns like clockwork: the enforcement of school dress codes. On paper, these policies are meant to “create a distraction-free learning environment.” In practice? They overwhelmingly target girls, reinforcing harmful ideas about modesty,...
Photo by Mustafa Omar on Unsplash For decades, the United States birth rate has been steadily declining. Economists often cite economic instability, shifting cultural priorities, and the soaring cost of living as key factors. Sociologists point to the growing acceptance of child-free lifestyles alongside expanded educational and career opportunities for women. Yet, to discuss birth...