Birth Control
The Popularity of the Pill Is Plummeting—at the Exact Moment It Shouldn’t Be
Birth control gave women control over their bodies, their careers and their futures. A cultural campaign against the pill risks rolling all this back.
Emma Haslett
Sports
When Soccer Wasn’t Such a Guy Thing
Women’s soccer in the U.K. goes way back in history. But at one point it was banned. By the time the ban was lifted, the damage had been done.
Infertility
‘Ethical IVF’ May Be the Problematic Solution to Donald Trump’s IVF Dilemma
By supporting IVF, Trump drove a wedge between two factions of his followers. So-called “ethical IVF” may be how he stitches them back together.
Worklife
When Your Boss Tells You to Come In 5 Days a Week, Here’s What You Can Say
After five years of work from home, return-to-office mandates are everywhere. But research shows that nobody really benefits—not even businesses.
Technology
AI Skews Beautiful. What Is That Doing to Us?
Images of people generated by AI tend to be gorgeous, even when creators ask them to be ugly. That could have a profound effect on our emotional wellbeing.
Infertility
Everyone Has Their View on Surrogacy. Few Actually Understand It.
When Lily Collins announced her child had been born via surrogate, the judgments and criticisms were swift and brutal. Many were just plain wrong.
Technology
Instagram is Home to Thriving Communities. Meta's Plans Risk Cutting Them Off.
Mark Zuckerberg's plans to change content moderation at Meta risk cutting off communities that have become vital lifelines for women.
Books
Our Year In Books: Escape? Engage? Do Both?
The Persistent's editors round up their favorite reads of the year.
Books
Two Friends, One Diagnosis: This Is a Love Story
When Kat Alexander started looping through cycles of mania, it was her best friend, Mara Altman, who came to the rescue.
Beauty
A Rash On My Face Made Me Reassess My Relationship With Makeup. Here’s What I Learned.
Can you wear makeup and still call yourself a feminist?
Culture
'Now It's Over, I Don't Feel Any Better At All’
The short film, “Incompatible,” tells the story of a pregnant-working class woman making an all-but-impossible choice.
Persisting Through Politics
How Angry Should Women Voters Be?
The journalist Jessica Valenti chronicles the pro-life movement in forensic detail in her new book. Ahead of the election, she says, voters need to get angry.
Culture
The Janice Problem
A rewatch of Friends reveals it isn't the post-feminist masterpiece we thought it was.
Royalty
Was the Queen a Feminist?
Two years after her passing, the jury's still out.
Persisting Through Politics
Gender Equality Isn’t Just a Women’s Issue. Tim Walz Knows That.
The vice presidential candidate is a plain-speaking Midwesterner—whose experiences mean he has prioritized policies traditionally classed as “women’s issues”.
Sports
What Happened to the ‘Most Equal Olympics in History’?
Statistically, Paris 2024 may be the most gender-equal games ever—but the first few days have proven that there’s a long way to go before true equality is achieved.