Emma Haslett - The Persistent

A woman in a white dress, sitting on a chair, twists her body to look up at the sky.

Culture

Visceral, Dark, Hopeful: The World Through Women’s Eyes

This year's Women Photograph grant winners offer an honest, hopeful view of the world as it looks through a woman's lens.

Illustration of a man cooking at a stove while a woman works at her laptop.

Relationships

The Day I Walked Out of The Kitchen

My choice is to leave all planning, preparation and worrying about food to my husband. That feels like a radical feminist act.

A watercolor painting of Margo Selby (left) and Helen Caddick (right), the creators of "Moon Landing"

Culture

‘The Chaotic, the Creative, the Instinctive, the Structured, the Mathematical’

An immersive project at Canterbury Cathedral marks the 1969 moon landing—and the women from a Navajo reservation in New Mexico who made that landing possible.

A split screen: On the top a smaller number of dots on a green background; on the bottom a larger number of dots on a pink background.

Work-Life Balance

'If You’re Looking For Work-Life Balance, This Isn't It.'

Those who can’t meet the increased demands of employers will naturally lose out.

A photo illustration shows a scattered collection of packets of the pill, depicted in bright colors.

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.

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.

An artist's illustration of two hands grabbing a medical needles which is inserted into a petri dish.

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.

An illustration of a woman working at her laptop; behind her is cross-section of a house; overlaid are pictures of birds and flowers.

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.

Collage illustration: a black-and-white photo of a woman is reflected in a mirror, with blue, orange and green adornments.

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.

Black and white image of Lily Collins in a sparkly dress and her husband Charlie McDowell in a three-piece suit.

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.

Watercolor showing Mara Altman, with long dark hair and Kat Alexander, with long blonde hair. They're both smiling.

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.

Illustration: rear view of a woman, in an olive-colored dress, staring into a mirror surrounded by feminist posters.

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?

Black and white photo of Maxine Peake and Hayley Standing walking down a lane in Yorkshire. Behind them is a dry-stone wall.

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.

A watercolor painting of the author Jessica Valenti. She has short hair in a bob and is wearing bright lipstick.

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.