HuffPost Personal

"As he pocketed items, I’d surreptitiously scan our surroundings, mortified, hoping nobody else had noticed."
"He feigned hesitation about the fact that I had 'just been 16.' But he didn’t move his hand from my thigh."
"I wanted to go to the park whenever and read one more book and not stress about the stuff left out on the counter. "
"I found that the things fractured by our separation and divorce began to heal."
"I was taught to be a good feminist and turn my nose up at porn. Then everything I thought I knew about resisting objectification was turned upside down."
"It has been habitual, since I left the enclave, my careful shuttering of myself."
"I stood outside MTV’s TRL with signs, covered *NSYNC for Teen People magazine, and met 98 Degrees when they signed CDs at a local mall."
"Was this why I could never shake that lonely gnawing in my belly when I was growing up? Was she the reason?"
"My mother’s guiding principle was that it was more important to look good than to feel good. ... When I was in high school, she sat me down and gently explained that I was no natural beauty."