Are we really listening to one another?
Across friendship, strained marriages, care, desire and departure, this issue treats intimacy as a political field: who has room to speak, whose silence is misread, and who is never heard.

In this issue
30 items
Books8

Books · May 2009
The Women's Room
Marilyn FrenchMarilyn French's bestselling 1977 novel follows Mira Ward from postwar marriage and unpaid domestic work back to Harvard, asking how economic dependence, women's solidarity, sexual violence, and race shape feminist freedom.
02
Books · Oct 2011
My Brilliant Friend
L'amica genialeElena FerranteIn 1950s Naples, Elena and Lila’s friendship is shaped by unequal schooling, class barriers, and gendered violence in the first Neapolitan novel.
03
Books · Jan 2001
All About Love
bell hooksRedefining the meaning of love, exploring how love can become the foundation for resisting oppression and building a just society, proposing an ethic of love as the core of social transformation.
04
Books · Jan 2016
In a Different Voice
Carol GilliganThis groundbreaking work challenges male-centric theories of moral development, proposing an alternative model of moral reasoning based on care, relationships, and responsibility. By listening to women's voices, Gilligan discovered the 'ethics of care' as a different moral voice, fundamentally transforming psychology's, ethics', and feminist theory's understanding of moral development.
05
Books · Jul 2019
Breasts and Eggs
夏物語Mieko KawakamiMieko Kawakami's 'Breasts and Eggs' is a monumental work of contemporary Japanese literature that challenges traditional feminine norms. The novel follows three women: Natsu, her older sister Makiko, and Makiko's daughter Midoriko. Through their intersecting lives, Kawakami explores questions of female agency, bodily autonomy, reproductive ethics, and the societal pressures placed on women's bodies in modern Japan.
06
Books · Jan 2016
The Argonauts
Maggie NelsonContemporary queen of memoir-theory fusion Maggie Nelson turns her lens on identity, desire, and family. This instant classic recounts Nelson's relationship with her partner, artist Harry Dodge. Through intimate documentation of family life and pregnancy, Nelson presents a complex portrait of modern queer motherhood with blurred boundaries.
07
Books · Jan 2004
The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love
bell hooksDeeply analyzes how patriarchy harms men, explores how men can participate in feminist movements, and advocates for building new masculinity based on love and equality.
08
Books · May 2022
Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change
Angela GarbesFirst-generation Filipino American author Angela Garbes combines memoir with cultural analysis to critically examine mothering expectations and assumptions, revealing how American society depends on yet often overlooks the essential contributions of mothers and family caregivers.
Films9

Films · Dec 2015
Happy Hour
ハッピーアワーRyusuke HamaguchiOver five hours and seventeen minutes, Ryusuke Hamaguchi follows four women approaching forty in Kobe as friendship, marriage, work and departure test what it takes to speak honestly and truly hear one another.
02
Films · May 2024
All We Imagine As Light
Payal KapadiaA groundbreaking work by Indian director Payal Kapadia, this historic masterpiece won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. Following three women of different ages - Prabha, Anu, and Parvaty - working together at a hospital in Mumbai, it explores their complex personal lives and the power of their mutually supportive friendship. With its poetic visual language, the film deeply examines crucial themes including female friendship, intergenerational solidarity, identity formation in urban development, and gender politics in modern India.
03
Films · Dec 2022
Women Talking
Sarah PolleyA drama film written and directed by Sarah Polley, adapted from Miriam Toews' novel of the same name. Set in a Bolivian Mennonite community, following a group of women who gather to discuss their future after discovering systematic sexual assault by men in their community. The film deeply explores important issues including religious patriarchy critique, collective trauma and healing, women's political awakening, and the power of silence versus voice.
04
Films · Apr 1962
Cléo from 5 to 7
Cléo de 5 à 7Agnès VardaAgnès Varda's 1962 masterpiece uses real-time filming to depict the psychological journey of a young singer awaiting cancer diagnosis results over two hours, standing as a landmark of both French New Wave and feminist cinema.
05
Films · May 2019
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Portrait de la jeune fille en feuCéline SciammaIn late 18th century Brittany, France, female painter Marianne is commissioned to paint a portrait of aristocrat Héloïse. This portrait will determine Héloïse's marriage, but she refuses to cooperate. During their time together, the two gradually develop a profound and secret emotional connection.
06
Films · Nov 2020
Little Big Women
孤味Joseph Chen-Chieh HsuA poignant Taiwanese drama exploring family secrets, grief, and the complex bonds between women across three generations as they organize a funeral for an estranged father.
07
Films · Oct 2019
Rocks
Sarah GavronThe story of East London Black teenage girl Olushola (nicknamed 'Rocks') who must survive independently with her brother Emmanuel after their mother suddenly leaves home, evading social services. This coming-of-age drama showcases deep friendships between girls, urban youth resilience, and the vital role of female mutual aid networks in times of crisis through delicate perspective.
08
Films · May 1991
Thelma & Louise
Ridley ScottTwo ordinary women - housewife Thelma and diner waitress Louise - embark on a weekend trip that turns into a fugitive journey after killing in self-defense. During their cross-country road trip, they experience a transformation from fear to liberation, ultimately choosing freedom over surrender.
09
Films · Jun 2015
Mustang
Deniz Gamze ErgüvenEarly summer. In a village in northern Turkey, Lale and her four sisters are walking home from school, playing innocently with some boys. The immorality of their play sets off a scandal that has unexpected consequences. The family home is progressively transformed into a prison; instruction in homemaking substitutes for school, and marriages begin to be arranged. The five sisters who share a common passion for freedom, find ways of getting around the constraints imposed on them.
Videos3

Videos · Feb 2022
Ali Wong: Don Wong
Ali WongAli Wong returns to Netflix in Don Wong with a more confident and mature perspective on marriage, motherhood, and female desire, challenging societal expectations of women's roles with her signature sharp humor
02
Videos · Mar 2023
Collective care is the work
Janey Starling & Seyi Falodun-LiburdDrawing on Black feminist and disability-justice traditions, two Level Up organizers define collective care as movement infrastructure rather than a benefit added after political work.
03
Videos · Aug 2021
Don't call people out -- call them in
Loretta J. RossLoretta J. Ross distinguishes public call-outs from invitations to dialogue: the latter can support accountability and change, but must not make harmed people responsible for endless patience and emotional labor.
Podcasts5

Podcasts · Mar 2019
Decolonizing Sex
Matika Wilbur & Adrienne KeeneThis All My Relations episode with Kim TallBear discusses critical polyamory, Indigenous relational ethics, feminism, and settler marriage, making it a key audio resource on how sex, intimacy, and family are structured by colonial power.
02
Podcasts · Aug 2025
Feminist Survival Project
Emily Nagoski, Amelia NagoskiFeminist Survival Project is a podcast hosted by twin sisters Emily and Amelia Nagoski, specifically designed for those who feel exhausted in feminist practice while still constantly doubting themselves. The two hosts are also authors of the bestselling book 'Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle.' The show focuses on stress cycles, nervous system regulation, trauma recovery, and emotional labor, combining psychological research with personal experiences to help listeners find ways to survive in patriarchal society. Its style is warm, frank, and insightful.
03
Podcasts · Sep 2025
Feminist Wellness
Béa Victoria AlbinaFeminist Wellness is a podcast hosted by nervous system specialist and life coach Béa Victoria Albina, dedicated to helping women break free from emotional outsourcing, build self-worth, and establish authentic self-care. The show blends feminist psychology, holistic medicine, and neuroscience, exploring how to break people-pleasing patterns, functional freeze, and other adaptive patterns. Victoria provides practical body exercises and cognitive frameworks to help listeners rebuild connections with themselves. The podcast style is warm yet sharp, suitable for women audiences seeking psychological growth and emotional recovery.
04
Podcasts · Sep 2025
Masala Podcast: The South Asian feminist podcast
Sangeeta Pillai / Soul SutrasMasala Podcast is hosted by Sangeeta Pillai, an award-winning South Asian feminist podcast focusing on sex, body, mental health, and cultural taboos. The show features intimate narrative and critical reflection, exploring themes of shame, sexual harassment, menopause, belonging, and motherhood pressure, emphasizing diverse experiences of South Asian women and intersectional feminist perspectives.
05
Podcasts · Sep 2025
Black Feminist Rants
LaKia WilliamsBlack Feminist Rants is an independently produced podcast hosted by LaKia Williams, focusing on the experiences of Black women and non-binary individuals in social justice spaces, with reproductive justice as the core framework for conversations. The show covers oral history, youth activism, motherhood and lactation politics, perfectionism criticism, and self-healing, blending personal narrative with political criticism to showcase the diversity and depth of Black feminism.
Articles2
Articles · May 2011
Access Intimacy: The Missing Link
Mia MingusMia Mingus introduces access intimacy: the bodily ease, trust, and relational safety that can emerge when someone deeply understands and respects a disabled person's access needs.
02Articles · Aug 2017
Forced Intimacy: An Ableist Norm
Mia MingusMingus names the structural experience of disabled people being forced to disclose bodies, needs, medical histories, and vulnerability in order to access basic survival.
Papers3
Papers · Jan 1980
Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence
Adrienne RichThis paper challenges the assumption that heterosexuality is the 'natural' sexual orientation for women, arguing that heterosexuality is a political institution imposed upon women.
02Papers · Dec 2000
Reconceiving Citizenship: The Challenge of Mothers as Political Activists
Kerreen ReigerAn exploration of how mothers as political activists challenge traditional conceptions of citizenship. Reiger examines maternal activism in Australian childbirth reform movements, arguing that mothers' claims for participation in health policy reconceive citizenship to include care, embodiment, and community advocacy.
03Papers · Aug 2000
Thinking Through Breasts: Writing Maternity
Alison BartlettA groundbreaking exploration of how maternal embodiment, particularly breastfeeding, transforms academic writing and knowledge production. Bartlett develops an 'epistemology of breasts' that challenges traditional boundaries between personal experience and scholarly practice.