By Jennifer Wolff

Erika Civitarese knows about hard work — and making ends meet. As a teenager in small-town Massachusetts, she logged up to 40 hours a week at an Auntie Anne’s pretzel shop so she could afford clothes and car insurance. In her spare time, she raised money for survivors of domestic violence. Erika figured she’d keep working after high school and apply for college once she’d stockpiled enough funds for tuition. But her guidance counselor, she says, urged her not to put her future on hold.

In March 2013, Erika got the letter that changed her life: The…

By Rachel Stuhler

In the days after the birth of my second child, anxiety took over my mind and nightmares consumed my sleep. As soon as I’d drift off, I’d remember the nurses crowding around me, speaking rapidly, but I couldn’t understand their words. I’d remember picturing my 3-year-old son’s eyes — bright and expressive and the clearest blue I’ve ever seen. I hadn’t gotten to say goodbye to him before coming to the hospital, and in that moment, I was sure I never would. …

As told to Charlotte Dingle Mar 10, 2017

There’s no doubt about it — we live in a highly sexualized society. Physical attraction is an important talking point, especially growing up, and if you’re not discussing crushes and pulls, you can be viewed with suspicion. But a growing movement is coming out publicly to say “No, we aren’t wired the same way as you — and that’s just fine by us.” Simone, 28, is part of that movement and she agreed to tell Cosmopolitan UK exactly what it all means.

“Someone who is asexual doesn’t experience sexual attraction,” she explains…

By Beth Leipholtz

When I entered rehab at 20 years old, one of the first thoughts to cross my mind was literally, “Great. Now I can only date sober guys.”

It was overly dramatic, but I believed it. I’d been through a lot in the year prior, and had convinced myself that no one but another alcoholic would believe or understand my struggle and accept me.

In the two years before entering rehab, I’d dug myself a deep hole. After joining rugby in college, I began binge-drinking. I never learned to slow down and didn’t intend to. I loved being…

By Carina Hsieh

While being asexual means you don’t experience sexual attraction, those who self-identify as aromantic do not experience romantic attraction. Aromantic people can enjoy sex and being aromantic does not automatically mean you are also asexual. Here, three anonymous people who self-identify as aromantic open up about what the word means to them, their experiences realizing they were aromantic, and common misconceptions about the label.

How old are you?

Woman A: Nineteen.

Woman B: Twenty-two.

Man A: Thirty-three.

You identify as aromantic. What does that mean to you?

Woman A: I’d say it’s a constant feeling of being a part of and apart from human interaction. I can be in the moment…

As told to Patti Greco

Anyone who’s seen Guns N Roses on their “Not in This Lifetime…Tour,” which kicked off in April 2016 and ends November 29, will have noticed Melissa Reese on keyboard and singing backup. The Seattle native is the only woman on stage with Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Dizzy Reed, Frank Ferrer, and Richard Fortus. She’s also the only woman to have joined the band’s ranks as a full-time member, period, since it formed in 1985. “People, unfortunately, even now in 2017, have a tendency to be harder on women,” she says. “You have to work…

By Jean Bentley

Let’s start with that time KJ Apa asked a random girl for her number.

He was shopping for speakers in Vancouver, where he shoots the CW murder-mystery Riverdale; she was eating lunch. “I was with my best friend and he was like, ‘Bro, look at that girl,’ and I looked over and she stopped me in my tracks,” he says. He’s telling me the story from a coffee shop on Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard, in July. “Halfway home I’m like, ‘Should I do it?’” He turned back and went for it. “I said hi, introduced myself.” The woman…

By Hillary Clinton

Everywhere I go, I meet women and girls who are passionate about politics. Maybe you’re one of them — you obsess over policy issues; you have your senators’ phone numbers memorized. Or maybe you’ve never been all that interested in politics before, but you watch the news these days and think, “I need to do more.”

To any woman who has ever asked, “How can I have an impact?,” consider this: Run for office.

There are plenty of reasons why we need more women in office. That’s true whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent…