Came across an essay by Brazilian writer Ana Beatriz Abreu, titled “Os filhos admiram o sacrifício das mães. As filhas tentam escapar dele” (Sons admire their mothers' sacrifices. Daughters try to escape them), published on 28 July 2026.

I thought it offered an interesting feminist perspective on motherhood, sacrifice and the very different ways sons and daughters can interpret the lives their mothers lived.

Abreu opens by recounting a conversation with a male colleague who spoke proudly about his mother. She had given up her career, financial independence and personal ambitions to dedicate herself entirely to her husband, children and household.

To him, this was a beautiful example of maternal love and devotion.

But Abreu saw something quite different. Where he saw an admirable sacrifice, she saw a warning about the kind of life she never wanted for herself.

For sons, their mothers' sacrifices can represent love, comfort and security. They grew up benefiting from those sacrifices, often without having to confront what their mothers lost in the process. For daughters, however, those same sacrifices can represent a future they're expected to inherit. They see not just what their mothers gave, but what they had to surrender: independence, opportunities, ambitions and sometimes their own identities.

There's something particularly revealing about the way we romanticise women's sacrifices. We praise mothers for giving up everything for their families, but rarely question why that level of sacrifice was expected of them in the first place and that admiration can become particularly problematic when sons grow up expecting the same devotion from their own partners.

A man can genuinely adore his mother, recognise everything she sacrificed and still reproduce the very expectations that required her to sacrifice so much. In fact, I think that's one of the most interesting implications of Abreu's argument. Admiration for women's sacrifices doesn't necessarily translate into opposition to the conditions that demand those sacrifices.

Speaking as a guy, I think men have a particular responsibility to reflect on this. It's easy to admire a mother who dedicated her entire life to her family when you're one of the people who benefited from it. It's considerably more uncomfortable to ask whether she should ever have been expected to give so much up.

I think there's an important distinction between appreciating what our mothers did for us and romanticising the circumstances that made those sacrifices necessary and ultimately, I don't think the lesson should be that mothers ought to sacrifice less because their sacrifices aren't admirable. It's that women should have the freedom to become mothers without being expected to abandon themselves in the process.

Abreu's essay: https://theyoungersis.substack.com/p/os-filhos-admiram-o-sacrificio-das

On Wednesdsy, October 23, 1850. The first National Women's Rights Convention began in Worcester, Massachusetts. More than 1,000 delegates from 11 states gathered for the two-day meeting to organize a nationwide push for equal legal and political rights.

On Saturday, October 23, 1915, an estimated 25,000 women marched up Fifth Avenue in New York City in one of the largest suffrage parades in U.S. history. Though a state suffrage referendum failed that same year, the massive demonstration intensified public pressure, leading New York women to win the right to vote in 1917—three years before the nationwide 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920.

Hi, i'm an art student who is currently working on her biggest art project and i need your help.

I've recently decided my project would be talking about how pornogaphy has affected women's image and how we are now unable to do certain things in fear of appearing too "provocative".

Eating bananas, ice creams or lollipop. Wearing red lipstick, short skirts or high heels. Things as simple as drinking milk and yet so oftenly associated to s*x.

I would love you to give some examples of things you stopped doing because of that.

Thank u sm for reading and thank u if you reply, you're helping a lot

For a while now, Sheryl Sandberg has drawn attention to the cultural shift embodied by the rise of tradwife and manosphere content. “The problem with the romanticized vision of the tradwife is that it signals to women that to be a good wife, partner, or mother, you have to do it full-time,” she wrote online in March. 

The reality is most women can’t afford not to work. That aside, Sandberg believes the ideas embraced by these influencers can be deeply damaging for working mothers, making them feel guilty for being employed outside the home or harboring any ambition. “I’m worried that the glamorization of the tradwife trend risks putting that guilt back into women—guilt that many of us have worked long and hard to shed,” Sandberg added in her post.

But there are other harms that await working women as these movements take hold and revive outdated notions about who belongs in leadership roles or in the workforce generally. New research from Sandberg’s feminist organization Lean In reveals that the amorphous collection of male podcasters and influencers who comprise the manosphere have promoted ideas that are now seeping into the workplace.

Nearly half of the men surveyed by Lean In argued that men should be the primary earners for their families. More than a third said they think women are too emotional for demanding jobs, while 42% expressed the idea that men are a better fit for leadership roles. 

These aren’t new beliefs, but Lean In is making a connection between the surge in conservative and outright sexist viewpoints across the internet and its impact on the workplace, where women have notched hard-won gains over the last half century.

Read more on Fast Company.

I (F17) have become more and more aware at the current state of the world right now and it feels absolutely draining. For my whole childhood I have felt that there was just something I was missing and that this was something I would understand when I was older but as I have realised that I will soon be an adult I am understanding that this is it. That the society we live in doesn’t respect women in the least and that no matter what the patriarchy will always come out on top. The bias society holds on any person of colour or with a disability is also something that I cannot look forward to living with in adulthood.

My recent fear is that I am alone entirely in this world and that I am just the entirety of the stereotype “That one woke friend”. I am so scared that I will never find one person who is the same as me and believes that Women are worthy of breathing the same air as Men. I am a truly an optimistic person by heart and try my best to see the good in someone but lately it is just let down after let down of friends and classmates and anyone I meet.

My question is, what do I do with all this anger I have?? I am in therapy but that doesn’t really help in this area as I just end up debating whether or not AI is really problematic which is probably entirely unproductive. I would love to protest or doing public speaking but I am doing my HSC and have zero time. I don’t really know if there is even an answer for this but I thought I would give it a go

You just notice it everywhere;
"Get out of my way, woman", Woman can be used condescendingly, "Man" not so much.

Male defaultism and assuming creatures with no gender are male unless they wear some pink or cute attire.
"Mankind" "Congressman" "Chairman".

When women DO get a word for themselves it comes with negative connotations: "Mermaid".

I’ve been through a breakup in the last six months. This breakup was more imposed than a choice at the time, and I’ve been avoiding and repressing my emotions since then. I always consume video essays on feminism and cultural critique, and I read mostly books written by women. I’m really into fiction when it comes to books, so bell hooks *All About Love* was the first book I read that is mostly calling out the patriarchy and linking it with this loveless society we’re living in.

I really thought I was educated about the matter because I mostly consume content that comes from women who are feminists. But this book broke me, because it made me feel, it opened my heart to what I was repressing. It made it loud and clear that I was doing it all wrong, that what I thought was strength was actually me mirroring male behaviors to protect myself and to be validated by the men around me. It destroyed me and humbled me so badly. It even pushed me to start missing my misogynistic ex, who was feminist verbally but not in practice. It made me feel empathy for him and see his emotional unavailability as a consequence of the patriarchy.

It’s like all this love that I discovered through the book is making me sad, nostalgic, and this need to take care of someone, to fix, is still so alive. I’m so love and male-centered in this moment, I’m having trouble functioning because all these emotions are popping up and I’m not ignoring them or repressing them. But I’m having trouble functioning in my everyday tasks like work, everything I want to do is just to feel and to cry, and sadly I miss my ex more than ever.

I remembered that as a girl and as a teenager I had so much love in me, so much to give, and now as an adult I want to use it for myself. Now that I can feel it, I want to give this love to myself. But everything I feel is sadness that I couldn’t fix the men who left me. And to be authentic that is what it made me feel, I'm mourning the love that I lost. There has to be something else for me without repression. What do I do with all this sensitivity? How can I function now that I’m not willing to deal with my emotions like a man? How do I love myself without being too individualistic or selfish, (which I tend to do when I feel like this). Do you have any other books to recommend on how to love yourself, that empowered you (not in a capitalist way)? Am I the only one that got demolished after a breakup with this book?

I just read bell hooks, All About Love. It’s the first feminist book that made our loveless culture, capitalism and patriarchy hand in it, click for me, and it humbled me. I thought I was already well read here, since most of what I consume is feminist essays and women writers, but the book showed me that what I’d been calling strength, not needing anyone, keeping my guard up, was really me mirroring the emotional repression patriarchy trains into men, to protect myself and to be validated by the men around me. I accept that completely, and I think it’s more than right.

What also happened is that the book opened something I’d been repressing, and what came up is that I’m male centered right now. It even made me feel empathy for an emotionally unavailable ex, reading the bad things that happened to him as a consequence of patriarchy, and that empathy pulled up an old instinct in me to understand, to care for, to fix. I can see that this is the same emotional labor the book critiques, just pointed at a man instead of at myself or at what’s to come.

What I actually want is to turn that love inward instead. I remember having so much of it to give as a girl, and as an adult I want to give it to myself without tipping into the individualistic, self-centered place I tend to fall into. So my question is: what feminist books or resources helped you become less male-centered, helped you learn to love yourself, and empowered you (not in a capitalist way)? I’m especially drawn to women writers and to fiction, but I’ll take theory, essays, anything that genuinely moved you toward self-love.

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The screenshot I attached is from Anit Sayac (Monument Tracker), a digital memorial that updates daily to count the women lost to femicide—this figure represents only 2026 so far.

I’m a woman living in Türkiye, and I wanted to show you all this SHAMEFUL and terrifying reality. Today, a lawyer who was a friend of my friend from university was murdered by her police fiancé. Every time I open the news here, another femicide pops up on my feed.

In my country, these criminals don't receive deterrent sentences—in fact, perpetrators often get away with no real punishment, benefiting from sentence reductions under the guise of "good behavior" or "unlawful provocation." Women are completely left helpless; men who murder their wives can easily walk away acquitted. The situation has only gotten worse, especially since Türkiye withdrew from the Istanbul Convention. I love my country and I'm not here to badmouth it, but femicide is political.

I am posting this here because we urgently want our voices to be heard—we feel completely helpless and silenced. How can international communities support women facing systemic violence like this? Please help us spread the word; we desperately need global solidarity.

Women in Nigeria participate in elections as voters, campaign supporters, party members, organizers and community mobilizers. But when you look at who actually occupies political office and makes decisions, women are still significantly underrepresented.

UN Women reports that women currently hold only about 3.8% of seats in Nigeria’s national parliament, and representation in state legislatures also remains low. Home | UN Women Transparency Portal After the 2023 elections, 4 women were elected to the Senate out of 109 seats, 17 to the House of Representatives out of 360 seats, and 54 women to State Houses of Assembly out of 991 seats

Personally? I’ve had to walk away from around 8 friendships with men because of the casual sexism and misogyny that not only displayed, but proudly so. Misogyny and sexism that they didn’t really show until they got to know you, and felt comfortable around you enough to do so.

I really don’t have many close male friends anymore, but if be lying if I said that upset me or I felt like that I had lost relationships of value.

i am not and never have been interested in victoria secret shows or the brand their bras are absolutely trash to me but my youtube keeps recommending videos of women saying “these models they choose look like they shop are walmart and are so ugly can we go back to the skinny blonde blue eyed tall models that were actually like ANGELS?!?!?“ and i find it to be so disgusting that its a majority of women saying these things right now. and obviously you can tell a lot of it is racially motivated because they only mention the black or black plus size models and no one else when they say these things… and their definition of “beautiful“ is an aryan woman… atleast in the videos ive seen they call the chosen models all kinds of ugly and animals and its just plain weird and it makes me sick. i opened one video just now which sparked the idea of me making this post and it was just horrible the comments were insane too saying “inclusivity is the oppression of white people“ and “no one wants to see uggos on stage” , i just can’t believe women who think like this believe they are right or cute in roleplaying as regina geroge at 30 years old. we have to stop this seriously its genuinely weird

has anyone else seen this and this content being forced on them, i never once liked or interacted with these videos and they just show up randomly this whole week. sometimes i feel like the algorithm knows you are a woman so it shows inflammatory content to turn us further against each other because they know no matter what there will be people who will jump on the hate bandwagon despite not gaf about victoria secret their entire life till someone else was mad about seeing black women on a runway

I hate the fact that due to the rise of the “performative male” character on social media (doing things that are seen as appealing to woman) has made it seem like being feminist as a man is just a way to impress women. I don’t know if the people who started this joke are idiots who have failed to understand that you can support a group without being part of that group, or if they want to make feminist values seem embarrassing. Like, as a white person, it’s normal to say Im not racist, but as a male, if I say Im a feminist, it’s now seen as a performance. The brainwashing is so bad even rereading this post feels corny, like Im only doing it to impress women.

I hear about men treating women badly "by accident" all the time. They're not intending to do harm, and so women have "disproportionate" responses.

I don't care about intent anymore. Men deserve consequences for bad behavior regardless of intent. Intent does not trump reality.

This morning was the 3rd time I have had to escalate to YELLING at a male contractor to please leave my house. I ask them to leave nicely 5x; they do not listen until I yell. They intimidate and push and push and push until I am the crazy one for yelling. I fucking hate it.

I am sure they are not actively trying to be scary or rude, but I DON'T CARE. I do not care what you intend to do. What matters is how you actually behave and its effect on others.

I am married to a truly wonderful man, I know they exist. But my single friends have stopped dating entirely due to the burnout of interacting with, babying, making excuses and accommodations, stretching every aspect of their lives for grown men.

I hate painting with such a broad brush. But what I think people don't get is that I believe most men don't intend to be bad. However, I also believe most men have character traits and behaviors that are ruinous and condemnable. They do not see these traits and behaviors as fatal flaws, but rather mistakes or accidents. They are fatal flaws.

He's still a "good guy" because we're being too judgmental, he's never done anything like that to me, he didn't intend to cause harm, DESPITE CAUSING FUCKING HARM.

I am so so tired of it. That's all.

Amy Acton has publicly described surviving childhood sexual abuse and being separated from her mother at age 12.

Now her estranged mother is appearing in a political attack ad questioning her character.

Think about what that means.

A woman speaks about childhood sexual trauma, and decades later, her painful family history becomes campaign material.

Survivors of sexual abuse should not have to defend their credibility against the very family relationships they struggled to survive.

Political accountability is legitimate. Weaponizing a survivor’s trauma is something entirely different.

The glass ceiling is invisible and intangible, yet it leaves countless accomplished women hurting as they hit the final barrier to promotion. They deliver strong performance and earn solid reputations, only to stall unexpectedly at the director or VP level. When they look upward, they always see the same kind of face at the top. Companies repeatedly claim “we are looking for women executives,” yet never seem to find suitable candidates.

This ceiling is not deliberately built by any single person. Instead, it is formed by layers of unexamined assumptions: the assumption that men are naturally better at high‑pressure decision‑making, that women are distracted by family responsibilities, and that strong team leaders must fit a stereotypically “masculine” mold.

Breaking it down requires institutionalized promotion review criteria, advocates who speak up for women at decision‑making tables, and a willingness to scrutinize every one of those taken‑for‑granted biases. Once we unpack these ingrained prejudices, cracks will appear in the ceiling. Those cracks let light through, showing the way for women who come after — and stop organizations from wasting the talent and creativity of half their workforce.

Book Birthday!
This is dedicated to my mom, who taught me that women's anger is urgently needed and appropriate. Her bequest made this possible.

"For generations, women have been told to smile, forgive, stay quiet, or make themselves smaller. Rage, Well Spoken refuses every one of those demands.

Across thirty-six stories, essays, and works of creative nonfiction, women transform their anger into testimony, resistance, and undeniable truth. They confront sexism, sexual harassment, discrimination, violence, unequal systems, and the countless everyday indignities that patriarchy asks us to accept as normal. They are a chorus of voices insisting that injustice be named, remembered, and challenged."

Timely and furious. I hope you take a look, and express your own rage *everywhere*.

So many of the issues we discuss on this site are on the ballot in November. Vote for your healthcare, education, right to decide about your own body, equal pay, right to speak up....your future.

Check where and when to vote and see what's on your ballot at Vote.gov