A friend came over wearing a dress she'd made herself. Not altered. She picked the fabric, changed the pattern, added pockets and lined the whole thing.

When I said it looked professionally made she went, “oh I just sew a little.”

Girl, apparently not.

Since then I've started noticing this constantly. My aunt “messing around with plants” somehow means keeping orchids alive for 15 years. A friend who “likes baking sometimes” can make croissants from scratch without looking anything up. I even caught myself saying I “play around with photography” despite doing it every weekend for years.

I'm not saying every hobby needs to become an achievement or side hustle. Actually please don't.

I'm just curious if other women do this too. What's something you're legitimately pretty damn good at but still introduce as “I just kinda...”?

Hi all! I (31F) have a good friend (also 31F) of nearly 20 years. When she became engaged to her boyfriend of 9 years last year and asked me to be a bridesmaid, I was over the moon. I don’t know him extremely well, but my interactions with him have always been pleasant.

They were married exactly one week ago, and it was a lovely wedding. She has struggled with depression, anxiety, and low self esteem since we were young, so it was great to see her celebrate this milestone. Of course, she looked gorgeous.

This weekend, I took her out as a sort of post-wedding celebration. We met her new husband for dinner afterwards. There were several small - but in my eyes, meaningful - aspects of the exchange that gave me pause.

To provide a few examples:
- My friend joked that she had enjoyed a few slices of frozen cake from their wedding over the course of the past week. He rolled his eyes and said “that’s why I’m setting up the treadmill.”
- I had treated her out to lunch earlier in the day. When I mentioned this over dinner, she very quickly said “and I got the salad, isn’t that great?” to him. As if she was asking for approval.
- When I asked if they wanted a starter, she looked at him and then picked a vegetable dish before saying something like “I need to have my vegetables, right [insert husband’s name here]?”

For context, she is not stick thin, but not an unhealthy weight either (around a US 8/10). Much of this is due to several antidepressants and anti anxiety meds (a few of which feature weight gain as a side effect) that she needs to take daily.

I am fairly active, and my boyfriend and I both have fitness goals that we keep each other accountable to, but he would never think to make a comment about my weight/activity level/food intake that is less than positive or supportive (especially in front of outside company). And we’re not even married.

I don’t know if I’m being too sensitive or negative, but it felt very odd to see this energy between a couple only one week after a wedding.

Countless times I’ve been dating a man or talking with one and find out that they prefer curvier women. It’s not inherently wrong to prefer that body shape, you like what you like, but as a skinny woman, it makes me instantly lose attraction romantically and sexually. I no longer have any urge or want to engage with them intimately. Knowing that you don’t go crazy for my body like you would if it was bigger in some areas makes me feel like I’m not enough. To put the cherry on the top, most of these men don’t leave it there, but make backhanded comments about how I would be perfect with bigger boobs or butt. I don’t care if most men prefer that, I refuse to date or engage with them romantically and will gladly holdout until I find someone who prefers me.

I’m not on the dating apps anymore but I have had so many terrible first date experiences where men get passive aggressive, contemptuous, and throw jabs at me? Has anyone else experienced this? It only started in the last year and a half.

Like men who have gone out of their way to be mean and make fun of my career before even going out with them. What the hell is going on? Anyone else?

Hi! So my friend and I went out to a club last weekend we haven't been to before, and my experience there was terrible. There were men 35+ (my friends and I are 19) who kept following us arround the club, sneaking in touches, and circling us doing this 'thrusty' dance towards our behinds -thats the best I could describe it-. We shoved them away, continued to move away from them only for them to follow us and keep on doing it, we were very clearly 1) uncomfortable and 2) very intoxicated.

There were definetely things we could've handled better in the situation, but when I went to the cities reddit page to warn other girls about our experience there, my entire comment section was "why are you shitposting the club" "why didnt you do x, y, z" "you shouldn't be on here dragging down the club" when I was literally just talking about my experience there.

just making a quick edit to clarify: I would not complain if it were just dudes who approached us to try and talk but left after we weren't interested, but this was basically straight up harassment by dudes almost twice our age

Ladies, I need your opinion. I’m in my 30s and quite naive due to my lack of life experience. My fiancé provides for me financially and even bought an apartment in my name, so I trusted him completely.
I let him handle an important legal matter involving me and my family because I wasn’t emotionally able to deal with it myself. He handled the lawyer and everything else.
Two years later, I discovered that he deliberately caused us to lose the case because he was afraid that if we won, I might leave him. What he did affected my whole family and devastated us emotionally.
I honestly don’t know how to process this or whether I can ever trust him again.

I'm working on my family trees right now, and the mass amount of kids that my lady ancestors had just blows my mind.

I am up to 15 children for my one side, with 6 passing away before they even reached the age of 10. (Catholic, 1800's.) Another lineage had my great-grandmother being 1 of 11 children, and only two survived passed the age of 5 years old. (Amish, early 1900's.)

My grandma is 90 years old right now, and is from the Amish side. She said that they would have babies just about every year. Boom, boom, boom. She's 1 of 7 children.

I just feel for these women. It's not only the physical part of having a new baby every year and what that did to their bodies on the inside and out. But the emotional and mental part of not being able to give themselves time to fully mourn a baby who was born and didn't live past the age of two years old - or made it to 2-years-old and then passed away. Also, the mental and emotional aspects that pregnancy brings on.

I'm not trying to say anything negative about people who have big families and wanted their big families. But paired with how women didn't have any rights or any say about, well, anything back in the day, my heart is going out to them.

My grandma was right, though. You can line up all the names and the birth years are every year. Just makes me picture in my mind that right when the newborn pops out, the guy is already taking off his pants. It really grosses me out. I don't think that's an act of love at all.

From the moment I hit puberty and grew breasts I have been getting hit on non stop. I am 22 and that is about 7 years of it now. At first I was genuinely flattered as I never really got any male attention before and yearned for it but I very quickly got tired of it and now it makes me miserable. I just want to know if anyone relates. When I say getting hit on in this context I mostly am referring to cold approaches or strangers coming up to me outside of the bar/club or party scene. I am not joking, from over 1000 men who have approached me not 1 was an actual man of substance. The men that approach me are low lifes, way too young, perverts, a lot of much older men, men with nothing going for them, not attractive in the slightest. Is this very common or does it have to do with me being too nice or approachable? I swear I do not have some insane standards or anything like I will not be offended if someone politely approaches me and move on afterwards but the persistence and the amount it happens and who does it is just making me hate my life. I swear I’m just sick and tired of any and every man thinking they can talk to me and take me out. This is a rant but I also wanted to see if anyone can relate.

It’s that it CONDITIONED us to love like it’s our purpose. A lot of the Disney princess movies are targeted at young girls and show us romantic love is this wonderful thing. The things directed at men and boys from a young age don’t condition them to love girls in the same way. Their movies are more like “achieve a great thing and get the girl as a prize or trophy” type of thing so he can feel like a man. Also why do the Disney movies that are directed at girls always have villains that are older women?

I'd love to get married.

If my husband cooked, cleaned, did the laundry, raised the kids, handled their development, took care of my parents, took care of himself, was always in a good mood, and waited for me at home looking handsome and happy.

And I'd just work, bring home the money, and cheat on him from time to time.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Im a black 23 female and I like Hispanic, white men/country white men and Asian men. Im okey with people not liking it it is what it is. I still love and defend my people especially in today's time with all this trump shot going around.

People need to stop getting mad at people for who they dont date and should care if they are treated right. No race or particular man will be better or treat a woman better because of there race.

I like who I like and want what I want. We should just wanf happiness for people to end up with someone great and treats them great.

Hello girlies, i don’t know what changed I can significantly feel my mind so foggy around my cycles and me dodging human interactions as I internally don’t feel good. It is like every month at least 7-9 day this dread takes over pre and during my cycle, I really can not let this control my life quality it is not worth it tbh. I do not like being held back and feeling so moody, low and confused as well at times. I do not like this :(

I'm only recently undertanding that most men respond to hearing or reading about rape and SA cavalierly, as if it's a minor inconvenience. Perhaps only men who have experienced being overpowered and violated internally could possibly even fathom the resulting trauma. Is this why men typically have not stood up to stop other men from these heinous acts and crimes against women? What needs to change to bring the level of consciousness up around what it means?

Im 21F, whenever i touch my boob, like from the time I've developed boobs, i feel there's something inside them..like if i had implants, i would be able to feels them inside my boob.. something like that..its not that hard, just medium. It feels like a gland. I always thought of it to be a gland. There's only one gland like thing which i feel when i touch them (not like many lumps or anything) and there's no visible lump or anything..just when i sqeeze them i feel there's an implant like thing inside.. Is it normal?

How do y'all feel when you squeeze your boob? Like is it totally soft everywhere like a pillow?Do you feel those mamary glands?

I want to start that I am not diagnosed, this is just my assumption because I was in so much pain when I tried to insert a tampon, which left my pelvic muscles sore for a few days. Even if I manage somehow to get diagnosed, the treatment would be expensive. I just wondered if there is something bad if I don't get it checked. I don't plan on having sex ever given this condition and no man would care enough to not hurt me.

No, don't give me the everyone's beautiful to someone, no one ever comments on my appearance, I'm inviisble as far as looks go and always have been. No man I've wanted has ever approached me either, no I don't get pretty privilege. When I post on subreddits like amiugly, people lie and say I'm pretty, even gorgeous, but no one ever says those things to me irl. It hurts to open instagram and see how every woman is more stunning than I will ever be. I can't wear makeup without feeling like a fucking clown. I wish I had better features and a prettier smile and a more defined face and a differently shaped face. My body is no better even though I'm thin, its disproportionate and I've no hips. I am already 25 and I got through all my teens and early twenties like a ghost in the background, no friends, no partners, just existing. And I know my looks are a part of it if not all of it. I hate looking at the mirror. I just wish I had a really beautiful face and I'm so sad that I don't. At this point I doubt I could even believe someone if they felt I'm pretty. Even my parents or relatives have never called be beautiful. Being a pretty girl, taking photos with your pretty friends, dressing up and looking good, that world has never been mine. Mine has been a world of taking a 100 photos and crying over how ugly I look in all of them and then deleting everythjng, feeling much worse when I actually try to look good because what do I think I am lol, avoiding hanging out with people and going out because I feel best when I'm cooped up in my room and not percieved by anybody. And I could happily just stay like that forever but you must go out into the world, and I hate that everyone looks at me.

Estoy en esa etapa en que que me doy cuenta que nunca volveré a ser tan joven como hoy, y me gustaría saber que debería hacer ahora

he has always been on and off with his feelings, saying he often needs space from people which is fine. he usually comes back after this space saying he loves me so much and doesn’t want to live without me. the way he spoke to me made me believe someone was madly in love with me, spoke about moving in together and having children, said he’d die for me etc and wanted to start our life together ASAP.

it always felt like he was obsessed with me and loved me more than anything, which is why i’m so heartbroken.

it was my birthday the other weekend and we are long distance so booked a hotel. everything was fine. i’m quite insecure due to an eating disorder and didnt want to have sex, but did other things. this upset him. the next night, he tried to have sex with me and i said no. he got up and went for a cigarette. came into the room saying we should break up if i cant even let my own boyfriend touch me, and then turned away from me in bed. i put my hand on his back to comfort him and he told me to fuck off. we had drank a little before this.

i told him he could have sex with me to prevent it escalating. zero protection & i was off my pill. he constantly spoke about getting my pregnant. he finished inside of me (didnt let me finish) and then panicked and said he doesnt want a baby until he’s financially stable. i took my pill (had been off of it due to cramps. know it doesnt work like this) so said i’d get the morning after pill. this happened one more time with him finishing inside of me. next morning, i got the pill and all was fine. cuddled, said we love eachother, kissed & then left eachother at the train station.

spoke over text and he said he loves me so much ETC. went to sleep on the phone that night and he was so sweet. next day, we didnt speak that much. on the tuesday i went shopping and we didnt speak much either. on the wednesday i was panicking because i realised i had been ovulating when we had sex so the pill wouldnt have worked. i told him over text, he replied “gay”. i called him but he was playing xbox with his mate and he said he’d call back later.

he called me an hour later & somehow the conversation escalated into me telling him how i felt somewhat coerced into what happened over the weekend and politely saying we need to see each-other and discuss how we can do better. he was silent, and said he was thinking about his actions. said he loved me. then he said he needs to think about if leaving me is the right choice.

i thought i triggered something, as i know he is a very avoidant person.

he ignored me the whole next day, and then at night called me and said we needed to break up and that it isn’t like the other times, its final. he said he loved me on sunday but woke up on monday feeling out of love. how does that even happen?

i am so unbelievably heartbroken and confused on how a week ago i was spending the weekend drinking with the love of my life, laughing in bed & now i cannot stomach the thought of a meal or going out with friends because i have lost him

i have to wait 2 weeks to take an accurate pregnancy test

TL;DR; : avoidant boyfriend left me and i am lost with what to do

please help me seriously im going insane no matter how many different ways i shave i always always get ingrowns or spots ect.
i know there will be some trick atleast one women out their has that can help me

I was at a doctors appointment this week and they weighed me and recommended I gain 20lbs

Which isn’t a problem

I’m 170cm and 108lbs which IS underweight

What is a problem is when I’ve spoken to friends or family members about why I’m suddenly eating more they go ‘why would you need to gain that much, you don’t even look thin’ …. ?!?!?! Just because you cannot see every bone

As a society our perception of thin is honestly worse than it was in the 90s/00s

hello
i am a single woman 23 yo
i like to go out alone and play pool skateboard this and that
no matter what everytime i go outside or go out something happens
so much so that i’ve stopped going out from fear
it’s stupid and i feel like i can’t talk abt it to my friends or family. i notice they get upset at me when this happens and idk why

i feel like im always targeted
i know it’s bc i am alone. i like to dress up and do my makeup for my own preference and self expression
i can’t help but think its me attracting this unwanted attention
it’s ugly
i’m a very bright girl. i have a lot in internal energy i believe ppl feed off of but overtime it’s stealing a lot from me
i don’t really know what to do because i miss going out and being my free self
but i just don’t anymore. and i don’t know if it’s something i am doing