Zara Hanawalt
Stop whispering, start talking: sharp, sassy takes on life in a female body.
Joking About a Parasite to Help You Lose Weight. Disordered or Darkly Funny?
As you might know, I am neck deep in cyclosporaisis content. Thanks to my health anxiety (which kicks into overdrive when issues that cause GI symptoms are concerned) , I am constantly thinking about the state of this particular health issue and how to avoid it.
If you're not all the way down the rabbit hole like I am, a refresher: Cyclosporaisis is an infection caused by the cyclospora cayetanensis parasite, which is so teeny tiny, it isn't visible, yet it's powerful enough to cause "explosive" diarrhea that can last for up to a month.
Yay! So fun.
Of course, because I've been seeking out every bit of information on this parasite and how to avoid it, I've seen tons of content about it...and I've noticed a real theme. There are so many jokes about people "trying" to get the parasite because...well, it sounds like a good way to lose weight.
There are videos of people saying "when there's an explosive diarrhea parasite going around but you have some weight to lose" alongside video footage of themselves hastily lettuce or raspberries, which are the two most commonly named types of produce that may carry the parasite.
Listen, some of it is kind of funny. I see people joking about planning a beach vacation after they've recovered from this illness. I see others talking about how "a good cleanse" is all they need to get to their goal weight.
But I also find myself wondering what this says about our cultural obsession with thinness, especially right now, and our willingness to put ourselves through real suffering in a pursuit of a "better" body. In a world of so much toxic messaging around how bodies should look, it just feels especially important to address.
Because yeah, people are allowed to joke (I'm not saying I'm above making this type of quip myself, if we're being honest!), but it does, I think signify something larger at play. And personally, I draw the line around making these jokes around children. What message would we be sending young, impressionable minds by doing so? That meeting a certain beauty standard is more important than health? That pain, suffering, and the risk of things like dehydration are worth it in pursuit of a smaller body?
Ask Clara:
"What does diet culture affect women?"
Joking About a Parasite to Help You Lose Weight. Disordered or Darkly Funny?
As you might know, I am neck deep in cyclosporaisis content. Thanks to my health anxiety (which kicks into overdrive when issues that cause GI symptoms are concerned) , I am constantly thinking about the state of this particular health issue and how to avoid it.
If you're not all the way down the rabbit hole like I am, a refresher: Cyclosporaisis is an infection caused by the cyclospora cayetanensis parasite, which is so teeny tiny, it isn't visible, yet it's powerful enough to cause "explosive" diarrhea that can last for up to a month.
Yay! So fun.
Of course, because I've been seeking out every bit of information on this parasite and how to avoid it, I've seen tons of content about it...and I've noticed a real theme. There are so many jokes about people "trying" to get the parasite because...well, it sounds like a good way to lose weight.
There are videos of people saying "when there's an explosive diarrhea parasite going around but you have some weight to lose" alongside video footage of themselves hastily lettuce or raspberries, which are the two most commonly named types of produce that may carry the parasite.
Listen, some of it is kind of funny. I see people joking about planning a beach vacation after they've recovered from this illness. I see others talking about how "a good cleanse" is all they need to get to their goal weight.
But I also find myself wondering what this says about our cultural obsession with thinness, especially right now, and our willingness to put ourselves through real suffering in a pursuit of a "better" body. In a world of so much toxic messaging around how bodies should look, it just feels especially important to address.
Because yeah, people are allowed to joke (I'm not saying I'm above making this type of quip myself, if we're being honest!), but it does, I think signify something larger at play. And personally, I draw the line around making these jokes around children. What message would we be sending young, impressionable minds by doing so? That meeting a certain beauty standard is more important than health? That pain, suffering, and the risk of things like dehydration are worth it pursuit of a smaller body?
Ask Clara:
"What does diet culture affect women?"
PSA: Pregnancy Speculation is Never Okay, Even Towards Problematic Celebs
There's a certain female celebrity who has been in a lot of hot water recently, and much of it feels well earned.
This person was at the epicenter of a major scandal, and she responded to that scandal without much grace or accountability. But that doesn't excuse what's happening right now.
Many people are speculating that this star might be pregnant. The "evidence" to support this? From what I've seen, mostly just a photo of said celebrity with her dress billowing a bit. Could easily be me after when the wind hits me just right and I happen to wearing a loose dress, and I'm definitely not pregnant.
But here's the thing: Even if the evidence is far more compelling, there's just never a good reason to speculate that someone may be pregnant — even if it's someone you don't like.
Because at the end of the day, this is about whether the person you're talking about "deserves" privacy or grace. It isn't about extending respect and courtesy to someone. It's about creating a culture where we understand that speculating whether someone may or not be pregnant is just not okay. No matter what.
There are so many factors around why pregnancy speculation is so not okay: Someone could be recovering from a miscarriage. They could be dealing with another health issue that leaves them bloated. They could be getting sober (and so much pregnancy speculation happens when someone turns down a drink). They could be struggling with infertility. They could, in fact, be pregnant and not ready to share the news...and that's their choice to make.
Bottom line? Even if you don't like a celebrity, wait for a confirmation from them before publicly speculating that they may be expecting.
Should We be Treating Having a Baby After 40 Like it's Some Revolutionary Thing?
When Anne Hathaway revealed that she's pregnant with her third baby, the news quickly became about the actress's age.
Listen, you know how we feel about terms like "geriatric pregnancy" and "advanced maternal age" (if not, a quick summary: We hate them), but here's the thing: Age is a factor in reproductive health, and at 43, Hathaway is well over the threshold of both of those labels, which kick in at age 35.
Does that mean there's something revolutionary about the fact that she's having a baby? No. As someone who had a harder time getting pregnant at 28 than many women I know who conceived at 40, I know that contrary to what some people think, your ability to get pregnant doesn't just completely fall off a cliff once you turn 35.
We're seeing more and more women have children after 40: Last year, the number of babies born to moms over 40 outpaced the number of babies born to teen moms. Hathaway is far from the only celebrity to have a baby later in life. And of course, reproductive technology has come a long, long way, and has given real people so many more options when it comes to family planning.
What Hathaway is doing shouldn't be newsworthy. The fact that we're talking this much about a woman's reproductive status in general is icky to me. But as a journalist in this space, a person who comments on the state of women's health issues? I don't quite know what the right approach is here. I know people will see news like this and claim that all the advice we heard about age and fertility were "fear-mongering". And yeah, some of it probably is. At the same time, not all narratives about age and pregnancy are rooted in fear; sometimes they're rooted in fact.Because the reality is, getting pregnant at 43 is often challenging, sometimes impossible. Fertility does decline, and the risks of complications do increase with age. When people see their favorite celebrities have babies, seemingly without issue, without the necessary context, it can make people think there's nothing to really consider before delaying parenthood. In a perfect world, we wouldn't have to share this context and comment on people's reproductive lives.
Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. Age affects fertility. Not everyone has the resources to utilize the reproductive technology that exists. Not everyone will still have the ability to conceive without this technology — ever, but especially into their 40s.
And so, while I don't love talking about a woman's pregnancy and age...I also think it's important to paint a full picture.
The Netflix Documentaries That Actually Need to be Made
The "Netflix documentaries" trend is all over my feeds right now. I even hopped on the trend to make a joke about how I'll prepare when they make the documentary about what it was really like to be a woman of color working in the magazine industry during the height of the #girlboss era (which is something they should totally make a doc about...or you could just watch The Devil Wears Prada, tbh. It's not far off).
This trend got me thinking about the things that truly deserve to be made into documentaries. Because when it comes to women's wellness, there are so many stories that have gone unheard.
We are out here trying to tell them ourselves, but most of them deserve so much more airtime than they're getting. Rather than a social media post we're making, they deserve to be explored in long, nuanced ways, and given larger platforms.
Here are some concepts that deserve the Netflix documentary treatment:
The pain gap: The minimization of women's pain is real. For too long, our discomfort has been normalized, and not in a good way: In a way that pain is treated like an expected part of life for women, rather than something to be explored and addressed. A documentary featuring women who have had their pain-related concerns dismissed, only to be suffering from a serious, treatable condition.
The wage gap: Ah, another gap! This one (like the other one) is questioned constantly. Some people believe it's a "myth" (it's not), when it actuality, it's getting wider. We need a whole documentary exploring the wage gap and why we just can't seem to get rid of it.
What diet culture truly did to millennial women: We grew up with some truly toxic attitudes around what bodies "should" look like and how we "should" get our bodies to look the same way. We desperately need a space for women who grew up with it to reflect on what diet culture truly did to them.
The money behind social media: There's a real lack of income transparency where social media careers are concerned, and that's a shame — especially because this is one industry where women dominate. We need a real look at the money behind the machine, not just for transparency's sake, but also so young women can understand what to expect for this type of career. It would especially interesting for this documentary to explore the real money the "tradwife" influencers are making while pretending they 'don't work"...
The behind-the-scenes of reality TV: Reality TV runs on women's pain. I've seen a few reality stars jump on this trend and every single time I think "wow, yes I would definitely watch this". I just knew there's a lot of crazy stuff happening behind the scenes, often to make women look worse or exploit their hardest moments.
The "just freeze your eggs" narrative: Ten-ish years ago, the advice to young women was "freeze your eggs, build your career in your 20s and 30s, and have a baby once you've cemented your professional success". For many, that is the right path. But not for everyone: We need a documentary about how so many women felt lied to. They were made to believe egg freezing was guaranteed success. But...it's not. And it's not available to or the right option for everybody.
Surrogacy: There are so many misconceptions about surrogacy. The reality is, it's complicated, with so many moving parts and variation from state to state. A documentary could clear up some of the mystery and misinformation...and hopefully, chip away at the stigma
Ask Clara:
"what is the pain gap>"
Are We Doing Enough to Prevent Hearing Loss?
Like most millennials, I like to joke that I get overstimulated by two people asking me a questions at once now, while 15-ish years ago, I could easily spend hours at an incredibly loud club, screaming over blasting music, keeping cool as multiple people bumped into me, and generally managing to have a good time in an incredibly loud, stick environment.
Now? One hour in that type of space and I'm struggling...which might be a good thing, at least where the noise intolerance piece is concerned.
A friend of mine recently threw a "2008" themed party, and it was loud — like, nightclub-blasting-Pitbul-during-our-partying-prime loud. I found myself thinking "wow, I really used to do this all the time"...which of course led me to wonder if I've messed up my long-term hearing health as a result. Because let's face it: I spent my 20s in a lot of very, very loud rooms, and that is...well, not the safest thing you can do to protect yourself from noise-induced hearing loss.
According to the CDC, if you need to shout to be heard over the noise around you, it's too loud. Yikes.
Of course, being in this type of atmosphere occasionally is better than being chronically exposed to loud noise, and the louder your sound exposure, the more dangerous is becomes. But noise-induced hearing loss is real, and it carries real risks. Hearing loss has been linked to dementia. According to materials from Johns Hopkins University, mild hearing loss doubles a person's dementia risk, moderate hearing loss triples it, and severe hearing loss can cause a five-fold increase.
So...yeah. We should be thinking about preventing hearing loss.
What's done is done. I can't go back and stop myself from spending so many nights at loud parties, but I can make sure I do what I can to protect my hearing going forward, as so can you. I can avoid super loud gatherings, use earplugs when appropriate, and most of all, just be mindful of this issue and the real risks that can come along with not thinking about noise-induced hearing loss.
Ask Clara:
"How can I prevent hearing loss?"
A 19-Year-Old Stay-at-Home Wife is Going Viral and We Need to Talk About It
If you've been on a certain app recently, you've likely seen a video of a (very young) woman talking about how she's 19 years old with no degree, no job, and one husband. The woman is, by her own admission, exactly where she wants to be.
And you know what? Maybe she truly is living out her dreams. Maybe it'll continue to go well for her.
But the people of the Internet? They have thoughts. They're calling the move reckless, dangerous, stupid.
I think they have a point; I just don't love how they're making said point...and what they're leaving out of the conversation.
Attacking women for their choices is easy. What's harder — but ultimately better — is realizing that choices don't exist in a vacuum. That our choices, as well as the outcomes around them, are deeply influenced by context. This particular woman is clearly wealthy, she's white, she's married under the laws of the United States (which give women legal avenues to leave their marriages if they no longer serve them), and (this is the piece most people are neglecting to mention) she's getting a lot of attention on social media, and this type of attention can typically be parlayed into a career.
I'm not worried about this woman. I am worried about the other women — girls, actually — who may see this romantic, aestheticized view of this tradwife-y content and think this is the only answer. Because maybe marrying young and forgoing education and career is a possible path to happiness...but more often, it's not. These are the things we need to be talking about: How so many additional factors affect how women can navigate their choices...and who ultimately has choices, and safety nets to rely on if they change their minds.
There is no risk-free way to build your life and no right age to get married, but I would strongly encourage young women to take their time. Nothing can truly replace the years between childhood and full-on adulthood — the years you spend living along and figuring out who you want to be, and feeling truly independent for the first (and perhaps last) time in your whole life. I won't shame women who opt not to do it this way...but I will continue to talk about why the ability to stand on your own two feet matters.
The Cyclosporiasis Outbreak is Sending My Health Anxiety Into Overdrive
A fun fact about me: I have a touch of health anxiety, especially where tummy troubles are concerned. Food poisoning, stomach bugs, and the like — those are things I go far out of my way to avoid. So as you can imagine, the news about a cyclosporiasis outbreak has send me into a bit of a tailspin.
A TL;DR, in case you haven't gone down this rabbit hold like I have. Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal infection caused by a parasite called cyclospora cayetanensis. The main symptom? "Explosive" diarrhea. Lovely!
It keeps getting better, too. According to the CDC, this infection can last for a few days...or over a month. While cyclosporiasis is endemic in certain parts of the world, it is typically quite rare in the United States. But right now? We're in a moment of outbreak, and I'm seeing headlines about the spread of this parasitic infection pretty much every time I look at screen.
Here's the thing about health anxiety, at least as I've experienced it: You desperately crave information and you practically obsess over digging into it (I supposed the fact that I'm a journalist doesn't help matters here). But in the digital age, all that does is send more information your way...and so it feels like an even bigger issue than it actually is.
What's especially frustrating is that this particular outbreak is making headlines, yet we don't have much information on what's causing it or how to avoid it. Experts say it is often linked to consuming raw produce or contaminated water. But what are we supposed to do, not eat any fruit or veggies until this thing dies down?
Here's what I'm doing — though, to be clear, I don't know if it's the right thing; it's just an approach built around the cobbling together of information I've found. I'm avoiding bagged salad (which, TBH, is something I always do as a paranoid girlie). I'm attempting to get local produce from farmer's markets, I'm trying to do more cooked foods as opposed to salads, I'm being extra cautious about washing produce really thoroughly, and I'm avoiding some of the things that have been linked to previous outbreaks (raspberries, cilantro, basil, to name a few ingredients) unless they are cooked, locally grown, or washed really well at my house.
And that's about it, friends. Hopefully we'll know more soon.
Taylor Swift Got Married and Here's Why That Feels Like Such a Big Deal
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got married, and the fans are practically foaming at the mouth for all the details (it's me, I'm "the fans").
Elsewhere on the Internet, people are calling the fascination with the wedding and all of its details "parasocial" and "weird". But here's the thing: This is about more than just the fact that a generational superstar got married.
For women, especially millennial women, there's this narrative that you can be one type of women or another: You can be the kind who is ambitious, successful, independent: The kind of woman who centers career. Or, you can be the kind of woman whose ultimate goal is marriage, motherhood, domesticity, who centers personal relationships.
And then there's Taylor Swift. Clearly, her professional success is paramount...but so is her love life. She's been telling us both of these things, overtly and subliminally, through every era of her career. Swift has been criticized for being too boy crazy, for writing too many songs about love and breakups. She's also been criticized for being too ambitious: For not "staying in her lane", for wanting too much attention and glory and money.
I'm not in any way saying she's the only woman who receives this type of criticism (we all do, that's the whole point!), or that she's the first woman who has wanted — and had — both professional success and romantic partnership.
But she's the most visible representation we have. The narratives we're sold as women affect us deeply, and when we see someone like Swift prove that the false binaries are just that — false — it gives us all collective permission to exist outside the lines. To want things we're told are at odds with one another. To be this type of woman and that type of woman, because ultimately, we're not types at all...we're multifaceted humans who will inevitably feel misrepresented by the archetypes.
The girlboss/tradwife dichotomy is the most timely, recent iteration of this, and on her most recent album, Swift openly tells us she's "married to the hustle"...and that she wants a couple kids and driveway with a basketball hoop. The public lost their minds, even calling Swift a "tradwife" for the latter sentiment.
But as it turns out, she didn't have to trade the Cartier for someone to trust. She didn't have to choose between ambition and love, and neither do we.
Finally: The C-Section Shelf Gets Some Real Representation c/o Lo Bosworth
I gave birth to my twins over seven years ago, and guess what? My C-section flap? She's stuck around.
We live in a world that glorifies the snap back. That tells us that "oh my god, you don't look like you've ever had a baby!" is the highest compliment. That getting your exact post-baby body back is the ultimate goal.
But enough of that. Giving birth, however you do it, changes your body, sometimes forever. And it's time to normalize that.
Shout out to Lo Bosworth (yes, Laguna Beach's Lo Bosworth!) for doing just that. Bosworth, who has been incredibly candid about new motherhood in so many ways, recently shared a social media clip about her own postpartum body. At five-and-a-half months postpartum, she posts that her shelf still hangs over her C-section scar "and that's completely normal," she writes.
She's right: This is normal. Sometimes called the "C-section apron", there's evidence that this a common thing mothers experience after C-section deliveries thanks to redundant skin and tissue that hangs around that area. While this is often dismissed as a cosmetic concern, it can cause skin irritation, discomfort, and psychological distress.
One commenter puts it best: "Thank you so much! I’m almost 7 months post partum (unplanned c section) and I expected to be back to my old stomach by now. I truly had no idea. It’s so important that we see content like this. Feels so nice to know that this is completely normal!"
I agree: As millennial women, we grew up seeing airbrushed images of women. We rarely got to see the full range of what women's bodies look like up close, and I love that this beautiful mama is showing some representation for the C-section flap (because this hardly gets any attention!).
Listen, I'm not perfect here either: I go out of my way to hide my lower belly away because truth be told, I'm still really self-conscious about this area. Maybe that makes me part of the problem. Posts like this one, though? They inspire me to embrace it.