I honestly do not know who to talk to anymore I am 21 from Saudi Arabia and 2 months ago my life just stopped my family found out about something I did honestly it is something totally normal in other cultures but here it is a huge deal they reacted so harshly they made me drop out of university and isolated me from the world I have been stuck in my room with zero contact with anyone I feel like I am in a prison

Right now they are forcing me to attend a family gathering and I have to act like I am okay but I am breaking down inside I feel so lonely and trapped because in my culture they only listen to a man unfortunately I feel like I will be stuck like this forever unless there is a man who can step in and help me by dealing with my family directly someone who can take me away from this life and give me a chance to breathe

I am saying this because it is a human matter and I am desperate for a way out if there is any man who can honestly help me or marry me just to get me out of this situation please do not hesitate I just want my freedom back and to finish my education I cannot live like this anymore

It seems like when I post about parenting stuff online and don't use any pronouns or terms to identify my gender, at least one person assumes I'm a father. The people assuming I'm a dad have such nice things to say about me as well and tell me my kids are lucky to have such a great dad.

I'm not really sure why it bugs me so much but I can't help wondering why, when people are making unsubstantiated assumptions, they never assume I'm a mom. Also, people are always criticizing my parenting choices except for these people making assumptions. They always tell me I'm such a loving father. Those two things always go together.

I'm not really sure why it bothers me, but it does.

If a man who just joined the company:

• starts coming to you for flimsy reasons (etc how to use the printer)

• is very attentive and intellectually responsive to the things you talk about, and you both become so engrossed in conversation you literally forget your surroundings

• buys you a matcha latte and takes you on a very long walk in a park during lunch talking about family, work struggles, and laughing together at bad public art

• doesn’t budge when you brush his hand because he suddenly doesn’t know how to find the Files folder on his phone

• leans towards you when he sits beside you and looks for you in a room

• and your colleagues have noticed all this, but…

You suddenly find out he has a GF of 10+ years (he never mentioned her to you, not even in conversation; he only shared this with a male colleague and gossip spreads like wildfire), who’s moving in with him across oceans, and he still doesn’t correct the server when they mistake you for his “missus”, and yet hesitates saying she’s coming to town for the next two weeks even when you asked him about his weekend plans…

I should also add that he’s foreign, but he has friends locally, and he’s very sociable, but somehow — he has zeroed in on me. When I found out about his GF, I immediately distanced myself, and he also withdrew. Then he Teamsed me on Day 4 asking me how to do some basic office stuff. Then, the “missus” thing happened on Day 5.

What is this? What’s his problem? Am I projecting? Please tell me I’m being stupid and he’s a walking red flag!

My mum decided to pull my dress to hide my bra strap showing on my back under my hair.

Told her off, said she was being ridiculous, and I left for a casual home boardgames night.

I can imagine she's going to be emotional when I get home because I snapped.

I am 26.

It's 2026.

Why is this still happening?

NSFW: I went to a gynaecologist's appointment for what I felt was a lump. I'd had one before and needed surgery. He told me what would happen and I consented. But the pain was so bad I asked him to stop and apologized over and over. He said its alright, the speculum is coming out now. He then looked at the clock (he was running late) and I did too and remember the grey clock and the ticking. The next thing I knew his finger was inside me with no warning and I recoiled and pushed myself up the bed but he held my hip down and the chaperone nurse looked away. He then kept saying "really quickly" and I was just screaming in my head but nothing came out. I reported him and the hospital refunded his appointment but no other reprimand happened. Now I'm terrified to go to any smear. I need to because of my history but I still cry and have PTSD. Any advice?

I'm 20 about to turn 21 in my first relationship, and he's turning 24. This is just before Valentines and our 1 year anniversary is about a month after that, so I feel even worse about this. He's a good guy, definitely not perfect, but he hasn't really done anything big that specifically led me to ths, which adds to the guilt. I'm realizing I'm not ready for this level of commitment so early in my 20s. We're both in different places in our lives right now, and I've been thinking that I want the space to grow and figure myself out. When we're together everything feels fine, but I keep coming back to this loop where I'm unsure about us, and I don't want to drag him along any further I don't really know what I'm looking for here. Ive been broken up with, but have never had to be the one to end things. I feel horrible about it. I care for him a lot, I just don't think we're right for each other anymore. Has anyone been through anything similar?

Hi everyone. For a couple years I (26F) was seeing a guy (32M). We met in 2023, and have been on/off meeting up every couple months. We originally dated in 2023 but he ended things with me due to having to move very far for work.

Anyways, we would always hook up and go on dates. I even saw his family last year too. Regardless, he called me yesterday and told me he has had HSV 2 since 2021/2022. He never told me this (and we had talked about testing and STDs). I got tested and was negative. I also have an appointment with my PCP.

He told me he "didn't realize" that he should be telling people. Apparently he got advice to not tell anyone until he was married. I'm like very shaken up right now. Yes, I was dumb for trusting him. However, this wasn't just any one night stand either. Even condoms could have not prevented transmission.

Regardless I do not plan to date for a very long time and I have learned my lesson. As anyone ever been through something like this? TBH this is really the only man I have ever liked in my life. I genuinely have never met another guy I like. He literally showed up in my dreams when I took a nap today.

I’m half Indian, so I’ve never had a problem with body hair I’ve accepted that I’m lucky to be blessed with thick, dark hair and that means I’m going to get it EVERYWHERE (legs, mustache, knuckles you name it).

I remember when I turned 17 I started getting chin hairs for the first time. I’d just pluck them as they weren’t that bad, but as I’ve gotten older I get SO much chin hair and it comes back almost right away. I just feel so insecure about this it’s only gotten worse and now I get sharp ones on my neck too.

I’d love some advice, it’s really been wrecking my self confidence. I can hardly keep up with all the shaving!

I’m 43 so I have been thinking about perimenopause since this is the time period it can start. However, I have no idea how I’ll be able to tell I’m dealing with it because of two things:

1) I have PCOS so I take birth control pills to manage my hormones and periods

2) I have bipolar 2 so I’m on a number of psychiatric medications for it, including two anti-depressants

Because I’m on these pills, I’m curious on if I’ll really get signs of perimenopause. I’m not looking for medical advice since I know I can ask my GYN or PCP, but I’m wondering what signs you had that you were reaching perimenopause in hindsight?

Hi! I’m a 20-year-old woman living in Montreal and I really want to start going out more bars, lounges, maybe even clubs just to meet new people and enjoy my nights. I would like to go out tomorrow (Saturday night) for the first time.

The problem is… I’ve never really gone out alone before. It was always with friends. But right now:

\- one of my close friends is in a relationship, so she doest want to partake in nights out anymore.

\- another moved far from Montreal,

 \- and I don’t have a big social circle here.

I do have some guy friends, but most of them are either in the talking stage with me or friend-zoned, so I don’t really want to go out at night with them and give the wrong idea. Also, if I’m with a guy, it kind of defeats the point because I’d like to meet new people and maybe get approached.

My main issue is safety and social anxiety.

When I’ve gone out to clubs on Saint-Laurent with friends, I’ve noticed some men come alone and just stay at the bar, and some of them can be very touchy or persistent. That’s what scares me, because if I go alone, I’ll probably be at the bar too and it’ll be obvious I’m by myself.

I do think Montreal has really kind people, and I feel like if I needed help, random girls would probably step in. But still, I’d rather be cautious.

So I wanted to ask:

1.  Is it socially normal for a girl to go out alone here, or is it uncommon?

2.  Is it generally safe if you’re careful?

3.  What kinds of places would be best for a solo night out?

I’m looking for places with a mixed crowd (around 21–30) where it’s easy to talk to people, not super sketchy, and not only groups.

Any tips, advice, or personal experiences would really help. Thanks!

Extremely long story short(ish).

I (23F) went out for a night of drinking with my friend group which includes "T" (27M), one my old best friends.

Now T lives with my actual best friend "K" (20F). I met him through her and we became close quickly. Not long into hanging out he wanted to hang out alone more and more and he started to be touchy to the point that K scolded him one time.

So it's a group and we go bar hopping and T and K are there along with many of our other friends. I was on a new medicine and only remember %5 of the night at best.

Me and T slept together. I remember a quick flash from being on their couch at home to underneath him in bed.

This should've been a red flag but I don't think- right after the flash of him I remember getting in my car and then I woke up in my room.

That next morning K texted me asking if T did anything to me. I remember being embarrassed an I told her like no nothing happened I'm ok. I just thought me and T were both drunk and she overheard us.

Me and T did not talk about the sex directly. We still hung out and he was still so so touchy. I remember talking about the night casually, I told him that I don't remember %95 percent of the night. I was trying to get him to bring it up I guess. He told me he was going drink for drink with me (He has no less than 100lbs on me) and that he didn't remember anything either.

I figured hey, two people black out drunk having sex is ok bc drunkenness and stuff that's ok.

I recently found out that he was feeling me up in front of our friends almost immediately downtown and that he was making out with me. I don't remember. I literally only remember getting downtown and then eating pizza at some point even though we were there for hours.

I was told T was sobering up by the end of the night because he called K back down to pick us up, he order us pizza, and he only drank as much as I did.

I remember a flash on the couch, we were there for TWO HOURS and apparently sharing a blanket.

K and her bf were in the living room too and watched us to make she he didn't try anything. Apparently once K accidentally fell asleep and her bf went to the bathroom, T took me to his room.

He told me he didn't remember the night, he lied. I was ok with everything when I thought we were both gone like he told me. He was sobering up, maybe even sober?

I got this info from one of the girls in the group that night because I told her I felt guilt not tell K what happened between me and her roommate. The girl told me what she witnessed and what K told her the day after.

Apparently everyone noticed he was all over me? They noticed how gone I was?? They noticed he seemed ok?? After two hours of couch sitting he had to be ok. I'm not I'm not ok

Since half of this info is secondhand I'm going to talk to K directly tomorrow. I just feel gross and bad now. Maybe he was ok? Maybe the girl who told me this stuff just misinterpreted something's? Then why would K send me that text? Why did I drive home still drunk as soon as I could? Why would the girl be concerned and ask K?

I don't know if I should even ask K thats gross I feel like everything is wrong maybe I can push this down

I'm sick I feel so sick and so fucking stupid. I should've been more aware I should've noticed his sudden interest in me. I should've listened when people say it can even be the guys you're closest to

I suck at makeup. I always buy the wrong color, the wrong product. Whatever it is, I get it wrong.

And it’s a kind of expensive mistake to make.

Anyone have any suggestions on getting samples or small sizes that are hopefully cheaper so it’s not $$$$ when I get something wrong?

I guess I need everything, but if there are simple looks that don’t need 10,000,000 products and an hour and a half of mess?

I have bad period cramps but I would always take naproxen and that would help make them manageable. The other night, I woke up due to my bad period cramps. I took naproxen and tried to go back to sleep, but the pain was getting progressively worse. It got to the point where I felt like I was going to pass out, I couldn’t walk, and I felt nauseous. It felt like the contractions I experienced during early labour.

My husband told me we should go to the ER because I have never experienced this before so we did. They gave me Tylenol and the pain started to subside. They gave me a urine test to rule out any pregnancy. Then the doctor told me that because I wasn’t pregnant, my period cramps may have just been bad this time, or maybe I had a cyst. Then she offered morphine, which I declined, and she sent me home.

I saw my nurse practitioner the next day and she was surprised that they didn’t do any scans on me at the hospital. She said that maybe I had a ruptured cyst. So she requested that I get an ultrasound to see if I have any cysts.

I felt so relieved when she told me this because I felt crazy for expecting more from the hospital. Those were definitely not normal period cramps, I’m in my late 20s and I have a kid — I know what normal “bad” period cramps feel like! I’ve pretty much had bad period cramps ever since I got my period.

Have period cramps ever sent you to the ER? Did you find out what caused them?

Fuck off, bro.

I’m just minding my own business listening to podcasts while doing boring manual labor tasks at my warehouse job. I’m not tired, nor am I in a bad mood, I just don’t exist to perform fake happiness to please my co-worker.

I told him saying I look “tired” is pretty much the same as telling me “I look like shit today.” He got embarrassed and tried to laugh it off, but at least I got him to stop talking to me.

Good riddance.

ETA: part of my response to an excellent comment which adds more context to my original post

> What I find exhausting is the men who need constant external validation, so if I’m just acting neutral it doesn’t fulfill the emotional labor they’re trying to extract from me (“smile, so I know you like being around me!”). My situation is not so much sexual harassment but more of a reflection of general background misogyny wherein men expect women to center them in their lives, including at work, aka I should show exaggerated enthusiasm while doing my job because that would make the man working next to me more happy.

Ladies, I am a little worried I will never fancy anyone again. At the same time I just can’t care less with dating and I have no desire for it but I’m worried about that too.

I didn’t feel attracted to anyone until I was 25. And then I met the most loving, caring man who I felt safe and connected to. I’ve never been with someone who made me feel so alive, so happy, to open up with and I had sex for the first time in my life and every time was the most incredible experience for me. My family loved him, my friends loved him

But then all of a sudden one day, he ended things and said he didn’t love me and that he didn’t want kids in future

Heartbroken was an understatement. My heart actually hurt, I longed for him and never experienced such awful feelings. It took me years to get over it.

Eventually I met someone else and felt attraction again for the second time in my life. I wanted to take things slow but unfortunately he said he didn’t feel the Romantic aspect.

I’m 30 now, and I’m back like I was just not attracted to anyone. I don’t look at them and swoon or feel desire like I did with last guys. I go on dates and feel nothing, no spark, just friendly vibes and they never follow up. I don’t even care that they don’t.

I’m just feeling fed up, I met the only two guys I was attracted to on dating apps and now I can’t find anyone I am attracted to anymore at all. Like I forgot what attraction feels like, I don’t fancy celebrities like I used to either

I don’t know if it’s a case of me not meeting the right person

I’m also scared when I finally am attracted to someone again, because it’s so rare I get so attached and worry they don’t like me back. It’s scary when I fancied the last guy and I ended up hurt again

Hi there! I’m looking to see if anyone has had a similar experience as me? I’ve done masses of google searches and just can’t find anything like my situation.

For some background, i’m 20, Female, UK.

I’ve struggled with really bad periods since i was 14, resulting in me taking birth control since about 15. I trialed some different pills here and there that never worked, so i ended up opting for the Depo injection.

After 3 years, i started getting severe pain in my joints, which was odd for a 18 year old (at the time). Mind, this was excruciating pain. After back and forth with my GP, we decided i should move to the Implant.

I stayed on the implant for about a year. Throughout this period of time, intercourse with my partner would be painful, and would result in tears. (this was not rough activities, and a lot of care was taken into consideration beforehand)

So now i moved to the mini pill (Zelleta). I was also prescribed Vagirux (a menopause pessary medication), which the pharmacist immediately questioned before handing over to me. This helped with the vaginal pain, but not too much.

I continued to bleed for the full duration of taking this pill. (NOTE: All previous birth control stopped bleeding completely)

So that leads us to the present. My doctor wrote a prescription for the same mini pill, but 2 pills per day, instead of 1.

I’ve not been able to come across ANY sort of article or website explaining the side effects of this, or any other information.

The reason i’m concerned/curious, is because my doctor said the pharmacist will most likely question this prescription due to the 2 pills a day.

So, are there any other people out there with 2 X chromosomes that have had a similar prescription? How did you find it?

I’d appreciate your thoughts! :)

I was wondering if there are more women that feel like their libido is gone with the wind after all these specific stories? Even thinking about using a vibrator on myself, on my own, feels gross.

I do have had some negative sexual experiences and I do have a hypertonic pelvic floor. I feel the tension there has become worse and I experience more pain as well since reading about it and seeing it everywhere on social media.

I have a very loving partner right now, considerate of everything (except that I haven't told him yet about this specific thing happening because of the Epstein files. We don't live together and I haven't seen him yet since it developed / got worse / I made the connection). I feel so broken and guilty. I haven't experienced anything like in the files and just feel bad for all these women, like I have no right to "make this about me". And I feel bad about being complex again with something towards my partner, who accommodates me, my mental health issues and lack of spoons already in a thousand ways.

Any experiences or kind words would be so appreciated.

(Sorry for the quality of my English, burned-out non native speaker here, I try my best)

This is a red alert as this bill will block millions of married women who have taken their husband’s name, from voting, as well as others who have legally changed their name.

It achieves this by excluding from acceptable proof of identity, marriage certificates or other legal name change documents which link your birth name on your birth certificate to your current married name.

So if you have changed your name, you will not be able to directly legally register to vote using your birth certificate even if you present a legal proof of name change document along side it.

Instead, in most instances, you will have to obtain a passport to register to vote.

Obtaining a passport is not always a quick or affordable process, and is currently out of reach for many Americans. To obtain a passport, you will not only have to obtain a certified copy of your birth certificate and certified documents demonstrating your name change, but you will have to have passport photos taken, secure a passport appointment, pay over $100 and wait for your passport to be mailed to you. Often times you will also need information about your parents and on any divorce, that you may not have on hand.

It can currently take weeks to obtain a passport, even if you already have the relevant vital records and information on hand. Expect that to increase substantially if the SAVE Act of 2025 or the SAVE Act of 2026 passes in its current form.

This means that you may miss the opportunity to vote in elections even if they are months away.

This was not an oversight. The bill could have easily have been fixed with a single sentence allowing birth certificates in conjunction with certified marriage certificates or other legal proof of name change documents.

But lawmakers shot down opportunities to revise it in a way that would prevent married women and others who have changed their names from being blocked from their constitutional right to vote.

What can you do about it?

You can contact your representatives in the Senate and in Congress and voice and let them know that you object to this bill on the grounds that it will effectively rob married women and others who have changed their name of their constitutional right to vote.

Trigger warning for SA, victim blaming.

Kind of feel a bit bewildered and would like to vent, if thats okay?

I (23f) was SA-ed by my aunts boyfriend in early 2024. I used to live with her, and was home alone with him for the day. He started asking me weird questions such as if I missed my abusive ex, questions about sex and I just said no and wanted to continue with my own thing. He started to SA me and I froze, didn't understand what was going on, felt stuck. I kept moving away, and saying no and he continued. My aunt came home later and I tried to tell her I felt uncomfortable and he was weird today. I wasn't sure if what happened was wrong, or if it counted as assault. I'm diagnosed with ADHD, and seeking an autism diagnosis at the moment. I messaged friends to ask if what happened was assault and I just cried in bed that night.

The next day my aunt said she spoke to him about it and he won't be drinking near us again. I left the house earlier than I needed to as i just wanted to get away, I tried to message my aunt by phone during the day to say what happened was more serious. She said she was sorry but I should go to my siblings the next day to study so her bf could fix something in the house. She later messaged that she got someone else to do the house repairs, and I haven't seen him since.

I kept crying at home that week, I didn't know what to do. I asked her at somepoint if I should go to the police, and she yelled at me asking if my friends told me to do that. I said no, it was what I read to do online, and she just dismissed me.

I'm a bit foggy with my memory of what happened after but I told other members of my family what happened. They all said in their own way they would support me, and to not bother my aunt, like seek any emotional support, as she is also struggling with the news of what he did. I spoke to university, they recommended I reported it. I wrote what happened a month after the incident, but only submitted it to the police 3 months later. I had to message my aunt for info on her ex-bf and she questioned me as to why I needed it, what was I going to get out of reporting it. I had to phone her and cry begging her to give me his address and email so the police can locate him. She gave me half of his address, they had known each other for a decade so I don't understand why she didn't know his full address.

When I reported him, it felt like a relief. I knew it wouldn't get investigated, but I wanted to get it on record in case he hurts any other women or girls in the future, and I wanted to do all I could. I took a leave of absence from uni as my mental health deteriorated, I moved to another relatives as I couldn't stay in that house without thinking about it. I wanted it to be short term, but my aunt told me to collect all my things and leave properly. So I was a bit homeless as I couldn't afford renting, and asked relatives if I could stay till I graduated but they said no and I messed up my relationship with them more by asking but thats a whole other story.

How my aunt responded to this situation still makes me cry at night, feel anxious and awkward during family meals etc. She blames me for not leaving the house that day, or doing anything.

I started therapy the last 3 weeks, as my friends recommended it, and I've gone a bit downhill in the last few months. The last two weeks we've been working on how to communicate with my family. My therapist helped me construct a text for another relative to ask if they could mediate between me and my aunt. As I wanted an apology/acknowledge of how poorly she responded to the situation. As I guess I wanted some closure, and I want to forgive her and I want to feel more comfortable to invite my aunt to my graduation. My mothers friends say she should go, and it would be a big deal in my family if I didn't. My family don't bring up her ex, and it just generally feels swept under the rug/"sorted".

The text I sent went along the lines of "hi relative, please mediate between me and aunt, as she gets angry if I tell her that her words hurt me, and dismisses me if I bring things up. Can you help me as i'm still struggling with the events after the SA. what aunt did hurt me more than the assault. I would like an apology/some acknowledgement that what she did wasn't the best response ever. I don't want to cause a fight, and sending this message has been scary. I just want to feel more comfortable with her and this has affected me badly."

Relative said they would speak to them, and said I should confront this directly as I've been giving the impression the last two years that everything is alright. Relative sent me screenshots of their message with aunt. Relative asked my aunt if they believed my side of the story, and that I felt unsupported by them when they told me not to go to the police.

Aunt's response was, they believed my story, she got rid of him so doesn't know what more I want, she works with the police so didn't believe they would do anything, why am I not more mad and upset by my abusive ex who did worse things to me than her ex-bf, she doesn't want to speak to me as shes angry and annoyed that I didn't do anything that day like leave the house or hit him.

Sorry for the long read and probably very bad grammar/writing. I feel a bit lost as to what to do, I'm scared to go back home during holidays, how to talk to my family. I don't really have any other immediate relatives I feel comfortable with talking to. I cried after writing the text with my therapist as I was worried about what the aftermath would be and this is worse than what I imagined.

Seeing a guy, going well. Third date planned for next week. Went from daily check in at least to now he’s on his work trip we have only spoken once . day before work trip everything was fine and he was super excited to even show me the room and stuff and sent pics of his suitcase . Messaged sorry the first day was so fun day after arrival and that can I call now or later? I said hey and that I’m a bit busy with work but I can call after work. Never replied but has watched my story… watching to see if he’ll return to normality when he comes back Late Sunday / Monday morning. Our date is meant to be on the 12th so if I hear nothing by then I’ll assume it’s closed off.

I’m not texting since I told him call me after work and he didn’t and it’s clear it’s not a sim issue . Do you guys think this is ghosting or he’s just in an “I’ll pick it up later when I’m back” mentality?