Safety
Girls just want to feel safe Imagine the things women could create, innovate, and transform if their energy wasn’t going into self-preservation. BY TONYA WHITTLE The long running joke that women don’t know what they want has very effectively branded women as flaky. It’s a mind game of disempowerment that twists the truth because we […]
HR
The last Human in Human Resources BY ALTHEA BRANTON I spent more than a decade in Human Resources. I am confident, however, that no one really knew I was there. I was always the first point of contact of any given HR department, so employees always thought the rest of the team was kind, bubbly […]
Bringing My Whole Self
How I learned to bring my whole self to work And why leaving the best parts of yourself at home is bad for everyone. BY REBECCA THOMAS COLE The idea of showing up fully as myself still gives me a strong case of the “I don’t wanna’s.” It’s very tempting to look at what others […]
Women in Tech
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Despite national conversations about gender diversity in tech, women are still underrepresented, underpaid, discriminated against, and then told that the problem is them. BY TYNA HOPE, PHD I work in tech, at least I do when I am working. I am an engineer by training, […]
FEMINIST LITERATURE
“That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you’ve understood all your life but in a new way.” – Doris Lessing Throughout history, literature is studded with spectacular works of fiction, theory, and criticism all revolving around one thing: feminism. Here are a few suggestions for you to pick up to continue your feminist education. Whether […]
The cost of self-care
The cost of self-care The term “self care” itself has become a hot commodity (and big business), but is it really good for us? BY LISA PETTY, PHD We hear about it a lot. We scroll past #self-care posts on social media, with pictures of women soaking in bubble baths, pouring (another) extra large tumbler […]
WELCOME!
Welcome to DEFY (It’s been waiting for you) Here’s the story of how I finally figured out how to become a human “being” and why that empowered me to start this magazine. BY JULIE LAWRENCE “You know Julie, you’re very smart. I think you could be a senior person in this agency one day.” That’s […]
CRYSTAL ANDRUS-MORISSETTE
Fueling the fire Crystal Andrus-Morissette turned her anger into power, and she’s teaching women everywhere how to step into theirs. BY JULIE LAWRENCE Trigger Warning: This article contains descriptions of sexual violence and sexual harassment. I acknowledge that this content may be difficult for some. I encourage you to care for your safety and well-being […]
THE REAL WORLD – Archive
ISSUE 2 The harrowing story of Big Bertha A few years ago, while researching the history of sex work in North America, I came across the story of an amazing woman entrepreneur, Big Bertha. This woman was a force and gained notoriety by running a bordello near the railroad in Fort Smith, Arkansas during the […]
THE REAL WORLD
THE REAL WORLD with Sarah Holmes In this regular column, DEFY’s own Sarah Holmes shows us that there are lessons to be learned all around us if we can just look up and take notice. LATEST Mentorship goes beyond what we say to others. It’s about what we say to ourselves. In my late teens […]