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My Year Without Makeup — Meredith Talusan

BuzzFeed News

“As a trans woman, my relationship to makeup — and accompanying cisnormative beauty ideals — has been particularly fraught. My 2015 resolution was to stop wearing it entirely. Here’s how things turned out.”

I Don't Owe Anyone My Body — Kirsten King

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“My Tinder date stopped seeming like a nice guy the second he couldn’t hear me say 'no.'”

The Weight of James Arthur Baldwin — Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah

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“On that hill, in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, I wanted to alter fate, and preserve things. But why? He did not need me — Baldwin seemed to have prepared himself well for his black death, his mortality, and even better, his immortality.”

Watching And Reading About White People Having Sex Is My Escape — Esther Wang

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“In romance novels and porn, white people are free to fall in love and have sex without worrying about racial representation.”

The Home That Made Me Doesn’t Exist Anymore — Jasmine Sanders

Alice Mongkongllite / BuzzFeed

“As a kid living in one of Chicago’s poorest black neighborhoods, I learned to look past dysfunction and violence to see the beauty of a place I could call home.”

I Found My Father’s Eulogy In Junk Food — Kaitlyn Greenidge

Will Varner / BuzzFeed

“It wasn’t until I gained 40 pounds that I realized I was eating to fill the void left by a father who was never truly there.”

I Found Love In A Hopeless Mess — Kate Conger

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“Dehoarding my partner’s childhood home gave me a way to understand his mother, but I’m still not sure how to live with the habit he’s inherited.”

Two College Degrees Later, I Was Still Picking Kale For Rich People — Niela Orr

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“While buying groceries for rich people, I realized upward mobility in America is largely a myth.”

To Love Your Sister Is To Grieve Your Twin — Tomi Obaro

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

“It’s impossible to explain what having a twin is like to someone who asks, but I am going to try.”

My Father's House — Reggie Ugwu

Cari Vander Yacht for BuzzFeed News

“After my brother died and my father was partially paralyzed, my family traveled 7,000 miles in search of an old home, a new house, and the things we’d lost on the road in between.”

How I Fell In Love With The Beautiful Art Of Cruising — Garth Greenwell

Will Varner / BuzzFeed

“In discovering the secret world of cruising for sex, I became a poet.”

When My Oldest Friend Did Something Unforgivable — Shannon Keating

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“Thomas was the one person who didn’t ask me to be anything other than myself. Until he did.”

I Wore Pajamas To My Wedding, And It Was Perfect — Marisa Carroll

Marisa Carroll

“Nearing the end of her life, my fiancé’s mom couldn’t make it to our wedding. So we brought the wedding to her.”

I Don't Want My Body To Be Perfect Anymore, I Just Want It To Work — Julie Gerstein

Charlotte Gomez / BuzzFeed

“A mysterious, crazy-making itch has made me realize just how much my body has actually done for me all along.”

My Best Friend Saved Me When I Attempted Suicide, But I Didn’t Save Her — Drusilla Moorhouse

Charlotte Gomez / BuzzFeed

“I was serious about killing myself. My best friend wasn’t — but she’s the one who’s dead.”

Confessions Of A Former Former Fat Kid — Isaac Fitzgerald

Andrew Richard / BuzzFeed

“I can’t go back in time to help the boy I was be kinder to himself. But I can work to be at peace with the body I live in now.”

What It Means To Fall In Friend-Love In Your Twenties — Rumaan Alam

Charlotte Gomez / BuzzFeed

“Fueled by youthful ambition and loneliness, our relationship was more seduction than friendship.”

Life Is What Happens While You're Googling Symptoms Of Cancer — Ramona Emerson

Andrew Richard / BuzzFeed

“After a lifetime of hypochondria, I was finally diagnosed with my very own medical condition. And maybe, in a weird way, it’s made me less afraid to die.”

How To Plan For The Worst Day Of Your Life — Helen Phillips

Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed

“My life is ruled by order, but when my sister died, I realized there are some things you can never plan for.”

I Don't Know Why I Pray But I Keep Trying — Ahmed Ali Akbar

Charlotte Gomez / BuzzFeed

“For me, prayer isn’t so much a question of belief as it is a question of who I want to be.”

How My Glasses Showed Me That I’m My Father’s Daughter — Rachel Wilkerson Miller

Rachel Wilkerson Miller

“Learning that I needed glasses again, 10 years after Lasik surgery, made me realize that the things you inherit from your parents aren’t always within your control.”

Rape Culture Is Surveillance Culture — Scaachi Koul

Kate Ferro / BuzzFeed News

“After being roofied twice, I realized I didn’t always know who was watching me. And how dangerous that is.”

Why I've Decided To Start Dressing More Femininely — John Paul Brammer

Nick Sumida for BuzzFeed News

“All my life, I worried that wearing flamboyant clothes would mean putting a target on my back. But in the wake of the shooting at Pulse, I realized that I’ve been sacrificing a huge part of myself for a safety that was never guaranteed in the first place.”

What I’ve Learned From Having A Trans Partner — Blair Braverman

Ping Zhu for BuzzFeed News

“My partner doesn’t want his body. But I do.”

Here’s What Happens To Your Body When You Hike The Appalachian Trail — Robert Moor

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“After trekking 2,000 miles of mountainous terrain on foot, I transformed physically and spiritually, but that didn’t mean I wanted to totally erase my old self.”

Why Do I Miss Being Bipolar? — Sasha Chapin

Charlotte Gomez / BuzzFeed

“The medication I take to treat my bipolar disorder works perfectly. Sometimes I wish it didn’t.”

How My Boyfriend Used My Weight To Keep Me With Him — Autumn Whitefield-Madrano

Charlotte Gomez / BuzzFeed

“An abusive ex convinced me he was special because he celebrated my not-thin body. When I lost weight, he lost his leverage over me.”

After Transitioning, No One Calls Me Fat Anymore — Liam Lowery

BuzzFeed News

“When doctors started reading me as male, my size was still the same — but my obesity was cured.”

I Was Pregnant, And Then I Wasn't — Laura Turner

Angie Wang for BuzzFeed News

“In the aftermath of a miscarriage, the loss of someone I never knew has been more devastating than I could have imagined.”

Here’s What I’m Telling My Brown Son About Trump’s America — Mira Jacob

Mira Jacob

“Sometimes I wish I could ask America when, exactly, it made its mind up about us.”

Losing My Mom Taught Me How To Grieve For America — Miguel Morales

Jasu Hu for BuzzFeed News

“Every single day since she died, I have wished for my mother back. But I’m glad she won’t be here to witness the next four years, and that she gave me what I need to get through them.”

Source: Buzzfeed