When a heterosexual man meets a woman for the first time, chances are he will, consciously or subconsciously, judge her approachability, her attractiveness and her potential for a great romp in the sack. If he’s a more sensitive guy, he might also try to gauge whether she’d make a good wife or mother. But when a heterosexual woman meets another woman for the first time, she will judge her ability to be a good friend…and her potential as a post-retirement roommate in a split-level ranch house in Miami.

My closest pals don’t know that I’ve already designated which of them will be the Rose and Blanche to my Dorothy, God forbid I’m a widow when it comes time for me to trade my stilettos for orthopedic shoes. (As a neurotic, native New Yorker, I allow myself to play the “God Forbid…” game on occasion.) And I have several back-ups in mind, in case my top roomie picks are unavailable by then—that is, if they are still married, living in a nursing home, or otherwise, ahem, checked out. One of the chosen ladies, like the Rose character, has a heart of gold, a slightly airy temperament and, most important, an endless supply of wacky childhood stories. The other is a sophisticated city gal whom I can definitely imagine evolving into a fun-loving geriatric sexpot, persuading everyone in the house to … //READ MORE

Nidhi Chanani says she wants to make people smile. That’s why, three-and-a-half years ago, the Calcutta-born artist committed to churning out a drawing every single day and posting it to her website, Everyday Love. “I wanted to share those little moments in life that make people happy, that put a smile on their face.”

No one would dispute that her lively, colorful images are smile inducing. Sometimes romantic, often whimsical and always cheerful, they depict handsome young couples in love, strolling over bridges, snuggling in bed or wandering through moonlit city streets. They show mothers and daughters baking together or braiding one another’s hair; women alone, daydreaming over a cup of tea, playing acoustic guitar or riding a bicycle across a gorgeous landscape; and cuddly zoo animals frolicking against natural backdrops. Much of Chanani’s art is a love letter to her City by the Bay, with cable cars, the Golden Gate Bridge and other landmarks featured prominently. But she also pays homage to her Indian heritage and dabbles in other romance-inspiring metropolises, including New York. … //READ MORE

I had been overweight my entire life. But after the birth of my second daughter, things truly got out of control. According to my scale, I was the heaviest I’d ever been. None of my clothes fit. And aside from feeling the typical new-mom exhaustion, I was feeling sloppy and depressed. In an effort to cheer me up, my mother came over with an old video of my first birthday. All of us—my mom, my eldest daughter, my “skinny husband” and me, nursing the baby—sat on the couch to watch. There on the screen we saw a chubby, curly-haired little brunette in a white dress. I thought I looked cute. But Skinny Husband, who I’m sure had no malicious intent, looked from the screen to me, and back to the screen and said, “Oh, look dear. You were fat even then.”

My heart sank and that familiar feeling rumbled in the pit of my stomach. I wasn’t mad, but embarrassed. Like a teenager on a bad date. Like I wanted to crawl under the coffee table and die. But this time something was different. A fire deep inside me had been ignited. That very day, I made a commitment with myself to never feel ashamed again because of my weight. I joined Weight Watchers and lost 64 pounds—almost 37 percent of my body weight—during the next 18 months. More than four years ago, thanks to my weight loss success, I became a Weight Watchers leader and have encountered thousands of women who want to make a similar change. I’ve noticed that sadly, most of those who enroll in the program don’t achieve their goals. But those who do succeed—and the women I know who find success with other health-and-fitness programs—have something in common … //READ MORE

To all you supermoms out there who had absolutely no problems breastfeeding, I say congratulations and go to hell. (Of course, I mean that in the most affectionate way.) But if your nursing endeavors resembled, like mine did, a Stanley Kubrick flick, I say, pull up a chair, sista, and let’s commiserate.

Nursing did not come easy to me. For starters, none of the women in my family had done it, so there was no maternal experience trickling down through the generations. Second, I gave birth in a New York hospital where “doula” was a dirty word and the nurses were too understaffed and not as educated as they should’ve been on the benefits of breastfeeding. At the time my daughter was born, a new mother with any intentions of not bottle-feeding in that maternity ward had the Similac cans stacked against her. … //READ MORE

There I was completely naked, face down, hands tied behind my back in a strange man’s bed, having some of the most amazing sex of my life.

Let’s be clear: I’m not just any woman on the prowl. I’m a mother of two, living in a conservative East Coast town. I have a successful career—and a husband with whom I’m deeply in love and in lust. I just happen to like sex with others as well.

And I’m not alone. In his seminal 2013 book What Do Women Want?, Daniel Bergner has my back. “Flagging sex drive is not just an inevitability for women—it is specifically the result of long-term monogamy [and] can be entirely overridden by the appearance of a new sexual partner.” He shatters the myth that men are hornier, citing a study in which women’s lady parts were measured for blood flow as they watched a broad range of porn. And they got off on all of it—even on the footage of apes having sex. … //READ MORE

We know her best as the flaky, irreverent, reckless Jessa on the HBO series Girls. But the 29-year-old British-American actress Jemima Kirke, a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, insists she is an artist first, an actress second, an assertion that’s backed up by her second solo art show, “Platforms.”

Running through May 10 at Fouladi Projects in San Francisco, the show features a series of striking female portraits. These are “girls” that belong to Kirke alone—female subjects ranging from her little daughter to her personal trainer—and depicted in all their humble humanness. Deliberate brush strokes reveal them as contemplative, physically imperfect beings, often with dour expressions and lost gazes that Kirke has described as being “part of their individuality.” It’s clear that the artist sees them in terms of their unique relationship to her, and her admiration for each shows in her determination to scratch away … //READ MORE