Why religion must change with the times — This week, the Vatican came out with a statement characterizing gay unions as ‘sins’ that cannot be ‘blessed by God’. It led to jubilation among many conservatives and outrage and disappointment among progressives. For me, it validated my choice to leave the oppressive arms of religion. The Church decreed that gay unions were not ‘part of God’s plan’. If that’s the case…

Why are TV shows with rampant sexism so popular with women? — ‘Bridgerton’ dropped on Netflix on Christmas Day last year. In a couple of months, it became the most-watched series on Netflix. ‘Bridgerton’ is a historical romance based on Julia Quinn’s books, set in early nineteenth-century England. I wasn’t immune from the hype. I watched it — although I found the…

Think about a failure as a lesson instead — Weare hardwired to avoid failure. We keep ourselves from pursuing our dreams to avoid the pain of failure. We stay far away from the edge and the beautiful abyss below full of possibility because we cannot bear to scrape our knees. But what is ‘failure’ anyway? If something doesn’t work…

But all leaders are guilty of hiring people that look like us — A year ago, I joined forces with two of my colleagues to interview potential candidates for our respective teams. All three of us are Vice Presidents at a big bank. We put out a posting and organized a panel interview. Panel interviews can prevent bias in hiring, as long as…

The perils of being a woman — When I was a teenaged girl living in Pakistan, my parents did not have any money to buy me a car and hire me a driver. Driving myself was out of the question due to security concerns. We didn’t live in a fancy neighborhood. At the time, seemingly naive young…

Or doing whatever else makes you feel human — In the early days of the pandemic, we were all fueled with purpose. We were on a mission, mutually fighting a war. We were motivated and energized. Working from home was a novelty and we went at it with energetic vigor. I talked to friends and colleagues that fateful March a full year ago now; almost everyone felt we would be back at…

No, your gay son will not change with the love of a good woman — A casual acquaintance, Mir, mentioned that he was dating. At first, I was happy for him — why wouldn’t I be? But Mir didn’t seem enthused about it. He wasn’t dating for pleasure. He was doing it specifically for the purpose of marriage. That’s not necessarily odd. After all, isn’t…

All is fair when your life and future are at stake — A friend is a Dean at a business school that hires a lot of international students. Gender diversity is a core focus for the school. Historically, it has been challenging to recruit women, although ethnic diversity runs rampant with lots of starry-eyed hopefuls from different countries arriving to build better…

Starving for weeks, wishing for cancer, coveting bones — when we lead privileged lives, we must self-sabotage — Trigger Warning: this article contains descriptions of disordered eating, and unhealthy eating disorder behaviors that may not be suitable for all readers. Fearless community, please read with care. Throughout my life, I’ve had an uncomfortable relationship with food. At an early age, I learned to eat out of boredom and…