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Caralena Peterson

Caralena Peterson is the author of The Effortless Perfection Myth (released September 20th) about the gender issues today’s women run into in college. She graduated from Duke University in 2015 with majors in Women’s Studies and Public Policy. She has published articles with Inside Higher Ed, The Week, She Knows Media, Ms. Magazine, Rewire News, Bustle, and more. She is also a mixed-medium artist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and Washington Life Magazine. You can check out her past work and sign up for her newsletter at www.caralenapeterson.com or follow her on instagram at @effortlessperfectionmyth. You also can watch her recent TEDxDuke on the misconceptions around disordered eating here.
Mental Health

Britney Spears And The Centuries-Long Tradition of Pathologizing Women's Emotions

In her memoir, I saw parallels between the sexist ideas around Spears's mental health, and the ones that historically were used to institutionalize women.
Sexual Health + Identity

Ending Rape Culture Isn’t Enough. We Need Intimate Justice.

“Intimate justice recognizes the gray zones that don’t fit into the black-and-white schema of rape culture.”
Politics

Trying to Seem Perfectly Together Was Eating Me Apart

I felt like I was “running on a treadmill that only goes faster.”