VIRGIN.BEAUTY.B!TCH

Welcome to episode two of our four-part conversation on Virginity and its lasting impact on women's lives. This week, we shift from what's between a woman's legs determining Virginity to what's placed between her ears that impacts her virtue and self-image. A seminal work on the topic is Virginity Lost, written by Laura Carpenter. She joined us from her day job as an associate professor at Vanderb...

Do words define us, or do we define words? VBB Podcast is built on the belief that — we, the people — ultimately determine how words define us. Putting that belief into action is why we chose to name our Podcast using words that have terrorized or demonized women for centuries. VIRGIN is such a word. It has been used to regulate female sexual expression by dividing women into Madonna's or whores....

Amanda is an internationally published journalist writing stories about relationships, travel, and wellness. In 2013, she wrote an essay that changed my life entitled “Does My Virginity Have a Shelf Life?” It caused a flood of retorts when it debuted in The New York Times. Ironically, feminists and misogynists attacked Amana’s decision to remain abstinent. It was as if a woman not having sexual in...

Lisa Marchiano hosts the popular podcast This Jungian Life , which tops the health and fitness category in the US. She’s a certified Jungian analyst, a sought-after speaker who lectures widely in the US and abroad, and a sought-after workshop facilitator. But Lisa is also an award-winning author who writes books to help women connect more deeply with their innate gifts. Lisa’s latest is The VITAL...

Misty Rae is one of a kind. She announces herself to Medium readers as a former legal eagle, a wife, mother, nature lover, chef, writer, and all-around free spirit. She makes no excuses about being brutally honest, or sweet as pie or being a great big bitch. It all depends on how people approach her, she says. Now in her 50s, Misty is committed to living like a 12-year-old and loving every second!...

February, we honor Black History Month by welcoming the voices of Black women to share their lived experiences. We continue that tradition this year, but on a theme that sheds a different light on racism and the black experience. This month's guests are women born into black heritage through black families, but all present to the world as white. Kelly McWilliams is a mixed-race writer, the daughte...

Laura Cathcart Robbins is a best-selling author and host of the popular podcast The Only One In The Room; she's also a speaker and school trustee credited for creating The Buckley School's nationally recognized committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice. Laura is a prolific contributor to the Huffington Post with highly personal articles on race, recovery, and divorce. Her piece, A Whi...

If you were to meet Miriam Zinter on the street, you would see blond hair, blue eyes, and white skin and draw the most obvious conclusion that she is what she appears to be — a white woman. But looks can be deceiving. Miriam says as much in her Huffington Post article — I'm Black But Look White. Here Are The Horrible Things White People Feel Safe Telling Me. Miriam comes by her black heritage, hon...

Lauren Abrams is a Podcaster, Writer, and Speaker, and mom, but also the founding member and managing partner of Employee Rights Law, helping employees fight discrimination in the workplace for the past two-plus decades. What is not on Laura's resume are the years she spent drugged out and living on the streets of LA. Lauren walks us through her inspiring journey, highlighting the transformational...

Kyomi O'Connor's story is a profound testament to resilience, the power of self-discovery, and the magic of love. Kyomi, the author of "A Sky of Infinite Blue: A Japanese Immigrant's Search for Home and Self," shared her journey from a difficult childhood in Japan to finding her true self in the United States. Kyomi is candid about the verbal abuse she endured from her family, the cultural expecta...

VBB 273: A Remarkable Woman, Dr. Anne Arvizu Shares the Transformative Power of Self-Discovery for Women, Even Those Over 50. Dr. Anne Arvizu, PharmD, FASCP, PCC, is the first guest in our REMARKABLE WOMEN Series. Ann is a pharmacist, entrepreneur, and former global Fortune 500 executive. She's also the founder of the Corelife Coach Institute and creator of THE CORELIFE METHOD™, a transformational...

Kathi Sohn and her husband David created principles and techniques that became the Body Memory Process. After David's passing in 2019, Kathi continued creating courses, articles, and seminars to help individuals heal. As children, out of strong, sometimes traumatic emotions, we all develop core beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world. We carry these beliefs into adulthood, where they can ca...

Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always to be blest. The soul, uneasy and confined from home, Rests and expatiates in a life to come. Alexander Pope (1688-1744) Translation: people will always be optimistic and think that something better is coming, and with the New Year comes Hope. The proof is in a 34-country Ipsos survey that interviewed over 25,000 adults, with 70 pe...

Rev. Stephanie Clarke is a Metaphysical Minister, speaker, author, sacred ceremony facilitator, and Law of Attraction life coach. She shares her spiritual convictions and insights on the fascinating interplay between religion and gender and the shadow history behind our most cherished holiday rituals. She challenges women and men to rethink masculine-centric narratives around Christianity and to c...

Here we are at the end of another turn around the sun — the end of the year 2023. For some, it’s a time for family and friends, for celebration and worship; for others, it’s a time to party and forget; while for others, it’s time to reflect. For reflection, we offer two questions for your contemplation, and you can answer from a personal, professional, or public perspective. The questions are: Wha...

Dr. Avrum Weiss is a seasoned psychologist and author of four books, including the provocatively titled Hidden in Plain Sight: How Men's Fears of Women Shape Their Intimate Relationships. That book is the subject of a conversation you can hear on VBB epi XXX. This time around, we explore even more provocative topics, including Dr. Weiss's insightful observations of pervasive social media discussio...

Annemarie du LeBohn, AKA The Iron Butterfly, thanks to her exploits as a successful triathlon competitor, is also a TEDx star admired for her profoundly moving and vulnerable conversations that reveal her darkest days as a rape victim. Annemarie shares her transformation journey from victim to victor and highlights an often neglected concept - Post-Traumatic Growth. Annemarie courageously tells of...

Teresa L'Heureux is an intelligent, bright, competent woman; she's an outgoing, positive, encouraging, loving individual and a beautiful human being inside out. We know so because we asked her. We asked her because we couldn’t understand how such a proud and strong woman fell victim to one man who convinced her she was less than loveable and turned her into someone he could abuse anytime and in an...

Sarah Tunstall is a survivor and advocate against human trafficking. Her journey began at the age of 15 when she was recruited into the sex trade by a friend. Already distanced from her family, Sarah found herself trapped in a tumultuous cycle for the next two and a half years, as two different traffickers controlling her life. Having been cut off from social connections, rebuilding her life becam...

Julia Williamson is the author of a thought-provoking article titled, Sometime In My 50s, I Became Invisible To Men. Here's What I Didn't Expect . In her piece, Julia makes the point that the problem of women, age, and perceived loss of attractiveness is real and pervasive. What's remarkable is this: Julia's writing wasn't her issuing a complaint; it was more a proclamation of her pure relief. Fin...

Kathi Sohn wrote her first book, You Made It Up, Now Stop Believing It, following 25 years of working with her late husband, David W. Sohn. He created the groundbreaking work, the Body Memory Process, which empowers people to discover and then release self-limiting and often self-destructive beliefs they created out of emotional events in early childhood. Kathi believes wellness, happiness, and pr...

Jennifer Arthurton was once a high-functioning Fortune 500 Corporate Executive with ten consecutive years of outstanding performance reviews. Confident and established in her role, Jennifer chose to believe that ageism against women in the workplace was a moribund practice. That all changed when, after returning from a brief time off, she discovered a younger employee had replaced her. That slap i...

Rissa Miller is a fearless advocate for the term 'witch,' and she has faced her fair share of prejudice. Recognizing the longstanding stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding witches, Rissa delves into how the label has been reckless, insensitive, and deadly to women. She questions what qualifies a woman as a witch, and whether engaging in divination work, practicing reiki, or even collecting cr...

Our guest, Kristen Donnelly (MSW, M.Div, Ph. D.), is an award-winning, four-time TEDx speaker, international empathy educator, and researcher with two decades of experience in helping people understand the beauty in our differences and the power of inclusiveness. Kristen is a champion for social change and an expert on many poignant topics, including Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Intersectiona...

Christopher and Heather welcome back ghostwriter and editor Juliane Bergmann, author of an influential article in Huffington Post titled "So I thought parents who forgot their kids in their cars were monsters. Then I did it!" It's an emotional, even tearful conversation with Juliane where she shares a personal experience of accidentally leaving her child in a car. She expresses deep shame of havin...