2025 was…well, a lot. Especially for women. The manosphere grew. Bodies shrank. Beauty standards became even more exclusive. Speaking of exclusive: DEI programs were rolled back. Women left the traditional work force in droves, the wage gap widened, and discourse about the “ambition gap” just completely missed the mark.

And in light of all that, I’m going to say it: This is not the year we need to be putting unnecessary pressure on ourselves via New Year’s resolutions.

Now, if you love a resolution? You do you. If you want to vow to, say, write in your gratitude journal every morning, be kinder to yourself, spend more time with friends, or adopt another habit that would truly make you feel better, that’s great!

But so often, New Year’s resolutions are about self-improvement, not life-improvement. We vow to lose ten pounds, or get promoted, or find a new job. But right now, it’s pretty clear: The odds are stacked against women. There are messages everywhere that are designed to make us feel like we’re failing, when in reality, we are being failed by systems and standards that don’t match up with reality. 

We work to put more inclusive beauty standards into place, only for that progress to be largely undone by Skinnytok and the Ozempic boom. We work to be taken seriously by the medical community, only to be routinely gaslit and dismissed. We work hard to achieve professional success — not just to gain financial independence, but also to promote the causes we believe in. But we’re doing it all with the weight of caregiving in a system that doesn’t view care work as work on our backs, so we fall flat on our faces, time and time again. But instead of understanding our reality, we’re told women are “ruining the workforce” or that we are just “not ambitious”.

I’m not suggesting we take this as a sign to stop trying. But I am saying that maybe this year, we take a moment to think about all the ways we’ve been convinced that we need fixing, when the truth is, we are navigating our world that doesn’t want us to ever feel good enough.

There is too much money to be made off of women’s insecurities. There is too much scapegoating to be done around our vulnerabilities. So why should we buy into the pressure of self-improvement? Right now feels like the perfect time to lean into something else. 

In short? To quote Amy Poehler: "I think women should stop improving themselves. I think we did it"

Ask Clara:

"What were the major events for women in 2025?"

We Need to Unpack the Myth of Being a "Naturally Good Gift-Giver"

Immediately after a holiday that involves a woman receiving a gift, the discourse is always the same. Women express frustration over the gift they received from a male partner being all wrong (or totally non-existent). And the response from the outside world is pretty much always the same: “Give him grace. He’s probably not a naturally good gift-giver”.

I see this happen after Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, birthdays, and yes, Christmas. A woman will say “it’s not that I wanted something wildly expensive, I just wanted something that felt really thoughtful”. Yet in many cases (especially when the gift-giver is a man), they’re made to feel guilty for not being satisfied with what they receive.

But here’s the thing: Nobody is a "naturally good gift giver".

Women tend to be better at it, sure — not because we were simply born with this innate ability to choose a bespoke gift for everyone on our lists, but because we’ve been socialized to spend a lot of time and emotional energy on thinking about other people’s wants and needs.

Gift-giving is work. Yes, it’s often a labor of love, but it’s labor all the same. It takes time and effort to think about a gift that is tailored to the recipient, procure said gift, wrap it and present it — and too often, all this labor falls solely on women.

That’s (part of) why women are even more exhausted than usual from November through January. We spend so much time doing this labor. For our partners, our family members, our in-laws, our kids, our friends, our kids’ teachers and the people who help us out in our day-to-day — yet we’re not allowed to expect anyone else to send this level of care back our way.

It’s time we stop gaslighting women for expecting someone to put in the labor of gift-giving for their benefit. And if you’re disappointed after this (and every) holiday, you deserve to hear this message: You didn’t “just need to communicate your wishes better”. You deserve to be seen and understood too….just like you see and understand all the people in your life. 

Ask Clara:

"What is emotional labor?"

A TikTok Trend is Encouraging Women to Celebrate *All* Their Wins and I'm Here for It

For so long, women were only celebrated when they got engaged, got married, or had babies. And then, a new narrative started to blossom: People online started saying things like "normalize congratulating women when they get new jobs, start businesses, or secure promotions — not when they get married or have babies". And a lot of people agreed: "Getting married and having a baby is not an accomplishment!" they said.

But here's the thing: It's up to us to define our goals and claim them as accomplishments if we see fit.

That's why I love the “celebration cake” trend I’m seeing on TikTok: If you haven't come across it on social media, it's essentially a trend featuring people sticking candles into a "celebration cake" — some do it with a group, others do it solo. In either case, the people get to decide what accomplishment they want to celebrate.

Some give themselves props for getting married or having a baby or breastfeeding for a year or finding love. Others celebrate promotions, hitting a follower goal, leaving a job they hated, and other professional wins. And others still celebrate the things that are neither professional nor relational: Things like finishing chemo, becoming more financially responsible, freezing their eggs, moving into their own homes, walking 10,000 steps every day...the list goes on and on.

What's so refreshing here is that people — mostly women, because like most social media trends, this one is being carried by the ladies — are deciding what they get to be proud of — and they're shining a light on all the options. It's not only about celebrating the "traditional" stuff women are praised for, but it's also not about counting those out as “non-accomplishments” either.

We all have different dreams, goals, timelines, and priorities — and what seems really important at one phase of life may be deprioritized at another. On top of that, we’ve been conditioned to think accomplishments are only things that can be visible to the outside world (like the wedding or the promotion or the cute bouncing baby). But accomplishments can also be the things that are only apparent to you: Like working on your mental health, being kinder to yourself, or advocating for yourself in a health setting.

Accomplishments and milestones worth celebrating are for you to define. And we love that in this trend, women are defining their greatest moments of 2025.

Ask Clara:

"What are the benefits of celebrating accomplishments? "

The Tip That Saved Me While Navigating Infertility and Pregnancy Loss During the Holidays

The thing about infertility and pregnancy loss is that triggers are absolutely everywhere. They’re in the questions you get when you turn down a drink. The way conversations inevitably shift to when you’re having kids.  The pregnancy announcements you’ll hear in person at parties. During the holiday season, those triggers feel even harder to avoid, as you may find yourself socializing more and seeing relatives after a while.

All this to say: If you’re in it right now, I know the last thing you want is unsolicited advice. But I'm here to offer you one tip that I think may actually help. Here it is: Get your script ready.

Heading into a family dinner or a holiday party knowing that you may face some fertility speculation allows you to avoid feeling totally blindsided when someone says or asks something that makes you uncomfortable.

You can keep it classy and tactful. For example, when someone tells you to “hurry up and have a baby” (ugh, really!?!) you don’t have to find yourself frozen and wondering if you should serve back the attitude the comment deserves. Instead you could just say something like “Thanks for that advice” or “We’re doing our best right now”. 

Or, you can go in a different direction. Humor, for example: You could say “Wait, how do we go about making that happen again? We’re not really sure how babies are made.” 

You can also take a moment to set the record straight. If someone asks you if you’re pregnant, for example? You could fire back with “Wow, I’m really surprised you felt comfortable asking me that. What an invasive question.” 

Regardless of which approach you take, I’ve found it really helpful to just be prepared. To work out a few of the triggers you may encounter and pre-plan how you’ll react to them. 

I wish people who are walking through infertility didn’t have to think about these scenarios. But the reality is, too many people don’t understand the need for sensitivity around these issues.

My take? You have to anticipate some of these invasive comments and questions because people still just don’t get it. And while we work to move the needle culturally, in the meantime, all we can do is handle the situations in real time. 

And in my experience? Preparing yourself with a script to pull out in these situations makes it ever-so-slightly less awkward.

Ask Clara:

"How can I handle fertility speculation?"

If Lili Reinhart Had to Push for an Endometriosis Diagnosis, What Hope Do The Rest of Us Have?

Two things can be true: Women can unilaterally face roadblocks on the path to securing effective health care...and women can also have vastly different levels of access based on privilege. Case in point: Lili Reinhart, a wealthy, white, famous woman with all the access in the world struggled to get an endometriosis diagnosis.

Reinhart certainly faces fewer barriers to healthcare than women who don't have her levels of privilege...but she still faces barriers because, well, that's what happens to women.

In an Instagram post announcing her endometriosis diagnosis — and reflecting on the road to get to that diagnosis — Reinhart sheds light on the importance of women advocating for their own bodies. 

"Last year, I saw a urogynecologist and was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis. I was told there was no cure—and no lasting relief—for my symptoms.
Three hospital visits. Multiple urologists and gynecologists. And not one of them seriously considered endometriosis as the underlying cause of what I was experiencing," she writes.

Which is so frustratingly common and relatable: Far too many women are told to just live with their pain and symptoms — and endometriosis in particular often takes years to be diagnosed. And of course, without diagnosis, there's no path to effective treatment.

Reinhart also writes about the importance of advocating for yourself in her post. And it's important to note: Yes, Reinhart has the type of access to healthcare that most women don't — but she also has the power to use her platform to spread awareness. And it's working: Take a look at the comments of her post. They're not just a space for women to thank her for using her voice and privilege to move the needle; they're also proof that Reinhart has created a space for other women to vent about the medical gaslighting they've faced.

Because let's face it: This is the thing that unites us, regardless of what our access looks like.

Ask Clara:

"How long does it take to be diagnosed with endometriosis?"

Reese Witherspoon Speaks the Truth: Mental Health Issues Among Women are Glorified

An exercise for all the ladies reading this: Think about a time in your life when you felt the most successful — a time you were crushing it professionally and hitting all those societal benchmarks of success.

Now think about what your mental health was like at the time. 

I'm guessing it probably wasn't at an all-time high. If you're anything like me at least, you’ve been praised and rewarded the most, especially in professional settings, when you’re neglecting your mental health the most. I’m not alone here: Reese Witherspoon just shed light on how this holds up for her too.

"I was probably successful because I had so much anxiety. They go hand in hand," Witherspoon said during an interview with Harper's Bazaar UK. "I had pressured myself to extreme levels to show up at work in a perfect way. We all now know, perfect is not attainable. It’s not sustainable. I stressed myself out in service of my job, and it got me really, really far. I’m rewarded for my anxiety and perfectionism."

The line between drive and unhealthy perfectionism is razor thin for women. I’ve witnessed so many fellow women be rewarded for their unhealthiest habits: Working around the clock, indulging in perfectionism, being so openly anxious and high-strung — and so I've internalized the idea that in order to follow in those footsteps, I have to do the same.

We are just starting to talk about all the ways hustle culture has truly affected women, and Witherspoon’s admission is such a powerful one. Because even a woman who has achieved so much and seems to have it all together understands that too often for women, success comes at the cost of your mental health — and that we’ve historically rewarded women when they sacrifice their mental well-being in order to be considered worthy of that success.

But Witherspoon is leaning into a healthier approach. 

“I’m getting older,” she said. “And am starting to relax into the idea that I’m enough.”

Ask Clara:

"How does anxiety show up in women?"

Lucy Hale is Normalizing *Not* Following the Traditional Timeline for Marriage and Motherhood

One of the defining elements of millennial womanhood is the range of options that lie before us. We’ve normalized the fluidity of timelines and have generally just rewritten the rules of #adulting for fellow women…yet there are still so many narratives and ideas about the “right” time to make major life moves. And Lucy Hale is here to speak on it. 

Hale has accomplished so much: She’s had a big acting career (most famously, she played Aria on Pretty Little Liars, an absolute millennial pop culture juggernaut), and she’s been really vocal about her own sobriety journey.

But even she isn’t immune to the messages about what a woman in her 30s “should” do. Hale spoke about this on a recent episode of the Know Thyself podcast. 

"I'm 36. I'm not married and I don't have kids….and I just feel like there's a lot of women who probably need to hear that it's okay to not have that,” she said. She also noted that people have ~reactions~ to Hale not being married or a mom at this phase in her life.

Here’s the thing: I got married in my 28s and was a mom by 30. There’s nothing wrong with being married or having kids in your 20s, but there’s also nothing wrong with…not doing it that way. Delaying marriage and parenthood or opting out of them entirely are completely valid options. And data indicates they’re becoming more and more common. 

Online, there are so many narratives about “bitter single 30 year old women”. We’re in a moment of traditionalism, and I fear some of the progress we’ve made around letting women figure out their own paths will be threatened. But like…screw that. We’re all on different timelines and that’s fine. More than fine, actually — it's freeing.

There's no right or wrong way to do this, and we've got to stop holding women to these outdated timelines.

Ask Clara:

"Why are women delaying parenthood?"

We Need to Talk the So-Called Ambition Gap

By now we’ve all heard that women are leaving the traditional workforce in droves. More recently, findings from McKinsey & Co’s Women in the Workplace annual report indicate that for the first time in a decade, fewer women than men are interested in getting promoted at work — which might have just a little something to do with the fact that women aren't recieving enough career support. Ya think?!?

Now, we need to talk about the discourse this report is inspiring. According to many, this tells us that women are just…getting less ambitious. But let’s step back for a second and think about what’s really at play here. Because as usual, the societal tendency is to put the onus on the women rather than considering all the context. 

Since we’re not in the business of blaming women for systemic failures, we need to approach this in a different way.

In 2025, it’s abundantly clear: Women are doing the bulk of the domestic labor and caregiving (whether for their own kids, their aging parents, siblings, friends, etc). No, it’s not just in our heads: There’s plenty of data to back this up.

We’re still seeing a wage gap, still operating under a set of biases, and still living in a world that dismisses our concerns, whether those concerns relate to our health or our lived experiences. In light of all that, why are we still assuming that women have just lost their collective ambition?

In reality, we’ve been forced to rethink the balance of work and life, and we’re constantly finding ways to recalibrate. The problem is, societal ideas about ambition and commitment and dedication to the job haven’t changed to meet this recalibration.

Most women, especially women with caregiving responsibilities, are completely burnt out in a system that does nothing to support them. Of course they’re hesitant to chase longer hours, increased responsibilities, and the mental juggle of acclimating to a new job. Even in cases in which they go after those promotions, they’re still often passed over because they don’t stay at the office until the wee hours or because they can’t attend every evening networking event — not because they’re lazy on unambitious, but because they have multiple other jobs waiting for them at home.

And so women are doing what needs to be done. Some are becoming stay-at-home moms or taking sabbaticals, but others are starting businesses, going freelance, making career pivots....basically, many of us are exiting the old-school corporate sturctures that have let us down one too many times. That's pretty freaking ambitious, if you ask me. 

It’s not the time to call out the ambition gap. It’s time to rethink the concept of ambition entirely. Because we can’t continue to lean in unless we have some sort to lean on.

Ask Clara:

"Why are women leaving the workforce?"

Why The 'In Your 20s' Trend is Such a Hit Among Millennial Women

I've been loving the "in your 20s" trend that's been all over TikTok recently. If you haven't come across it, here's the gist: Creators are partaking in the trend by shooting video clips and adding text along the lines of "in your 20s, a friend will set you up on a blind date. It's very important that you go on that date". Or "In your 20s, you will be offered a job that terrifies you. It's very important that you take that job". 

The thing about this trend is that it allows us to look back on our lives and reflect on the moments that made us who we are. For some people, the focus is on relationships (think: "In your 20s, you will date a guy who makes you feel small. It's very important that you leave him"). For others, it's on career (think something along the lines of: "In your 20s, everyone will tell you to give up on your dream of becoming a novelist. It's very important you don't listen to them"). 

My love for this trend makes total sense. I'm a millennial woman, as are most people who are partaking in it — and as we all know, millennials are obsessed with nostalgia. That's probably why this reflective look back is such a hit with the women over 30.

Not everyone is as into the trend as I am, though. I've seen some say the trend feels like narcissism and is ruining two great songs ("Piano Man" by Billy Joel and "Silver Springs" by Fleetwood Mac). But like...that's kind of what social media is? It's people bringing their own life experiences to cultural trends. And sure, maybe this trend gives ~main character syndrome~.

But in order to understand why it's striking such a chord with millennial women, it's important to remember the context of millennial womanhood. We are, in many ways, the first generation to exercise a whole range of options. We move to new cities (or even new countries), we get married or get divorced or opt out of marriage entirely, we make career changes, we freeze our eggs, we advocate for the causes we believe in, we start businesses, we endure friend breakups, and we do it all while attempting to navigate this new world that allows us to document our whole evolution on social media. We have the privilege of choices, but also the responsibility of making those chocies — of designing our lives with seemingly unlimited options...and a lot of opinions coming at us constantly via social media. 

We millennial women don’t have a roadmap — but we’re writing a whole new set of rules and documenting them online as we go. And this trend allows us to reflect on the choices we've made and how they're affected our lives.

It also allows us to reframe our 20s, not just as a time to make a million mistakes and fumble through early adulthood, but as a time to learn from those mistakes, change our minds, and ultimately, set the foundation of the rest of our lives. The trend shows us that our 20s weren't just throwaway years, they were the decade spent discovering who we are and what we truly want. And this trend allows us to do what millennial women do best: Engage in some healthy nostalgia while bringing our signature earnest cringe to a collective trend that celebrates every version of womanhood we've lived so far. 

Ask Clara:

"Why are millennial women so nostalgic?"

Could Hormone Replacement Therapy for Women Ward Off Alzheimer's?

I know firsthand that when it comes to Alzheimer's, there are more questions than answers. Effective, risk-free treatments are pretty much nonexistent, and there's really no way to stop the horror show that is a descent into dementia. In light of that, as someone who has seen how little hope there is once somehow receives a diagnosis of Alzheimer's (which is the most common form of dementia) or another form of dementia, I think a lot about things I can do now, in my 30s, to cut my risk of developing this awful disease.

That's why I'm so interested in recent news (via NBC News) that medical experts are considering the role hormones may play — and how these findings may create pathways for preventative treatments. 

This could potentially have a serious impact. Alzheimer's disease is becoming increasingly common, especially among women: According to the Alzheimer's Association, there are 7 million people in the United States living with Alzheimer's and that number is expected to increase. I've often heard theories that Alzheimer's primarily affects women because women tend to live longer, but emerging research suggests estrogen may play a role. 

So how can this shape our approach to preventing Alzheimer's during midlife? We're seeing a $50 million initiative from CARE (Cutting Alzheimer's Risk Through Endocrinology) to learn more about the role hormones may play — and how we can use these findings to approach prevention of Alzheimer's.

Of course, this comes just as the FDA removed the black box warning on hormone replacement therapy, which has long been a source of confusion and fear for women (catch our amazing co-founder Kristyn's coverage of this here). But while it's too soon to tell if hormone replacement can prevent Alzheimer's among women, it appears that we're finally getting somewhere, learning more about why Alzheimer's affects so many women, and beginning to crack open a promising preventative approach.

Ask Clara:

"What role do hormones play in Alzheimer's?"