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twisty little passages
You walk to the house. The door blocks you from going farther.



Jess Zimmerman is the author of Women and Other Monsters and an editor at Quirk Books. Her essays and opinion writing have appeared in the Guardian, the New Republic, Slate, Hazlitt, Catapult, and others.
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I Gave Up Pants—But Femininity Is Just As Binding
I stopped wearing pants in the name of physical comfort, with the emotionally uncomfortable result that I now present as a woman who wears dresses all the time.
Theory of Knowledge
An example of the just-world phenomenon: If anyone found out, they would think I deserved it. When it’s the girl who gets hurt, they always do.
Who Is Steven Hotdog? Or, Untangling the “Braided Essay”
A personal essay of the Steven Hotdog form needs the interior experience, the exterior fact, and the meaning that connects them—in order to work its magic.
More in this series
Dog Bites Man, New Jersey, 1884
I had been unquestioningly loyal to Himself even after he killed my mother.
An Exercise in Paranoia
The prayer for air safety then begins to taxi to a halt: “Charge your angels, oh Lord, to escort the plane from take-off to landing.”
Elmo’s Struggle
I raised my eyes heavenwards, seeking strength in the blue expanse. Let Zoe have her foolish notions. I would not let Rocco trouble me today.