fact or fiction
Is it fact or merely fiction? Fact or Fiction explores the myths and beliefs we hold about women's health issues, sexism, gender roles, and the female experience.
The Day the Router Died
The glowing blue light of the living room router did not just blink out; it felt as though it took the literal oxygen from the room with it. For Marcus, the silence that followed was immediate and deafening. His thumb instinctively scrolled against a completely dark smartphone screen, frozen mid-swipe on a social media feed that would no longer refresh. Across the room, his teenage daughter, Maya, stared blankly at her tablet as her high-definition video feed froze into an ugly, pixelated mosaic of unmoving colors. In the kitchen, his wife, Sarah, paused mid-recipe, her smart-screen refrigerator suddenly refusing to display the next culinary step. The smart home had gone completely dumb in a matter of seconds, and the family was left stranded in the quiet aftermath.
By Asghar ali awan3 months ago in Viva
She Who is Relaxed, is Free.
“Growing up, I never knew a relaxed woman. Successful women? Yes. Productive women? Plenty. Anxious and afraid and apologetic women? Heaps of them. But relaxed women? At-ease women? Women who don't dissect their days into half hour slots of productivity? Women who prioritize rest, pleasure, and play? Women who aren't afraid to take up space in the world? Women who give themselves unconditional permission to relax? Without guilt? Without apology? Without feeling like they need to earn it? I'm not sure I've ever met a woman like that. But I would like to become one.”
By Alys Revna4 months ago in Viva
The Street Artist
How One Woman Uses Art to Make the Homeless Visible THE CHALK OUTLINE OF FORGOTTEN LIVES 🖍️ Maria Alvarez does not sell her art in galleries or display it in museums because her canvas is the sidewalk and her subjects are the homeless people who sleep on those sidewalks and who are walked past by thousands of commuters daily without being acknowledged or even consciously perceived, and Maria's art involves creating life-size chalk portraits around the actual sleeping positions of homeless individuals during the early morning hours before they wake, so that when morning commuters arrive they see vivid colorful artistic representations of human beings in the exact spots where they would normally see nothing because they have trained themselves to look through homeless people as though they were part of the urban landscape rather than human beings deserving of acknowledgment 🌆
By The Curious Writer5 months ago in Viva
The Erosion of Toxic People: How I Learned to Say “No” Without Guilt
In geology, erosion is not an act of aggression; it is an act of purification. It is a quiet but unstoppable force of nature that slowly, drop by drop, washes away the soft, unstable, and barren layers of earth so that ultimately, only the bedrock remains—the rock that is solid, structured, and can withstand eternity. For years, as a mineralogy engineer, I observed this process in nature, not realizing that my own soul was buried under layers of “bad earth.” I allowed my living space to be a landfill for other people’s dramas, failures, and energetic hunger, until my own terrain began to collapse under the weight of others.
By Magma Star 6 months ago in Viva
You are NOT a "Conservative Feminist," You are a Radical Conservative.
I am brutally honest with my opinion, and many people hate me for it. I am unapologetic when people who claim to be "Conservative Feminists" are offended when I say: "Conservatism and Feminism directly contradict each other; conservative feminism does not exist. You're not a feminist, you're a Radical Conservative." It's at that point civility dissolves from the other party, and they start calling me names or defending themselves instead of saying, "Excuse me? Explain yourself."
By Hope Martin7 months ago in Viva
"The Woman or the Girl You Knew the night before...."
"Girl... ..... you'll be a woman, soon." Neil Diamond sang those lyrics circa 1967, the same year Aretha Franklin was belting out "Natural Woman". Bob Segar recorded the song "Turn the Page" in 1971 with the lyrics "You can think about the woman, or the girl you knew the night before." And "She's Always a Woman" is a song by Billy Joel from his "Stranger" album of 1977, while the BeeGee's sang "More than a Woman"also in the 70s. People also loved John Lennon's song "Woman" from the album "Double Fantasy" released in 1980. After that, the 80s and 90s did not produce any big titles with the word "Woman" as the main theme. So? Why all this history of "Woman" themed songs? What's my point? What does it mean to be a woman? VIVA community wants to know. I think Neil, Bob, Billy, The Gibbs, and John, have all tried to answer the question for women, but how many women have written a song about Women? We might bark up Melissa Etheridge's tree or the Indigo Girls, but as far as I've heard of their songs, I've not found one focused completely on the word or theme "Women" --- which has me believing that neither straight or lesbian women really know what to say about the word "woman" or "women" yet I have just thought of one artist who did come up with something in the 90s: Shania Twain. "Man, I feel like a Woman." Oh, wait. Another artist just came to mind - Whitney Houston (in the 80s) did do a remake of "I'm Every Woman" which was a Pop Hit for her.
By Shanon Angermeyer Norman10 months ago in Viva
Envy is a product of the unloved
I love the photograph above. Two women, plus sized, at the beach, smiling, embracing each other without fear, and modeling their bikinis like Vogue models. Yes, I absolutely adore this photo. The women in the photo don't care if you think size 20 is "obese" or if you think they are "too big" to rock a bikini. They are not jealous of the women who get to walk the big city runways or get paid to wear the newest fashion design. They're not mad that they had to spend $80 for the right bikini because no one bought them an outfit to show them off like a trophy or to pursuade them into some rendevous. This is not a photograph about "fat shaming" or envy. This a photograph about love, beauty, and power. Real power. The power to rise above "popular opinion" and the power to find and feel love regardless of how the world tries to deny you of it.
By Shanon Angermeyer Norman11 months ago in Viva
Stop Harassing Women who Smoke. Top Story - October 2025.
I could have smoked three cigarettes for how long it took me to find the right image to put with this article. I'm sure the AI generators don't struggle like I do trying to force an image into the pixel spot wanting a specific mood/look but not getting the number of pixels correct. Ugh. Ok, now that I've vented, what was I wanting to talk about today? Oh yeah, women who smoke. I did not light a cigarette while I wrote this venting prelude paragraph. I just wanted you to know that because as I move on to the next paragraph, I'm going to refill my coffee cup and then light a cigarette.
By Shanon Angermeyer Norman11 months ago in Viva
