Aphra Behn, first female professional writer. Sojourner Truth, activist and abolitionist. Ada Lovelace, first computer programmer. Marie Curie, first woman to win the Nobel Prize. Joan Jett, godmother of punk. The 100 revolutionary women highlighted in this gorgeously illustrated book were bad in the best sense of the word: they challenged the status quo and changed the rules for all who followed. From pirates to artists, warriors, daredevils, scientists, activists, and spies, the accomplishments of these incredible women vary as much as the eras and...

As you scroll through Instagram, it’s not uncommon to come across dramatic, bedazzled nails. The nail art trend, which had been dying down for some time, is making a comeback; intricate, dazzling nails have been spotted in fashion shows, and designers have been incorporating long, glittering manicures into their runway and editorial looks. For some nail techs, however, nail art is more than just a trend — it’s the way they make their living. In Paint & Polish: Cultural Economy and Visual Culture from the...

Roxane Gay is taking a stand against Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos and the so-called “alt-right,” aka neo-Nazis/white supremacists. Gay pulled her forthcoming book How To Be Heard from TED Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, as a protest against Simon & Schuster’s $250,000 book deal with Yiannopoulos. Yiannopoulos is set to publish a book called Dangerous on Simon & Schuster imprint Threshold Editions on March 14th. Gay told BuzzFeed News, “I can’t in good conscience let them publish it while they also publish Milo. So I...

Miniature portraits first appeared in England during the 16th century. Small, portable, and easily displayed or concealed on one’s person, their popularity flourished — both in life and in literature. By the 19th century, their presence in romance novels and Gothics was practically de-rigueur. Ann Radcliffe uses miniatures to great effect in several of her novels, including The Mysteries of Udolfo (1794) and The Italian (1797). In the following passage from The Italian, we get a glimpse of the enormous dramatic impact a miniature can have...

Because we all need something to smile about today, let me introduce you to Daliyah Marie Arana. The 4-year-old preschooler from Gainesville, Georgia was the Library of Congress’s “Librarian For A Day” on January 11th, and her adorable photos are melting the internet’s heart. According to the Washington Post, Daliyah has been interested in reading since she was a baby, when she would listen to her older brother read to her out loud. She began recognizing words at 18 months old, and read her first book...

In an age of mansplaining, misogyny, and a sexist buffoon about to take office, women’s voices, and voices of all marginalized populations, need amplification and bolstering. So I was thrilled when I got my hands on a copy of Waveform: Twenty-First-Century Essays by Women, edited by Marcia Aldrich. The collection comprises new and previously published essays by such literary stars as Cheryl Strayed, Eula Biss, Roxane Gay, Margo Jefferson, Meghan Daum, Leslie Jamison, as well as lesser known female essayists like Kyoko Mori, Neela Vaswani, and...

Leslie Jones and Milo Yiannopoulos have a bit of history between them. In July 2016, Yiannopoulos tweeted at Jones criticizing her role in the Ghostbusters remake. Milo also criticized the way Jones dealt with the twitter hate she recived in response to the Ghostbusters movie and his tweet. The feud escalated when a fake Leslie Jones profile was made tweeting lewd and racist comments. Many believe that Milo was the one who created the profile since in his screenshot that he tweeted you can see the delete...

Do you love reading about complicated, captivating, difficult women? We fucking hope so — you’re reading BUST, after all. Whether you’re setting up your reading goals for 2017 or just looking for suggestions for something new, you need to drop everything and read Difficult Women by Roxane Gay. You should know who Roxane Gay is, but in case you don’t, she’s the brilliantly talented author of the essay collection Bad Feminist and the novel An Untamed State (and Marvel’s World of Wakanda and the forthcoming memoir...

Milo Yiannopoulos may be banned but he cannot be contained. The 33-year-old, gay, alt-right editor provocateur of Breitbart, who was banned from Twitter during the summer for online harassment of comedian Leslie Jones has recently received an alleged $250,000 advance to from Simon & Schuster to publish his free-hate-speech toting book, Dangerous. Bullying celebrities, though condemnable and petty, is one thing—I’m sure Leslie Jones can hold her own, and could quite possibly wrangle a far sweeter book deal from the company—but it’s another to publicly harass...

BUST readers will know that every issue contains a book review section where we tell you which books are worth reading. Now, we’ve put together a list of some of our favorite books by women published in 2016. Whether you prefer fiction or nonfiction, short reads or long, there’s something on this list that you’ll enjoy. My Name Is Lucy Barton: A Novel By Elizabeth Strout, published January 2016 (Random House) A staggering novel with an impact that transcends its 200 pages, I Am Lucy Barton is framed by...