Category Archive

Life

We launched as Offbeat Home in 2011, but it has become clear that the site is about much more. In 2013, we relaunched as Offbeat Home & Life, with an expanded focus on Relationships, Budget & Career, Travel, and Style. This is the category for the non-home/rest of life stuff!

When it comes to harassment and abuse, are internal investigations enough?

In the cases of Catfish’s Nev Schulman and AMC’s Chris Hardwick, each men got “justice” via internal investigations from their respective large media companies. It seems that this is enough for a lot of people to accept their innocence after being accused of sexual harassment. But is justice from a self-serving legal team in a huge company REALLY justice?

A fat suit, really? Netflix's new show Insatiable is not what we need right now

A fat suit, really? Netflix’s new show Insatiable is not what we need right now

I was introduced to a new Netflix series “Insatiable,” which presents a fat teen bullied by her high school classmates who gets clocked in the face and loses a bunch of weight due to her jaw being wired shut over the summer. She comes back after losing a lot of weight, now perceived as “hot,” and exacts revenge on her bullying classmates.

Name change regret: I changed my last name and now I regret it. What should I do?

I changed my last name and now I regret it. What should I do?

When I got married, I didn’t want to keep my name because I grew up with an abusive father. My husband is deeply connected to his last name and didn’t want to change, so I took his name. Now I hate that I changed my name because I associate it with his parents, and they aren’t very good people, and I feel stuck. Any advice?

How I express my offbeat self in my onbeat career?

How I find ways to express my offbeat self in my onbeat career

I’m a total Offbeater in an Onbeat career. I’m the business interface and management for a group of engineers in Tech in the Silicon Valley. And unless you can break the sound barrier on amazing code, your work clothes had better be “business casual.” Since I am the business interface, I find myself even more pigeonholed into looking more “corporate” than I’d prefer. I find little ways to express my offbeatness though…

trendy laptop bags

Yep, there actually are cute laptop bags out there to carry all your crap

If you’ve found yourself on your first day at your big new job (or preparing for school in the fall!) with a hideous briefcase a la Andie in The Devil Wears Prada, worry not. There are tons of cute laptop bags from which to choose so that you can look chic and fully prepared at the same time.

Let’s find a new home for your goodies, lappies, and electronics…

How do I balance social justice with my favorite shows and pop culture?

How do I address problematic issues within my favorite shows and pop culture?

One of my friends will find a way in which they feel a show is bigoted (e.g. “Steven Universe is racist”) and suddenly it’s the only thing they can talk about re: that show. They’ll interrupt any conversation about it with “but you shouldn’t like that, it’s bigoted.”

I understand the importance of keeping social justice topics in mind while consuming media, and obviously I can’t tell them to stop because this is important to them, but sometimes I just want to gush about my favorite lesbian aliens. Help?

I am gender fluid and losing weight. How will I feel about my body after?

I am gender fluid and losing weight. How will I feel about my body after?

I’ve just recently come to the realization that I am genderfluid. Ever since I was a toddler, I’ve been this mix of feminine and masculine, insisting on wearing fluffy dresses while playing Power Rangers. I’ve always felt too masculine to be a girl and too feminine to be a boy.

How do others in the trans and genderqueer community handle physical body changes like weight loss? Does anyone else worry their perception of their own gender, or lack thereof, could change at the end of that particular journey?

An interview with writer/performer/fashion maven Travis Alabanza

Travis Alabanza is a London-based performance artist, writer, and fashion gurl. Released in 2017, Travis’ stunning chap book, Before I Step Outside (You Love Me) documents the experience of navigating public space as a trans person. Let’s hear what motivates Travis in fashion, writing, and performance…