Jo Maenzanise

Uterine fibroids can affect your mental and emotional well-being.
According to research gathered from a small assessment that was published in 2015, women with fibroids reported that they’d not only affected them physically but also psychologically. They noted feeling fear, anxiety, and anger about having fibroids.
Some women also reported feeling helpless and less attractive, while others felt they weren’t receiving enough support to deal with fibroids.
If you have fibroids and heavy menstru...

Uterine fibroids, also known as myomas or leiomyomas, are atypical tissues that can develop inside or on your uterus. People who have a uterus are likely to develop these benign (noncancerous) tumors as they get older.
If you’ve received a diagnosis of fibroids and are in a relationship, you may worry about how to openly talk with your partner about your condition.
If you’re wondering what and how you can share with your partner, read on.
How fibroids can affect you depends on:
how many there...

Radiofrequency treatment is normally used to tighten the skin around the eyes for aesthetic purposes. It’s generally safe, minimally invasive, and suitable for all skin colors.
The technique is now being adopted to treat conditions such as dry eye. In this article, we share answers to some commonly asked questions about radiofrequency treatment for dry eye.
Radiofrequency treatment is a nonsurgical, in-office procedure. It’s often used to tighten the skin around the eyes to reduce fine lines,...

Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is an infection caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as many as 1 in 3 people in the United States will get shingles. Anyone who has had chickenpox can get shingles, but it’s most common in adults over the age of 50.
When you have shingles, you’ll first develop a rash that turns into blisters. Before the rash appears, you’ll likely feel pain in the ...

Queer Zimbabweans – invisibilized or vilified under the regime of now deposed President Robert Mugabe – turn to social media to reclaim their narrative.
A trans man sharing his life as a parent. A “rainbow” love story over a span of 10 years. Queer people and the challenges they face in seeking employment. Bisexual women and their joys, fears.
A whole spectrum of stories about the Zimbabwean LGBTQI+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex) told by them, for them.
There, proteste...

While many women have a valid fear of men, this too easily fuels the violence that people like me endure, writes Joyline Maenzanise
“Why do you dress like a man?” my colleague asked me one day when we bumped into each other in the bathroom.
We were in the same team at an investment management company and had been working together for several months at that point. Our desks were one person apart from each other. She caught me off guard that day — I had been feeling pretty confident in my look ...

Early October 2016, I relocated to Zimbabwe after being forced to leave South Africa, the first country in the world to provide constitutional protection to LGBT+ folks like me.
I was devastated. I was angry. Having my life reorganized, again, pushed me into an emotional rut that saw me attempt suicide twice in September of the same year. I decided against moving back to the city I grew up in. I wanted to avoid the pain of facing familiar faces and being subjected to questions I wasn’t emotio...

Dating as a queer person can be complex – even more so if you’re open and seeing someone who is in the closet.
This is the dynamic of the lesbian couple portrayed in Happiest Season, which stars Kristen Stewart as Abby and Mackenzie Davis as Harper.
Although they have been together for almost a year, and Abby is planning to propose, it turns out that Harper’s sexuality is still a secret to her family. This then becomes a problem when she invites Abby to stay with them over the Christmas holid...

Last year, Lupita Nyong’o shared publicly that she had been told at an audition that she was "too dark" for television. This hit close to home.
Like Lupita, I grew up in a predominantly Black community. Still, internalized White supremacy saw—and still sees—us using White standards of beauty to gauge attractiveness. It’s no surprise that several folks, including some celebrities, have opted to lighten their skin, or that the market for bleaching products is forecast to reach a whopping $24 bi...

In July, Zimbabwe’s government published the Marriage Bill, which outlawed marriage equality and aligned the country’s marriage laws to the Constitution.
Though legal recognition of marriage has clear benefits, organizations advocating for the rights of Zimbabwe’s LGBTQ people have a conflicting relationship with this law.
“There are more pressing issues affecting the daily experiences of LGBTQ folks and the various organizations have resolved to devote their immediate attention to those issu...

I had crawled out of the closet and now, I was ready to smash it to smithereens.
I was told by one of my church’s elders that I was possessed by a male demon because I wore pants to church when I was 23 years old. By then, I had already known I was attracted to women. As a teen, I would see women and girls I deemed beautiful but there were some women whose beauty I seemed to admire in a rather intense way.
Unsurprisingly, I didn’t act on those feelings. Queerness was — and still is — deeply f...

At a young age, we are unduly influenced to modify our genitalia so they fit the cultural idea of how a sexually desirable woman ought to look like.
This essay discusses genital mutilation in an explicit manner.
By Joyline Maenzanise
Over the years, we have been having more chats on the bodily autonomy of cis women and other genders assigned female at birth, whose bodies have long been regarded as a mere object for cis men’s gratification. Whether it’s making informed decisions regarding abor...

For Mental Health Awareness Month, HelloGiggles is publishing “The Support You Deserve,” an essay series exploring the different barriers, stigmas, and myths blocking our access to effective mental health care. This particular essay discusses suicidal ideation and sexual abuse. Please read with caution if these subjects trigger you.
When an acquaintance offered to pay for my therapy, I was so grateful for the opportunity to get the help I needed. But, after just three sessions, I had to call ...

“We reject attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to our norms, values, traditions and beliefs. We are not gay.” This is what Zimbabwe’s former president, Robert G. Mugabe, said at the 2015 UN General Assembly.
He’s the same leader who’s known for saying people like me are “worse than pigs and dogs.” And let’s be honest. For someone who’s known to be very educated, and he is, comparing us to animals wasn’t quite an intelligent remark. Check out this article published by Pink News ...