I recently read this post by The Man Repeller called Primetime Ladies. In it, Liz Meriwether, the creator of New Girl, is quoted:

“There are a lot of stories about female showrunners and what that means, and a lot of questions about what kind of role model Jess [the main character] is. I was asked if Jess was a good representation of where we are as women these days. My response to that odd line of questioning is that she’s a character in a comedy, she’s not some symbol of a political movement. The funniest things just come from honesty. We have a tendency to see female characters as representative of something larger than what they are, when male characters are just characters.”

Women are creating, driving, inspiring, anchoring, and running things. And you know what? It’s not news. And maybe that’s a great thing.

Women are no longer apologizing for their choices or their successes–and because of that, our achievements have ceased to surprise people. Modern women are kicking ass and taking names. Whether a CEO or a stay-at-home mom, there is a level of embrace that has come in the wake of feminist movements of the past. And it’s a thing to be celebrated.

Perhaps one of the most unapologetic statements of this is who we are that I have seen is You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth . As Meriwether says herself, the funniest things come from honesty. And this book is no exception. The honesty and blatant disregard for what society would generally deem as TMI makes this anthology touching and maybe a bit too relatable. From horror stories of twenty-something pre-marital dating, to the even more horrifically funny tales of motherhood, these stories leave nothing to the imagination. And why should they? This compilation of stories from 39 funny, creative, honest and successful women tell the tales that makes up what it means to be a mom. A woman. A person trying to get through the day.

My favorite theme of these stories? We don’t have to be or represent anything larger than exactly what we are. Today. Right this moment. No, it’s not always pretty or squeaky clean. Sometimes we have to cringe at ourselves. So we thank god that we have the ability to tell our stories and hear a collective sign from our readers: a collective hell ya sister. We get the version of the story that only our best friends would tell us. We get pulled into the powder room for a reality check. You have lipstick on your teeth. But that’s ok. We’ll laugh about it later.

You must check out these 39 stories from 39 women who aren’t afraid to let it all hang out.  Because if that’s not something worthy of celebration, I don’t know what is.

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