I say, These past few weeks… you don’t know the whole story. Then I ignore her face and tell her about the man on the plane. She’s taking a deep breath. And since the bonfire? she asks. I tell her there have been two men since the bonfire, even though there’s only been one; I need her to lose hope.

— Shelley Oria, “This Way I Don’t Have To Be”

They’d just let me in on their hooker secret and I almost ruined Dinah’s life, right there in front of her boyfriend. He couldn’t know that Dinah was a hooker. He was a guy, he’d never understand.

— Michelle Tea, Rent Girl

While I was waiting to cross the street, a man next to me said, “Can I get a smile?”

I looked at him. “You already have a smile,” I said. “It’s on your face.”

— The Women’s Room