Paula Blades, 47, got saline breast implants in 1992. Before her surgery, she was always self-conscious about her small breasts. "I had been teased my whole life," she said in a phone interview. After having her breast implants redone in 1994, Blades noticed something curious about her body. "I didn't have any sensation in my nipples after [surgery]," she said.

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here. It's 2017 and high heels still feel like torture devices.

Her skills at going viral have generated a huge fan base and her poems have been quoted by Khloe Kardashian and LeAnn Rimes. “I replaced her broken heart with a wild one to become the lioness you see before you instead.”. That is from a poem by Nikita Gill, a 28-year-old Indian immigrant to Britain, who has become one of the few fast-rising stars on Tumblr.

Porn actress Ava Mir-Ausziehen is wearing a lacy black bra. She's sprawled across the bed while performer Lance Hart goes down on her. The two are starring in the VR film Empowering Ava, the story of an erotica writer (Mir-Ausziehen) whose partner (Hart) is intrigued by some of the sex acts she writes about.

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here. The sexual revolution will be beautified.

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here. Finding the perfect work outfit, one that makes you feel confident and powerful, is a challenge for any woman.

Gender-fluid blogger Elliott Alexzander couldn’t find something to wear—at least, initially. Which is what propelled the 22-year-old designer to create House of Alexzander, a personal Tumblr blog that combines fashion with cultural critique. What he didn’t expect was how well received his posts on gender variant style would become—garnering him a fierce following and sparking a business idea that would cater to him and his fans.

A digital-only group is helping migrants navigate their way across the sea and to new lives in Europe. A group of Iraqi and Syrian volunteers led by a woman from Spain have banded together to run a digital network to help migrants taking to the seas to come to Europe. The group, identified by Vocativ deep web analysts, advises would-be travelers on everything from how to steer a boat to how to spot human traffickers known for threatening and abusing refugees.

South Carolina lawmaker Chris Corley was arrested last week for allegedly beating his wife and threatening her with a gun. According to the incident report from the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office, the Republican state representative punched his wife in the face until she bled and threatened to kill her in front of their children, ages 2 and 8.

Periods can turn a women's prison into a hormone-charged hell when inmates don't have access to affordable menstrual products and facilities don't enforce humane policies. The topic recently gained more attention after the launch of the fourth season of Netflix's Orange Is The New Black, which featured an episode centered around the facility's shortage of pads and tampons.

"It feels like London is in shock," Asya Kovarsky, the Russian-Israeli wife of a British citizen, said in a Facebook message. "My husband is really upset about it. I don't want to move but I feel like he will not want to live here anymore." Kovarsky works in international relations and most of her London colleagues are foreign citizens.

Amber Batts, a 41-year-old former sex worker and operator of a prostitution network in Alaska, was locked up for five and a half years on Monday, convicted of sex trafficking and violating probation. Batts ran a statewide prostitution network, and the women who she handled, represented and protected now want her set free.

Eleventh-century Córdoba was at the heart of the rich culture of Muslim Andalusia. Among its greatest creative figures was Wallada, princess, patron and poet. Leigh Cuen rediscovers one of the most influential women writers in European history. Wallada Bint-al Mustakfi may be the most influential writer that historians ever forgot.

Uncovering the history behind Israel’s growing wave of Latin American immigrants.

Parent’s Circle Family Forum enables Israelis, Palestinians to participate in exchange visit program, joint projects; events encourage reconciliation in midst of harsh reality. Official peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians have reportedly reached a dead end, while robust grassroots efforts continue to flourish.

More literal and visceral, Syrian poetry is being spread on social media and chanted in the streets.