Monica Hesse

Washington, D.C.

Style reporter

Education: Bryn Mawr College, B.A. in English; Johns Hopkins University, M.A. in Nonfiction writing

Monica Hesse is a columnist for The Washington Post's Style section, who frequently writes about gender and its impact on society. She's the author of several novels, most recently, "They Went Left."
Latest from Monica Hesse

Stormy Daniels and the bosom of chaos

There would be something poetic about the story of the porn star and the president bringing about a historic arrest.

March 22, 2023

The right-wing drag panic is not about men wearing women’s clothing

For some, drag is harmless fun — until somebody does it for the wrong reasons

March 16, 2023

Listening to ‘The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling’ is exhausting work

A podcast promised clarity from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling on how she really feels about trans issues. But it falls to the audience to fact-check her.

March 6, 2023

How Gisele Fetterman became the right wing’s favorite super villain

Tucker Carlson and others use a familiar blame-women tactic in attacking Gisele Fetterman and Jill Biden.

March 2, 2023

Don Lemon returned with an apology in a can

How much “listening” and “learning” must this man do to realize sexism is bad?

February 22, 2023

Elon Musk is a boy’s idea of a rich man

The phallus joke is what sealed it for me.

February 16, 2023

Rihanna’s pregnancy was not the star of her halftime show

The fact that Rihanna performed while carrying her second child was impressive. It was also an afterthought.

February 13, 2023

The unacceptable look on Madonna’s face

We seem so horrified when women age, no matter how they try to do it.

February 9, 2023

Gisele Bündchen at the end of Tom

Shortly before Tom Brady announced his retirement, his supermodel ex-wife was at work.

February 2, 2023

A Planned Parenthood was firebombed, and the alleged motive isn’t what I expected

Investigators say a man they’ve charged was upset about a girlfriend’s abortion three years earlier

January 27, 2023