Kate Hakala

Bio

Kate is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Mic. A former editor of Nerve, her writing has also appeared in the The New York Times, Playboy, Refinery29, Salon, and The Daily Dot. On most days she is thinking of Louis C.K.

Your Most Embarrassing Googled Sex Questions, Finally Answered By Experts

If there's one thing humans are confused about, it's sex. While we could discuss the topic with doctors, friends, teachers and — most importantly — our partners, the truth is most of us don't. Instead, we leave our most intimate late-night musings…

This Is the Porn That People Search for at Different Ages

"Age ain't nothing but a number." That's always been the saying, but when it comes to our porn habits, age can make a difference for what we're getting off to. The stats: In collaboration with Vocativ, Pornhub recently broke down the top porn…

There's One Way to Close the Orgasm Gap, Once and For All

Imagine you had Venmo, but instead of settling a Time Warner Cable bill or Buffalo wing tab, you calculated how many orgasms you and your last sex partner owed each other. Would you have "paid" as much as you "charged" through every sweaty hookup,…

'Broad City' Nailed the Problem with Casual Sex That We Don't Talk About

Last night marked the end of a golden era: Broad City's Ilana and Lincoln — a model for openly casual relationships on cable television — broke up after years of dating. In the episode, Lincoln (Hannibal Burress), who has been openly seeing another…

In Defense of Settling for the Not-So-Perfect Partner

Sometimes, finding a good partner can feel oddly similar to searching for that ever-elusive perfect apartment. You have a list of ideals you prioritize — a certain price range, a number of bedrooms, hell, maybe an on-site laundry room — but if you…

In One Chart, Here's the Ultimate Hierarchy of Likes We Get on Social Media

We all know the "zing." It's that five-hours-of-cunnilingus, orgasming-while-being-fed-pizza feeling we get when we pick up our phone and get a notification that someone liked our post on social media. It's no joke, either. Researchers have found…

Here's When It's OK to Start Openly Farting in a Relationship

When you first start dating someone, you spend a significant portion of time trying to hide the fact that you're a real human person. You go to great lengths to present the most coifed, bathed, depilated and deodorized version of yourself. You even…

We Asked Facial Symmetry Experts About the Science Behind Having a "Punchable Face"

For the past nine months, one topic has been at the forefront of our national conversation about the 2016 election: Ted Cruz's face. "Hating a face like that, the O.G. face made for punching, is actually super easy," Wonkette said of Cruz's…

Here Are 7 Things We Could Buy With the $290 We Spend on Valentine's Day

It's that time of year again: a time for flower bouquets, conversation hearts and frivolous consumer spending. A recent Harris poll of 2,057 Americans on behalf of the website NerdWallet found that millennials are most likely to be shelling out the…

The 5 Stages of Helping a Friend Through Grief

As we age, we become all too familiar with loss. Whether a coworker loses their mother, a college roommate's brother passes or a childhood friend's father dies, as we progress through our twenties, supporting those close to us through grief becomes…

Meet the Single, 20-Something Women Who Are Trying To Adopt Kids

For single women eager to start a family, many are betting on the idea that it will happen for them "someday." They imagine that "someday" includes a thriving career, a supportive and loving partner, a home and a steady marriage. But what if…

Here's What You Can Buy With the Cost of Funding a Big Wedding

If you're looking to have a big wedding these days, it will cost you. $31,213, to be exact. That's the average, courtesy of the Knot, which released its 2014 Real Weddings Study earlier this year. That price tag has spiked since 2013, according to…

Meet the Women With Tokophobia, An Inexplicable, Crippling Fear of Pregnancy

When Jeena Chacko, 29, first heard about how babies were born — the swollen belly, the nine-month wait, the painful labor — she was filled with fear. She was only 8 years old, but she knew instantly: Having kids was not for her. "I couldn't…

Who Should Really Pay for Plan B if the Condom Breaks?

A condom breaks. You forget to take your birth control pill. You're caught in the heat of the moment. Cue the midnight rush to the pharmacy. Since 2009, when Plan B first became available over-the-counter for men and women 17 and up (and later…

What It's Like to Be a 20-Something Virgin on Tinder

Adam*, 23, is pretty much like every other dude on Tinder: he just moved to New York City from the Midwest, he loves watching John Oliver clips and he has the requisite beard, as well as a profile that says "let's get pizza." The only difference is,…

The Truth About Those Couples Who Quit Their Jobs to Go on Permanent Vacation

In the spring of 2010, Stevo Dinberger, 29, and Chanel Cartell, 30, met on a blind date and subsequently fell madly in love. In March of this year, they both quit their successful advertising careers in South Africa and set off on an international…

Men, Here Are 8 Rules for Taking Sexts Women Actually Want to Receive

"I once had a man send me an unwanted dick [pic]," Jennifer*, 27, said. "You could clearly see smegma on the top when you zoomed in. It was disgusting. I hate that I even [said] that." Gentlemen, don't be that guy. And ladies, this scenario is…

The Truth Behind "Virgin Births" — And What It Means for New Moms

We've ditched most of history's outdated parenting prereqs. Thanks to the wonders of medical technology, you don't need to be married, in a heterosexual relationship or under the age of 40 to have a kid anymore. Now you might not need any previous…

The Truth About "Mixed-Collar" Dating — From the People Who Make These Relationships Work

Last summer, author Jon Birger published Date-onomics: How Dating Became a Lopsided Numbers Game, which essentially argues that today's dating market is suffering from a so-called "man shortage." Birger argues that this "shortage" can be attributed…

Here's the Real Reason Why So Many Women Are Single

Beware! There's a man shortage currently sweeping the nation, claiming innocent straight women and damning them to a life of eternal spinsterhood. At least, that's the idea you might get if you perused Jon Birger's Date-onomics: How Dating Became a…