“So many of us have this hidden shame floating around our brains with no way to let it out without being judged, and that shit weighs us down.”

Every lady has a secret. A secret so humiliating, embarrassing, scandalous, or disgraceful that you haven’t told a soul—not your closest friends, family, lovers, or doctors. There is so much shame surrounding hiding secrets, and, frankly, enough is enough.

The truth is, there is power and freedom in releasing those dirty little secrets out into the big, bad universe. It gives you that same sweet relief as taking off an underwire bra at the end of a long, crappy day. That’s why Keltie Knight, Becca Tobin, and Jac Vanek—hosts of the LadyGang podcast—set their secrets free: the good, the bad, and the diarrhea. The LadyGang wanted to offer their large and loyal community a chance to join them in exposing the messy truths of their lives, and so, Lady Secrets was born: confessional essays from the trio themselves and an incredible crowdsourced collection of secrets from other ladies around the world. Secrets ranging from silly little white lies to cringey misadventures to soul-baring truths. And as it turns out, exposing your deepest and darkest helps you realize that we are all way more alike than we could have ever imagined.

Everyone seems to have a bizarre body malfunction, a hookup gone terribly wrong, and a soul-crushing experience that haunts them forever. And maybe that elaborate revenge plot you carried out against your cheating ex was actually kind of badass (in spite of being slightly illegal). It’s time we stop feeling ashamed of our (un)ladylike habits and own the real, raw, and ridiculous things that make you authentically you.