Why should our passions for music and writing and sculpture that burned so brightly in adolescence go the way of toys we no longer play with? “I have an English teacher question.” My screen glows with this text from a friend from college, my companion from Adolescent Literature class. “Could you recommend any contemporary novels […]
As long as 1 in 5 women in the United States falls victim to sexual assault in her lifetime, it’s hard to argue that there’s a place for “get on your knees” innuendo. A significant amount of ink has been spilled over the last week discussing the size of Donald Trump’s…hands…and what the increasingly vulgar […]
It is actually more important for boys to have female role models than for girls to. A recent study of more than 1,700 students showed that college-aged men consistently underestimate the intellect and abilities of their female peers and over-estimate those of other men. Last year, another study of high school students conducted by Harvard’s […]
When someone who has hurt you is no longer in the position to do so again, it is natural to be happy. Requiring decorum of his victims is adding insult to the injuries that he has inflicted. Everybody in our house knew the exact minute when I read that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had died. […]
When men are taught that the natural state of affairs is for their female partner to be younger, less educated, and forever conscientious of her success in relation to his, we are categorized as “unwomanly” simply by trying to carve out individualities the way men have always done. At Hood College, it was tradition for […]
Am I trying to turn my students into feminists? No. But nor do I think they can clearly see their own worlds, and their own fights, without feminism as a lens. With 10 years in higher education under my belt, and a near-lifetime before that as a student, I still get excited about the first day […]
Anyone who might, due to the existence of gravity, be vulnerable to falling into shark-infested waters should take care not to be made of tasty meat. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new recommendations last week, advising women who are trying to get pregnant to abstain from drinking alcohol altogether in order […]
When do girls start doubting who they are and start believing the words of others? It’s how it should be. Innocence, sincerity, simple. I watch my daughter and her friend do each other’s hair. They are 8 and 9 years old. They haven’t discovered that this classic game of “salon” is a primer for beauty. To […]
