The great irony of Maddi’s and my student’s stories is that they were being punished for their schools’ mistake. It’s the first day of the semester and I’m camped out in the back row of my classroom, stacks of handouts still warm from the printer, roster scratchy with edits to non-preferred names. My students are […]
Sure, we all eat, shit, and die, but the idea that we are constantly connected by our humanity is crap. My eyes are burning from a long night of scrolling Facebook. I curse my contacts and wonder why I haven’t committed to Lasik surgery. Then again, if my eyes are primarily being used for Facebook, […]
“Threatened” masculinity may be affecting voting patterns. Masculinity got a shakeup in the wake of the Great Recession. Fresh research finds that the financial tsunami did more than wipe away men’s incomes; it affected their minds. Especially when their female partners earn more than they do. A little background: Since the 1980s, the number of […]
He has told us we’re too fat, too skinny, too loud, too meek, too aggressive, too stupid, too brazen, too dumpy, too snarky, too much. Early in the evening, nearly midway through a damp, drizzly November, I drank giddily among blue-state friends in a city so far to the eastern edge of Washington that it’s […]
Apart from one day a year of orchid arrangements and mimosas, none of that worshipful admiration ever seems to translate into actual, real-world support for mothers. On Sunday, May 14, millions of Americans will celebrate their mothers with gifts, elaborate meals, and flowery Facebook posts of gratitude and devotion. This annual outpouring of emotion can […]
I’m challenging fellow people of color to call out white fragility. Why is the bar set so low when it comes to white accountability? This week, in another example of “white wokeness,” a white woman started fundraising for her nonprofit. Her goal was to promote unity, equity, and start conversations about differences. Seems legit, right? […]
Are individual rights in America exclusive to white, male, Christian gun owners, and if not, does expanding this concept require more work than Trump supporters are willing to do? Last month, I visited my favorite museum in D.C. – the Newseum – and stood in front of a crisp white plaque that reads the following: […]
The more we become aware of how this unholy trinity of ignorance, silence, and shame is deployed against women, the better we can defend ourselves and our inherent ability to make the best decisions for our bodies and well-being. At 17 years old I found myself flipping through the Yellow Pages for answers. I needed a […]
