Smashing the patriarchy has to start somewhere. I didn’t spend a lot of time worrying about whether my kids would be sexist when they were younger. Like many new parents, I was convinced that nurture would win out and my kids would grow up with open minds and hearts. I’m a rape survivor, and I […]
Dear Dana is a bi-weekly advice column for humans who engage in romantic relationships. Please send your dilemmas, issues, conundrums, assumptions, conflicts, anxieties, worriments, obstacles, complications, predicaments, queries, questions, and any other synonyms for “problems” to deardana@rolereboot.org. Dear Dana: My dear friend has been with her boyfriend for a couple years now. They’re in their early […]
We’re living in a time when women should be able to control what happens to their bodies, but that isn’t always the case. My mom still gets mad when she talks about the birth of my older brother, even though it’s been many years. Her face gets red and her hand gestures get bigger and bigger […]
This is about a culture that, imperceptibly, seeps its values into the minds and hearts of well-meaning parents until that culture’s most awful beliefs about women come flying out of the mouths of the ones who love us most. I’m writing this piece anonymously because my mother frequently Googles me—types my name into a search bar […]
It’s unconventional. It’s also awesome. My sons can hear me unscrew a bottle of nail polish from across the house. All three of them, ages 6, 4, and 2, come at a run. They barge into the bathroom, sucking up all the breathing space with their energetic boyness. “Paint my nails!” they howl. “Do my toes, […]
Talking openly to your kids is one of the best ways to raise them with a positive view of sexuality—and to challenge the conventional and damaging messages so many are getting on the subject. Every year, I give presentations about my health classes to the parents of my students. And inevitably, every year, someone will […]
