When Katerina Zacharia and her brother were kids, her father gave her brother more money to spend at the roller rink. When she asked, “Why the difference?” He replied, “He’s a boy.” My dad grew up a poor boy from a small fishing village, just minutes away from the site of Shakespeare’s Othello. He spent […]
Russell O’Connor has never neatly fit into the traditional “masculine” box, and because of that, he’s been ridiculed his whole life. When we speak about gender, we are speaking about the masculine and the feminine. What on earth do we mean by the “masculine” and the “feminine”? Those of us who live unhappily in a […]
This week’s roundup of our favorites from across the interwebs to help you make sense of men and women. 1. Horror In Cleveland: Why The Warning Signs Went Ignored by Katie J.M. Baker of Jezebel says the willful ignorance of police and neighbors is a not-so-hyperbolic metaphor for what millions of domestic abuse survivors experience […]
This originally appeared on The Mamafesto. Republished here with permission. I just read Randi Zuckerberg’s HuffPo piece, “My Son Wears Pink: To Share or Not To Share?” and it took me a bit to figure out why it didn’t sit quite well with me. Zuckerberg takes on the question of whether or not it’s in […]
Leah Berkenwald shares how the “Straightest Girl in the World” learned to stop worrying about gender and love real men with feelings and fashion-sense. Growing up in Northampton, Mass., a liberal oasis of lesbian and queer culture, I grew up assuming it was likely, if not probable that I’d turn out to be gay. But […]
It’s time to let our boys be themselves in all their variety as human beings, rather than walking representatives of masculinity. Three years ago, I wrote an essay called “Raising an Egalitarian Son” (published in Mutuality Magazine). Our process for doing that was straightforward: Don’t use sexist language; don’t push gender-based activities; and don’t watch […]
How can “boys’ club” industries, like tech, begin to create more space for the influx of women? In 2004, pregnant and waddling across the expanses of Google’s parking lot, Sheryl Sandberg realized something obvious: There should be parking spaces reserved for expectant mothers. She made the case to the CEOs and they promptly agreed and […]
Rather than dealing with an issue upfront, Sydne Didier wrote about it here, and in the process, the problem only escalated. Last week, I wrote something for Role/Reboot—about the parent cliques at my son’s school—that struck a cord. And I’ve been on the verge of tears ever since. Nauseous. Sad. Worried. Anxious. And at the […]
This originally appeared on Everyday Feminism. Republished here with permission. As I come to the end of my first Minnesota winter, I have never been more excited for spring. Temperatures above 32 degrees! Sunshine on my skin! Long walks with my partner and the puppy! Even just writing this makes me freak out a little […]
Janna Payne wants to know what often well-meaning compliments from men say about the politics of body image. Midway through a mediocre domestic beer at a local bar, a stranger approached me to ask how tall I am. Having been asked about my height almost every day for the last 20-odd years, I responded, nonchalantly […]
Lynn Beisner weighs in on the “deranged sorority girl” email that went viral last week. In a week packed with news, this so-called “deranged sorority girl” email still managed to go viral. It is from a senior sorority member to the rank and file members of the University of Maryland chapter of Delta Gamma. If […]
This week’s roundup of our favorites from across the interwebs to help you make sense of men and women. 1. Good Day Care Was Once A Top Feminist Priority, And It Should Be Again by Noah Berlatsky of The Atlantic reports on 1971’s Child Development Act, which would have established federally funded community centers, but […]
