Sarah Erdreich is a self-identified feminist, but she still wanted her husband to propose. Years ago, a close friend told me that he was going to propose to his girlfriend the following week. “That’s great,” I replied, not very surprised; we’d been having this conversation for months, always followed by brainstorming ways he could do […]
Sometimes poetic nostalgia for an idyllic “traditional family” past just masks a stubborn refusal to accept reality, says Role/Reboot’s Editor-in-Chief Nicole Rodgers. Conservative men love to summon righteous indignation anytime it’s brought to their attention that the real world does not resemble an episode of Leave It To Beaver. So strong reactions to Wednesday’s Pew […]
When the rules don’t apply to you, you get to make up your own. I want an ungendered marriage. Although I am a straight woman and by all odds I will marry a straight man, I want a marriage where those labels are irrelevant. I want a partnership so devoid of gendered assumptions that if […]
This originally appeared on The Daily Life. Republished here with permission. These days, it’s practically part of the liturgy—the moment before the wedding ceremony when the celebrant asks assembled guests to put away cameras and phones. Every time I witness the sliding of smartphones and cameras back into pockets and wedding-only beaded clutch bags, I […]
Do rough times show you who your real friends are? Laurel Hermanson says it’s not that simple. I sometimes think my daughter’s third birthday party was the best day of her life. She wanted a pirate theme, so we decorated the backyard and ordered a custom cake in the shape of a parrot. Since it […]
Sometimes, the best way to be a friend is just to listen. There is a picture taken of all of us in the backyard of my house the summer before it happened: my wife and our two kids; Lilith, her husband, and her little scientist; Monique, her husband, and her future goth; and Ophelia, and […]
This originally ran on Charlie Glickman’s website. Republished here with permission. I’ve been leaning into some edges lately and learning how to ask people for help. Specifically, asking people I don’t know well for things has been a difficult thing for me. It’s been coming up since I’ve been on tour for The Ultimate Guide […]
Jenn Leyva is not a fan of marriage, but that doesn’t mean she can’t support her friend who’s getting married this summer. A close friend of mine is getting married this summer. I’ve imagined myself attending this lavish affair for years, but I’m missing all of it. I’ll be in Korea teaching English for a […]
This originally appeared on Mamamia. Republished here with permission. I’m going to lay my cards on the table straight away. My husband and I sleep in separate rooms and have done so since he moved into my house eight years ago. If I was going to describe our ability to share a bed in contemporary […]
A new study reports on the rising average age of first marriage in the United States. While 20-something men delay for reasons that are primarily financial, women are described as overly picky and fearful. It may have been easy to miss in the recent wall-to-wall coverage of the Supreme Court and gay marriage, but a […]
With the amount of wedding propaganda shoved down our throats by popular culture, how can women not be obsessed with it, asks Carrie Laski. “That’s it. I’m deactivating my Facebook!” I’ve heard this declaration several times over the past year from in-real-life friends who are sick of seeing engagement notices from their online-only friends. In […]
Do we subconsciously seek partners who can fill the roles in our lives our parents once held? Before he walked me down the aisle on my wedding day, my father tried to say something, but what came out was a choked hiccup-sob. If I hadn’t had a glass of champagne and a Valium, I might […]
