As a mother of a white child, I don’t worry that my son will be killed by a cop after a traffic violation; I do worry that he might want to be that cop someday. I am the mother of a son. These days, with angry white men bearing guns, with unarmed black boys and […]
A wise friend once told me “The story of your weight is boring to everyone but you.” This morning my almost 6-year-old son watched as I tried to manipulate my digital scale to do what I want. “Can I get on?” he asked. “Yes, but just a minute,” I said grumpily, as I tilted a little […]
My wish is that he will grow into a man who gives sincere apologies, not preemptive “sorries” to avoid consequences for bad behavior. We are lousy apologizers. Many of us are guilty of throwing around a “sorry” not as a demonstration of contrition, but as a way to justify bad behavior. Just the other day […]
We need to start talking to our sons, and tell them that it’s OK to feel and express emotion. That it doesn’t make them any less of a man. Raising boys can sometimes stink. I’m not talking about all the dirty socks, but rather the toxic culture of masculinity that surrounds our boys and that […]
If women working as writers becomes a normal idea, maybe the idea of women being valued members of any profession will become normal, as well. Once, when my oldest son was in first grade, he gave me a pretty stellar dressing down regarding a Dr. Seuss party at his school. I’d volunteered to do the […]
Though he towers eight inches over me, I’ve shielded my oldest son fiercely from the world, but won’t be able to soon. And I am not ready. My 16-year-old, Grant, grew two inches last night. This, after I spent a king’s fortune on a wardrobe at Vineyard Vines, his new brand of choice. It is all washed, hung, […]
This originally appeared on Everyday Feminism. Republished here with permission. We often discuss issues of safety and prevention with our daughters, but are we having critical conversations about rape with our sons? As 44% of rape victims are under the age of 18, an honest and detailed conversation about rape has become an essential part of creating […]
