In writing about her surgery, Jolie looks shame right in the face and refuses it: for herself, for other women, for me. I thank her for that. Once I visited a friend in Alaska, the kind of woman who camps in the snow in a tent with a woodstove. She surprised me by insisting we […]
Any kind of societal or internalized conditioning that makes a woman feel ashamed about owning and embracing her sexuality has got to go. A few years ago I was asked to participate in a storytelling show. The piece I read was called “My Vibrator Story.” I had written it in a workshop and test read the […]
Many women feel ashamed of their bodies, their sexuality, their parenting skills, and even their pain. Is shame so ingrained in us that it’s become our default response to practically everything? Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day was earlier this month. I wouldn’t have known, if not for the fact that my Facebook newsfeed included […]
The average mom is terrified that her daughter’s sexual activity will deem her a “slut,” and the average dad knows that she could be objectified by boys and men, just as he was programmed to do. The most panicked calls and emails that I receive from parents are the ones that go something like this: […]
