This originally appeared on The Daily Life. Republished here with permission. “Oh wow, you look amazing. You’ve lost weight,” said one of the moms at preschool pickup. It was an unexpected compliment because after years of body hatred I now put my efforts into self-acceptance and sustaining healthy eating and exercise habits rather than battling to […]
Megan Beyer says her guilt is not her mother’s guilt, which was wanting more than what she was told to want. Hers is the guilt of having more options and not feeling at peace. So in what generation will the guilt end? It is the beginning of another school year and today’s mother opens an […]
This originally appeared on CharlieGlickman.com. Republished here with permission. The amazing Sabrina Morgan posted this on Facebook last week: I don’t think there’s any doubt that had this driver’s passenger been a man, he’d never have dared to pull something like that. But there’s more to this that needs to be unpacked. It’s disturbingly common […]
Strong women are often labeled as “difficult,” while strong men are just considered, well, men. Emily Rapp explains why she’s content with such a label. I am a difficult woman. I have thought this, been told this, and cultivated this in myself for many years, both knowingly and unknowingly. I talk too loud and too […]
Author Hanna Rosin claims that feminists need to accept that the patriarchy is dead. Here, Abigail Collazo argues that it’s alive and well. It’s become pretty clear to me that author Hanna Rosin wants to be one of the boys. What do I mean by this? She wants to gain validity and acceptance from the […]
People are quick to label things as “obscene” these days—including teen girls’ online photos and pop star performances. So Soraya Chemaly wants to clarify what obscene really means when it comes to girls, women, bodies, what they do, what they’re for, and what happens to them in our country. Earlier this month, hot on the […]
American society brainwashes women everywhere into believing that making themselves a certain kind of beautiful can change their lives. Last night, Nina Davuluri, an American woman of Indian descent, became Miss America, and the country’s many racist crazies took to Twitter to embarrass themselves. The U.S. blogosphere has thankfully responded with righteous indignation, but the […]
Dear Teenage Girls, By now, I’m sure you’ve all read this letter from a Mrs. Hall, shaming you for your scantily-clad selfies and your braless pajama photos, and explaining why you are not permitted to associate with her perfectly chaste sons. I read her letter, too. And it made me feel compelled to write one […]
September is “Self-Improvement Month.” But modern self-improvement has become a form of medieval self-flagellation, a clever way of allowing us to shame ourselves without actually feeling shame, says Emily Rapp. If I had known September was “Self-Improvement Month” when I was 16, I would have been elated, although it’s possible that this is a moniker […]
Are “Do-It-Herself” workshops and “Puzzles For Her” really necessary? Or are they only creating a deeper divide between women and men? The sections of a popular clothing website are labeled “T-shirts” and “Girls’ T-Shirts.” The aisle in the pharmacy says “Deodorant” and “Women’s Deodorant.” In the toy store, there are “Puzzles” and “Puzzles for Her” […]
We tell women to be confident, but not too confident, leaving them with a very narrow window of “acceptable” levels of self-esteem. I was on the train going into work this morning and two songs came on back to back that caused me to reflect on self-esteem and how it can be complicated for women. […]
This originally appeared on Everyday Feminism. Republished here with permission. Dear ones, It doesn’t get much harder than this, does it? There was nothing to prepare you for it, and undoubtedly those who tried didn’t do a very good job, or avoided the truth. You didn’t see it coming, and have been rocked to the […]
