Radical!...

Last night the Discovery Health Channel aired a special on “Radical Parenting,” as part of Baby Week. The schedule says, This one hour special explores several different families extreme forms of parenting. From attachment parenting to raising a child gender neutral to raising child without...

I wonder what the girls have to do in ex...

The boys at recess. Via Gauis Caecilius @ Flickr. Via PostBourgie comes the story of Cord Ivanyi, a high school Latin teacher who has begun instructing his students in “old fashioned etiquette.” The boys in his class open doors and pull out chairs for the girls and stand when a girl enters...

Q: What do Jeep, Gloria Steinem, and hor...

I can't even make a joke about this. A:  Toledo, Ohio. Other than Peoria, Illinois, I can’t think of a place more frequently thought of as “typically middle-American” than Ohio.  Which makes the latest report about human trafficking even more disturbing.  And it’s really...

Scary because she’s black?...

I just watched this video on That Black Girl Site and wanted to share it with you. In the video, a mother records her daughter retelling a story that happened to her on the school playground; some white girls ran away from her and told her they fear her because she’s black. Marley, the black girl,...

Parents of America, you are on notice!...

Forget hiding in an attic for two years and dying of typhus at Bergen Belsen – what’s really offensive about Anne Frank’s experience was her awareness of her vagina. Some unfit asshole in Culpepper County, Virginia became scandalized by Frank’s mention of her genitalia in The...

Inspired by Mo’Nique’s accep...

In her acceptance speech for her Best Supporting Actress award at the Golden Globes last week, Mo’Nique spoke to victims of childhood sexual abuse, saying “it’s now time to tell.” I support Mo’Nique and think acknowledging childhood sexual abuse is an important, positive...

The Kids Are Alright...

At least, this kid is definitely alright. And he’s also right. 10-year-old Will Phillips of Arkansas has hit the national news thanks to a CNN interview in which he explains that he refuses to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance until gays and lesbians have equal rights, particularly marriage...

All Over But The Shouting...

The most e-mailed article on the New York Times website yesterday was “For Some Parents, Shouting is the New Spanking”. Like most trend pieces in the Thursday Style section, it’s heavy on the generalization and aimed squarely at the Times’s readership of affluent white helicopter...

You keep using that word. I do not think...

When I imagine a selfish person, I picture someone who cheats, or steals, or behaves in some other way that benefits herself at the expense of others. So why, I wonder, is “selfish” so frequently used as a weapon against child-free women? Not procreating doesn’t hurt anyone, especially...

What? Why????...

Thinking of talking to your kids about sex but too scared to say “penis” or “vagina?” Nervous as you may be, fret not. You don’t have to talk about the parts. That’s what Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services wants you to know. Check out this ridiculous,...

Girls Rock!...

Music to my ears On the heels of our last Friday Fun Thread re: summer camp, I have to give a big shout out to some fierce girls who spend their summers learning to rock. Thanks to commenter Hill Rat for bringing this write-up about Girls Rock! DC to my attention. Camp not only educates these girls...

STD Tests–Now a High School Near Y...

Yesterday’s Washington Post reported some good news. The District of Columbia’s school system will now offer free STD testing in all high schools. A pilot program last year at eight high schools in D.C. found that 13 percent of about 3,000 students tested positive for an STD, mostly gonorrhea...