Exploring girlhood, Part 2: Different for girls

Editor’s note: This is the second in a four-part series with the question, “What does it mean to be a girl?” In the series we have explored the way society defines and confines girlhood, as well as gender in general. (Click here for part 1.) (Trigger Warning) All week I’ve been thinking about De’Liza’s post…

Feminist in a fat-shaming world

*Trigger warning: Eating disorders and body image For some reason I have not been able to escape the topic of body image and fat-shaming this week. Does the arrival of summer have us all on the collective edge? Does the change in seasons bring with it the baggage of eating disordered thinking and issues with…

AB230 testimony: I speak for the unwanted and abused

For those of you who did not attend and/or watch the marathon Nevada State Senate committee hearing on the comprehensive sex education bill (AB230) yesterday… I don’t even know where to begin. A lot of it was pretty much like the April 1 Assembly hearing, but the fierce factor was definitely dialed up a notch…

An open letter to the Anti Sex Ed crowd

Dear Anti Sex Ed Crowd: Greetings and salutations! I bet you’re surprised to hear from me. After all, you’ve spent some time lately calling me a terrible mother (on television no less) because I advocate for a much-needed update to Nevada’s sex education standards — originally passed at the height of the AIDS-panic-1980s — that…

Panty raid: Spiderman and princess underpants for ALL!

Now this particular TMF: Tired Marketing Fail hits closer to home than most because Andrea Shindeldecker of Oak Park, Illinois is a mom after my own heart. You see, her five-year-old daughter LOVES Spiderman! Sure, other superheroes are great and all, but Spidey is tops. Sound like another little girl you’ve heard about on this…