Search results for: pregnant women
3 Things That Must Happen with the End of Private Prisons
The recent announcement of an end to federal private prisons is a step in the right direction – but it won’t make much of a difference without these additional changes.
Read MoreKeeping Up with Recovery Over the Holidays
Holidays. While most people look forward to the time off, seeing family and friends, and all the delicious food that usually comes with them, if you’re in recovery, that last one can be quite the challenge. It’s something I struggled with a lot while I was still in recovery, so I thought I’d share some of the things that got me through difficult times.
Read MoreCan Asian-Americans Appropriate Their Own Culture?
Sometimes, reclaiming culture can also mean self-stereotyping. And doing so can further perpetuate narrow and harmful conceptions of who we are.
Read MoreWhat Losing My Job Taught Me About Privilege, Sexism, and Oppression
About one year ago, I lost my job. The 6 months it took me to find a new position changed me, and maybe more importantly, it informed my feminism. It also brought me face-to-face with my own privilege. Having a “career” instead of a “job” is a privilege. Benefits, health insurance, and a living wage are all privileges, too – and I no longer take them for granted.
Read MoreSaying ‘Neckbeard’ Isn’t Hurtful in the Way You Think – Why We Need to Drop This Insult
Have you come across “neckbeard” as an insult? It conveys a common stereotype of a “fat loser living in his mom’s basement” – and this cartoon reveals why it has no part in the world we’re building as feminists.
Read MoreSecond- and Third-Generation Latinas and the Difficulty to ‘Fit In’
There’s no winning, because “no soy de aquí, ni soy de allá.” Luckily, I no longer feel like I have to prove my identity to anyone. Because being Latina is a multidimensional experience. I love my Puerto Rican roots, but I’m also not ashamed that I’ve acculturated into American society. And to my second- and third-generation Latinos, you shouldn’t be either. After all, you’re still Latino.
Read More5 Essential Ways to Support the Autistic Community in Autism Acceptance
You know it’s bad when an autistic person dreads every Autism Awareness Month. Let’s do better as allies with these tips.
Read MoreHow The Hell Did We End Up With Trumpcare? 5 Events in History That Paved the Way
“Your medical bills costs thousands of dollars,” my mother remarked one summer day almost 20 years ago. “Good thing I have health insurance.” Good thing indeed. After I was diagnosed with a chronic condition discovered during a standard physical, my mother’s insurance covered countless doctor appointments to rule out more serious diseases. Our insurance was…
Read MoreWhy We Should Stop Imagining Aging as a Loss of Youth
It’s so tempting to boil aging down into some bleak list of things you can’t do any more. It’s weird how quickly we adjust to and accept the daily paring away of our physical prowess. But that youthful self is still vibrant within me, and I’m working to bring the essence of him forward in some form, a gift to the old man I’ll become in fifteen years or so.
Read MoreHate Your Body? Take More Pics!
Sometimes I feel like we’re living our entire lives and viewing our whole world through a camera lens – including ourselves. And yet, on the bright side, I also see it as an interesting opportunity to reclaim your self-image. I think that if you go with it, you can actually use things like selfies as tools to improve your body image – and your overall self-esteem.
Read MoreAre You Raising a Bully Bystander? 5 Questions to Ask Yourself
Steubenville is a horrific example of the bystander effect. But what if your kid is a bystander to teasing, to name calling, to social ostracizing – behaviors that some refer to as “kids being kids?” Have you addressed that? Are you sure you’ve modeled the proper way not to stand by? Let’s look at some ways parents might inadvertently be supporting bystanders.
Read More4 Reasons Why Gender Neutral Isn’t Always the Answer
As the author of a book called “gender-neutral” parenting, it might sound like I would argue that buying a “girls only” toy is sexist and teaches kids the wrong thing. It is easy to focus on how well the toy fits into the stereotypes of the pink aisle at the toy store instead of how it breaks the mold of the pink aisle. So here’s why I think that toys like Goldie Blox can be good ideas.
Read More5 Reasons Why Asian Respectability Will Never Save Us
Our proximity to whiteness doesn’t make us better, it just makes us more complicit in a system that continues to exploit Black and Indigenous (BI) POC.
Read MoreInspiration Porn: Why We Need to Stop Tokenizing Survivors
A key component in battling rape culture is encouraging survivors to speak out about their experiences. This can be beneficial not only for the cause, but also for individual survivors as they heal. But the strong focus on story-telling has an unfortunate side-effect. Let’s learn more about why focusing on survivor stories as inspiration can actually be damaging and how to avoid doing that.
Read MoreYou’re Holding Yourself Back from Designing a Better Life – But Learning How to Say ‘No’ Can Change Everything
We didn’t realize how often saying “yes” can hold us back from the lives of our dreams. How have you learned to say “no?”
Read MoreGetting Someone Drunk to Have Sex = Slipping Them a Drug to Have Sex
From adolescents to professional musicians, it seems as though the public at large has received a serious miseducation in discerning a true ‘yes’ from an implicit ‘no.’ So let me break it down for you. There is a connection between getting someone drunk to have sex and slipping someone drugs to have sex. Either way, consent is not possible. Either way, it is attempted rape.
Read MoreThis Poet Shows the Stunning Power of Telling Your Own Story
Ever take a moment to think about what you’ve learned? Check out this video and you’ll be glad Aja Monet did just that. At 19, she was the youngest person ever to win the Nuyorican Poets Grandslam Championship title, and she continues to inspire with her words. This imaginative short film reflects on what we can learn from the struggles of childhood, poverty, and survival.
Read MoreLessons from Boston: Racism’s Blindness to Violence and Peace as a Form of Privilege
In the wake of the tragedies in Boston, we must challenge ourselves to reflect on our reactions to loss of life, violence, and tragedy. Why don’t Americans express the same outrage when similar — and far greater — tragedies occur abroad, or even in our own urban neighborhoods? Perhaps the barometer to our reactions is grounded in racism and xenophobia.
Read MoreDealing with Fatphobia while in Eating Disorder Recovery
Fat shaming is very detrimental to a person’s health, mental well-being, and relationship to their body. Eating disorders are also very detrimental to a person’s health, mental well-being, and relationship to their body. Dealing with both of these at the same time? Unbelievably difficult. But we have to learn how to effectively deal with it. Recovery is possible.
Read MoreViolence Through Words Is Still Violence – And This Stirring Response to Emotional Abuse Will Show You Why
Ever had someone (even a survivor) refuse to call violence that’s not physical “abuse?” This woman’s story leaves no doubt that it is.
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