I’m not overweight. I never have been. How do I do it? It’s naturally who I am. It’s not willpower or moral fiber. Just “good” genes. And those millions who struggle with their weight—who eat less than I and exercise more? They didn’t get those so-called good genes. In a society that treats the overweight as we do, they drew the short straw. Yes, many people eat when they’re bored, when they’re up...
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My husband and I are progressive and we’ve always lived in a big city, filled with diverse people, racially, sexually, economically, religiously, etc. Because of work, we’ve had to move to a small, conservative Midwestern town. There isn’t a lot of openness when it comes to the LGBT population. We have our suspicions on who might be, but nothing is verified. It is very much ̶...
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Until recently, I was absolutely convinced that there was essentially no “generation gap” anymore. When I was young, adults were up in arms about long-haired hippies and rock and roll music. I don’t love all the current music and its messages, but really a lot of it is not all that different from what people my age have always listened to. And while certainly adults will always long for the “good ...
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Gender is not a new topic on college campuses. There are Gender Studies classes, programs, and majors on many. And students, faculty, and administrators alike have been discussing, arguing about, and protesting policies and non-policies that are related to the gender of students for decades. In just the last few years, college after college and university after university have fallen under the sha...
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How cool is it that there are transgender actors playing transgender characters on mainstream TV shows—and not in an exploitative way? Much press has been given to Laverne Cox of Orange is the New Black, a Netflix show about inmates in a women’s prison. As Sophia, Cox is a transgender woman incarcerated for credit card fraud after she went into debt paying for her physical transition. She is terri...
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As the NFL draft drew to a close last week, we received news of this heartwarming tale out of Corona Del Mar High School in Newport Beach, CA, of “prom-date drafting.” Yes, it turns out that some boys in Newport Beach are not content simply to participate in one of the many fantasy leagues to fulfill their apparently deep desire to experience the excitement, tension, and feeling of something akin ...
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Although in some ways I have probably become less radical in my thinking as I have gotten older, there are other ways in which I am apparently more so–or maybe just less likely to ignore comments that I consider offensive. If you pay attention at all, some form of “slut-shaming” is pervasive, even among those who very likely would not see themselves as doing so. Two recent examples involved ...
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I was quite gratified as I was listening in the car on April 29th to Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner, as he announced the punitive measures against Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, who was recorded making bizarre and racist comments. I know there are those who argue that Sterling was taped in a private moment revealing private thoughts and that if we were all subject to su...
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The April 15th abduction of over 200 Nigerian girls who were trying to take their school exams is terrifying and horrifying. While all of those who follow the news on any level are confronted with a myriad of horrific stories on any given day, this one has taken hold in my psyche. I can’t let go of the image of the Nigerian schoolchildren who were abducted from their school by Boko Haram. These Is...
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I decided to start writing this blog as an attempt to save my relationships with family and friends. While my children no doubt find my constant deconstruction of popular culture to be highly valuable and insightful, and while my significant other very likely revels in my diatribes over coffee at the breakfast table, I’m thinking that there is a very small, almost microscopic chance, that they mig...
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