I have posted an entry for about 185 days (a few times I double posted). I am now taking a 6 week break to finish a book. I’ll see you next year! Ok, I lied. I’m totally going to post from time to time, but less regularly until the book is out the door. Part…
Today, a set of tweets from the producer of The Bachelor, Bachelorette, and other programs contributing to the inanity of American culture and transmission of limiting gender norms has gone at least semi-viral. According to this author at Huffington Post, he’s a hero for standing up to an annoying airline passenger. And she does sound…
It’s called the Thompson Turkey and most of the recipe is here. We’ve been making it in our family for a long time. It involves three bowls for the stuffing – one of meat and bread, another spices, a third fruit, then mixing. A mustard paste coats the turkey. You turn it while cooking towards…
Happy Thanksgiving. As my children came home from school with paper pilgrims’ hats and “Indian” headbands with feathers, I winced, I groaned, and I kept silent. They are 4 and 6. It’s not time yet. But here’s a serious question, asking as both historian and parent, in lieu of a longer post on this busy…
The following is a genuine email exchange. Names and locations have been changed as appropriate. ——————————————————————–From: J. [NAME@hotmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2013 11:52 AM To: Perry, David Subject: Your beautiful article on pope Francis on cnn.com Thanks David for a very well written article on the pope. First big surprise: It is written in…
My 9yr old complained to @LEGO_Group re mag she was sent,reply was useless. Re-registered as ‘John’.Big difference. pic.twitter.com/Tbdo1X39zc — Jacky Wafflewaitress (@Wafflewaitress) November 22, 2013 I think about toys and gender a lot because of the ways that early experiences shape our brains. My daughter gets invited to a lot of parties – because almost…
Earlier in the week, the Australian writer Catherine Deveney published a piece on motherhood and discourse in The Guardian. It mirrors some of my own arguments about the ways that our emphasis on motherhood is bad for women and men, albeit in different ways. She opens by talking about the line, “Motherhood is the most…
Some weeks, when I look back at my posts, I admit to myself that I leaned heavily on other writers, linked to them, and provided little new content of my own. But this last week was different, if I may say so myself. I write these round-ups in hopes of catching a few more readers…
As promised on Friday, here’s a video of Nico’s fall performance that illustrates my principle of “inclusion, not same-ness.” Inclusion is complicated. We demand reasonable accommodations, and we sometimes get them without litigating “reasonable,” but inclusion requires thoughtful, intentional, good-will from all parties. Sometimes inclusion means bringing someone into a group and enabling them to…
On Thursday, a vigil was held for Ethan Saylor, the man with Down syndrome whose death led me to coin the phrase, “cult of compliance.” I see the consequences of that cult everywhere. It’s a world in which police demand total compliance and use lack-of-compliance as justification for abuses both small and great (and fatal)….