If you haven’t seen the mini-documentary “Dirty Girls” about a group of teenagers from the 90s who are bullied for being different, for “not taking showers,” shopping at thrift stores and writing riot grrrl ‘zines about sexual abuse and how women should be treated–you’re going to be truly surprised by their peers’ critical reaction. (“They’re [...]
March 30, 2012
(Image: Weinstein Company) A movie about children being bullied should, one would think, be designed so that children could have access to it. Disturbing? Yes. Dealing with a ubiquitous topic? Yes. This is nothing, unfortunately, that our children aren’t aware of. Even though the Motion Picture Association denied the ‘R’ rating for ‘Bully‘–the Weinstein Company [...]
March 26, 2012
Trayvon went out to buy Skittles and an ice tea. He was shot and killed by George Zimmerman on his way home. Zimmerman was told not to follow Trayvon (by 911 operator) but he did and claimed it was an act of self-defense. Zimmerman has not been arrested. My white, hoodie wearing teenage son [...]
March 6, 2012
In Chardon, Ohio, T.J. Lane killed three classmates and injured two others on Febrary 27, 2012. I am always, and I’m sure I’m not alone, left wondering what provoked a child to take the steps to aquire a weapon and go berserk. A child doesn’t wake up one day, and out of the blue decide [...]
January 26, 2012
I’ve had the discussion about what to tell my daughter about the word “slut.” I’ve talked about how slut-shaming is the “nuclear bomb of teenage insults” and how studies show the word slut is more of a finger wagging at defiance–i.e., you’re not acting how you’re “supposed to act”–instead of actually being about sexual [...]
December 12, 2011
The other night, a friend of mine told me about some teenage girls on Facebook who are touting beer cans in their profile photos. These are underaged kids. Fourteen-year-olds. These girls are friends with her daughter. “Why are their parents letting them put pictures of themselves with beer on the internet?” I said. “I think [...]
December 5, 2011
Just last week, Jezebel (via LiveScience ) discussed the slut issue again, this time asking the question why the word slut remains the “nuclear bomb of teenage insults.” Cornell University’s Ritch Savin-Williams said, Recent research is showing that it’s not their sexuality that’s getting them bullied, but their gender expressions. It’s that they transgress those [...]
November 14, 2011
Hayley discussed the breaking Penn State news here the other day. Since we love discussions at Femamom, I’m going to tackle the football scandal, my a.m. coffee still kicking. I asked some teenage boys sitting in our kitchen what they would do if they walked in a grown man molesting a kid? They were uncomfortable with the [...]
November 12, 2011
UPDATE: Miri delves into the psychological perspective of why nothing was done for a decade in Penn State. Yesterday I wrote about the new stats about sexual harassment in schools, but since I posted that story, I can’t help but think of the connection to the Penn State scandal where nine children (and counting) were [...]
November 11, 2011
The computer lab. I was a freshman in high school. I was a late bloomer and my breasts didn’t pop until 9th grade. And when they popped, they popped. They were great, large, perky breasts. Computer lab was a mix of all grades. One day I was wearing a V-neck sweater. You see where this [...]
"A thoughtful, provocative look at the not-so-pretty and the sometimes-out-there sides of parenthood."--Kristen Kemp, Baristakids.com
April 1, 2013
1