Talking to Diana Whitney about her collection of poems for girls becoming themselves. By Daisy Florin
gender
My mother was praised her whole life for her beauty; I preferred praise for my mind. By Emily Franklin
It took growing another being inside of me—becoming two—to learn to truly stand up for myself. By Rebecca Kling
I’ve been told more times than I can count not to make a big deal out of things, that the man was only kidding. By Corie Adjmi
Viewing the show together became a rite of passage for both of us. By Lori Tucker-Sullivan
It’s your vagina, you’re allowed to love it all you want. By Ellen Hagan
Regardless of who works outside of the home, men do less housework than women. And COVID has made the imbalance worse. By Molly Winter
Karen is the internet equivalent to the age-old double standard that a man who is vocal is assertive but when it’s a woman she’s a shrew. By Laura Catherine Hanby Hudgens
I’ve raised my daughter to believe that a preoccupation with one’s appearance is trivial, but I’m a traitor to the cause. By Rebecca Knight
Both you and your partner have only 24 hours in a day and each of those hours holds equal value. By Eve Rodksy
What would I have done if her shorts got shorter, tops dipped lower? If she learned to sharpen her body like a tool? By Rica Keenum
I’m solidly in midlife now, and I have been handing out smiles to men upon request for decades. By Mary Janevic
When I ask if they’re hungry, the girls are silent at first. Then each looks to a friend’s face to discover the answer. By Glennon Doyle
I’m surprised by how many moms give me the thumbs-up for “letting” my daughter be a pirate. By Mimi Lemay
“What did you expect, Mom?” said my kid, laughing now, in her same boy-voice she’s always had. By Joanna Franklin Bell
“Ryan,” I say. “If you ever want to play with the girl dolls, we have them. In this house, you can play with whatever you want.” By Ann Wainwright
“No skinny pants” was a rule we could not and did not obey. Instead, we pulled our children out of the school. By Jennie Burke
I hesitated because I am a product of my society, just like everyone else. By Fiona Leary Boucher
Because the new story is a bit of a sequel, I leaned towards using the same boy character again. But I remember thinking, “Why do I have to choose?” By Denise Barry
The mental space freed up by not giving a shit? It’s delicious. By Sophfronia Scott
It’s not that my boys don’t need motivation. It’s that for their gender, empowerment is always readily available. By Annie D. Stutley
I am a woman who sometimes needs a glass of wine or two in the evening, because even though her boys are no longer babies, five to six o’clock is still the witching hour. By Fiona Leary Boucher
I now hear regularly about girls who are so fearful of disappointing their teachers that they skip sleep to do extra-credit work for points they don’t need. By Lisa Damour
I imagined my three daughters coming to me, full of their own insecurities, trying to explain they are beautiful the way they are, my fake boobs staring them down. By Katherine Prince
“Oh, relax,” he says, ruffling my daughter’s wispy blonde hair. “We’re just playing.” By Lisa Norgren