Books for Parents

Shakespeare on Lesbians

Today marks the traditional observance of Shakespeare’s birthday. In honor of the Bard, therefore, I give you two lesbianish quotes. The first is from his gender-mix-up comedy Twelfth Night. Viola, disguised as a man, comments upon the Countess Olivia: She made good view of me; indeed, so much That methought her eyes had lost her […]

Confess and Win

Author and mom Romi Lassally knows motherhood isn’t all smiling babies and roses. She’s compiled an entire bookful of funny, embarrassing, and outrageous admissions from moms all over the world, snack-sized bites of motherhood that may both help moms learn to laugh at themselves and send prospective parents running. Better yet, Romi’s friend Brett Berk,

Bending the Law

(Originally appeared in Bay Windows, February 4, 2009.) “Family law is very vague,” says Kimberly Richman, an associate professor of sociology and legal studies at the University of San Francisco. “That leaves room for a lot of open interpretation.” In her new book, Courting Change: Queer Parents, Judges, and the Transformation of American Family Law

“She Got Me Pregnant”: Episode 57

Helen and I congratulate the world’s first lesbian mom to become a head of state. We then turn to a viewer’s more personal question: How to deal with a pregnant partner’s hormonal mood swings. (“Run!” is a tempting but unacceptable answer.) Although there were no parenting angles this week on The L Word, we use

Poll: Lesbian Parenting Books

It’s time for another poll: {democracy:16} Feel free to leave comments about what you liked/didn’t like about any of these books or others. More books for and about lesbian families, as always, in the Mombian Shop.

Gifts for LGBT Parents and Our Kids

(Originally published in Bay Windows, December 11, 2008.) LGBT parents or our kids on your holiday list? For the most part, mainstream gift guides will work just fine. Not everything we own has to be rainbow colored, and our kids already have three “I love my mommies” t-shirts each. If you do want something with

LGBT Parenting Roundup

It’s time for another collection of news and fun stuff for LGBT parents: Put on your flak jackets. “It is same-sex parenting that is heating up as the next skirmish in the nation’s culture wars,” asserts the Chicago Tribune. Nancy Polikoff points out just how scary are the proposed Bush rules that would allow healthcare

The Trouble with Gender

(Originally published in Bay Windows, October 16, 2008.) When Peg Tyre wrote an article titled “The Trouble with Boys” for Newsweek in 2006, outlining what she saw as a national trend of boys struggling at school, it caused a firestorm of controversy. Some feminists accused her of ignoring the age-old and still ongoing struggles of

Banned Books Week

It’s Banned Books Week once again, the American Library Association’s annual celebration of the freedom to read. Each year, the ALA tracks the books that have received an official challenge, “a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.” Judith F. Krug, director of

Staying at Home vs. Outside Employment

Nina over at Queercents has posted her thoughts on Leslie Bennetts’ The Feminine Mistake: Are We Giving Up Too Much?, a book that warns women of the financial risks of staying home as full-time caregivers. The book spawned much controversy when it first came out, with the media hyping it as part of the “Mommy

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