“For American parents,” says the publisher’s blurb for Amy Schalet’s new book, Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens, and the Culture of Sex, “teenage sex is something to be feared and forbidden: most would never consider allowing their children to have sex at home, and sex is a frequent source of family conflict.” Contrast this to
Schools The Sydney Morning Herald looks at what parents and teachers are doing in Australia to address hetero-centrism in elementary schools. The Buffalo News reports on gay and lesbian teachers—why it can be hard to be out, and why many nevertheless feel it is important. Family Portraits Mark Daniel Snyder at HuffPo talks about the true diversity
It’s Halloween, even though the snow on the ground here in the Northeast is making it seem more like Christmas. I thought I’d celebrate with an open thread on all topics Halloweeny, so jump in with a comment on your kid’s (s’) costume(s), your costume, your favorite costume from childhood, best Halloween recipes, or what
I’ve posted a few longish pieces recently, How to Help Aging LGBT Parents and Are Boys in Princess Dresses the Scariest Thing on Halloween?, along with information about a couple of major new reports on LGBT families, “Expanding Resources for Children III: Research-Based Best Practices in Adoption by Gays and Lesbians” and “All Children Matter:
Halloween is almost upon us, the holiday that underscores like no other that society has certain gender expectations for boys and girls. Girls, by and large, are princesses; boys tend towards the violent as superheroes, Star Wars characters, soldiers, or pirates. But each year, it seems, at least one family makes the news because their child wants to defy those boundaries.
How do we help our parents as they age? For adults with non-LGBT parents, there are plenty of resources on how to help parents through the various legal, financial, and emotional issues of growing old. Search the Web or your favorite online bookstore for “aging parents,” and you’ll be swamped with results.
For adults who wish to help their LGBT parents, however, the resources are far fewer. And while many of the issues older LGBT and non-LGBT people face are the same, some are not.
OK, let’s have a little group participation on this one. I need to get a birthday present for a classmate of my third-grade son. The boy is friendly enough to invite my son to his party, but not in the “best friends” category. I’ve never met the boy or the parents. Other than “Star Wars,” my
What can bathroom signs tell us about gender, sex, and society? Plenty, according to this great article by Marissa at The Society Pages, a multidisciplinary social science project organized by the University of Minnesota’s sociology department. Marissa has gathered an extensive, thought-provoking, and occasionally hilarious collection of bathroom signs from around the world. (A few
The federal Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form asks applicants to list their “mother/stepmother” and “father/stepfather.” But applying for aid, if you have same-sex parents, isn’t just a matter of crossing one of those out and writing in the correct term, says Tara Siegel Bernard of the New York Times in her piece, “How to File for Financial Aid if Your Parents Are Gay.”
Get your “I Love My Mummies” t-shirts and other kid apparel in the Mombian Store at CafePress. Thanks to my own “mummy” for providing the drawing.
