A number of years ago, a mainstream journalist asked me, “Are you worried about providing male role models for your son?” Here’s the piece I wrote about my answer, which I’m pulling from the archives and freshening up a bit.
Gender stereotypes surround our children, no matter how much we may try to shield them. A new picture book tries to counter some of the constraining gender messages they may receive.
I was recently asked by a mainstream journalist: “Are you worried about providing male role models for your son?”
I answered, as I always do to the question, “No.” It’s not that I don’t want him to have male role models; it’s just that I’m not worried about it. I think that very often, when the media asks that question, they are ignoring the realities not only of same-sex and single parents’ lives, but also of children’s lives in general.
April is Financial Literacy Month, and I’ve been receiving a number of related press releases, some silly and some less so. While I didn’t think many of you would really be interested in a talking piggy bank, I did think you might have some thoughts on a new survey from TD Bank. It’s titled, “TD Bank Financial Literacy Poll Reveals the Role of Parents in a Fiscally Fit Family”—although it really should be titled, “TD Bank Financial Literacy Poll Reveals the Role of Parents in a Fiscally Fit Heterosexual Family.”
It’s been all Prop 8, all the time in the LGBT blogosphere for the last day or so, with a sprinkling of Elena Kagan softball jokes thrown in. Here are a couple of pieces I wrote about the Prop 8 ruling over at Change.org—they’re not parenting-specific, but may be of interest to some of you:
(Originally published in Bay Windows, June 17, 2009.) Disney Pixar’s new animated feature, Up, is a good movie, better than most children’s fare. My kindergartener and I both enjoyed it—but it left me with a few lingering qualms about its depiction of parenting and gender roles. The story revolves around 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen, who is
Two articles today gave me cause for reflection about children of LGBT families and the development of identity: “I’m Not Gay, but My Four Mums Are,” in the Sydney Morning Herald profiles 21-year-old Eamon Waterford, who was born into a two-mom family, but acquired two more when they split up and repartnered. (Thanks, Abigail.) The
An article in the Mail & Guardian newspaper of South Africa asked this week, “Why are pregnant lesbians scary?” Umm . . . because we’re hormonal and know how to use power tools? The article itself is a rehash of the Mary Cheney pregnancy and why gay and lesbian parents are as good as any
LesbianDad has a thought-provoking Father’s Day post on fatherhood in lesbian families, and her chosen role as Baba, a “parent midway between Mother and Father.” This brings to mind some of Kwynne’s earlier postings on Butch Baby Makin’ in which she talks about parenthood and butch identity. These are important views that don’t get a
The Huggies Baby Network recently featured an article by Lisa Beamer titled “The Greatest Things About Girls.” It horrified me, frankly, to see yet another example of how people even now smother their children in traditional gender roles. Here are some select quotes: I loved having my boys, but after several years of trucks, dinosaurs
