The longing to “jump the life to come”: some thoughts on Shakespeare,...
There are a great many things I could blog about this morning, my own pre-election anxiety not least among them. I’m grateful that I’m leaving town (actually, the country) from tomorrow afternoon until...
View ArticleAfter “in loco parentis”: some disjointed thoughts on student mentoring and...
It’s always dangerous to write about books one hasn’t read. Still, I find that I learn a lot from book reviews. For as long as I can remember, my mother has subscribed to the New York Review of Books....
View ArticleRejecting the narrative of male sexual indispensability
One of my former youth group kids came to talk to me last week after reading last week’s post about sexual identity. Louisa, 19 years old, has been “out†as a lesbian since she was in ninth...
View ArticleKissing rules
Amber at Prettier than Napoleon gets the cap tap for linking to three posts about kissing, including this one from the New York Times: Who Changes the Kissing Rules? Daniel Hamermesh writes: A female...
View ArticleExposing the abstinence agenda: a review of “The Purity Myth”
I got my copy of Jessica Valenti’s newest book, The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women last week. If the editor-in-chief of Feministing continues to crank out...
View ArticleVermont gets it right again: adolescent sexting, adult prurience, and the...
As has been widely reported, Vermont (the first state in the notion to approve same-sex marriage through the legislative process) is now considering decriminalizing “sexting”, the much-ballyhooed...
View ArticleThe form and content of kisses
One of my former youth group kids, “Holly” contacted me last week. Holly’s 17, an aspiring theater actress, and just landed her first lead role in a summer production. She has a boyfriend, Ferdinand —...
View ArticleHolly dyed her hair: more on myths of female frailty, our fear of women’s...
I posted earlier this year against the “myth of female frailty” and the lie that “one mistake will ruin your life”. The topic of that myth arose again this week when I met with one of my former All...
View Article16 is not 16 is not 16: of adolescence, different rates of maturation, and...
There’s been much talk this week about the adventures of Abby Sunderland, the Southern California 16 year-old whose attempt to sail solo around the world ended when her boat lost its mast in the Indian...
View ArticleThe Price of Exclusion: a Plea from my Other Daughter
Lauren, one of my former “youth group kids,” has often made a pseudonymous appearance on this blog. She was the “Brynne” in this piece on the virtues of long-distance relationships, she was “Holly” in...
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