Childcare & Early Education

What a Girl Wants: Mixed Messages in Twilight

When my daughters, now ages 22 and 25, were growing up, I knew better than to forbid them to do something. It’s the quickest way to make that forbidden activity all the more tempting. I find it interesting that Stephanie Meyer’s novel Twilight has an apple on its cover, the original forbidden fruit...

In what universe are candy bars NOT junk food?

Which of the following is considered a junk food according to national school nutrition standards? A. Hi-C Blast - vitamin fortified sugar water B. Poland Springs seltzer water - water with bubbles C. French fries D. Candy Bars If you guessed A, C or D you'd be wrong. Believe it or not, seltzer...

Are you working a "Second Shift"?

Does the Second Shift still apply? I’m re-reading Arlie Hochschild’s 1989 classic in preparing a syllabus for a course on 21st Century feminism. Hochschild’s findings were clear and familiar to many women: when they get home from work, many women with children work a “second shift” of domestic and...

Would You Let Your Daughter Be a Green Beauty Queen?

I’ve never been a big fan of pageants. The social and gender implications are a bit disturbing to me. Add in the environmental and health impacts of conventional cosmetics and the textile and fashion industry and the whole event becomes antithetical to almost every value I hold dear. Needless to...