Strocel.com | Feminism

Podcast: Talking Body Acceptance with Jennifer Rowe

Amber on March 1, 2013 Leave a Comment

Every week, at the end of my podcast post, I ask you to share your podcast ideas with me. I know that many of you either know a lot about a topic, or are interested in learning more about something. While I can’t make any promises, I can say that if you suggest something I will seriously consider it and do my best to find someone to interview if it’s a great idea that you can’t speak about yourself. I’m happy to say that I got my first suggestion recently when Jennifer Rowe of Fat and not Afraid suggested that I speak with her about body acceptance. I’m pleased to be sharing our conversation with you in today’s podcast.

It seems like you can’t walk three feet these days without hearing about the obesity epidemic. I’ve seen advertisements for boot camp and other fitness classes for children, targeted at improving fitness rather than having fun or learning something. I’ve been accused online of putting my son at risk for a lifetime of obesity for pushing him in the stroller when he was three years old and wasn’t able to walk to my daughter’s school at any kind of reasonable pace. We’re all getting bigger, and we’re afraid of what that means for our health – and our kids’ health.

What if, instead of focusing on what’s wrong with our bodies, we believed that we were all beautiful as we were? That’s the question that Jennifer is posing in today’s podcast. Her assertion is that the real health issue isn’t how big or small you are. Rather, the health issues centre around sedentary lifestyle and lack of access to healthy foods. There are socioeconomic factors at play, here, since we know, for instance, that minorities are at greater risk for diseases like diabetes. If it’s cheaper and easier to buy processed foods rather than vegetables, we should address that situation, rather than pointing the finger at people with a higher body mass index.

Jennifer and I talked about the negative consequences of fat-shaming and our obsession with body size. As the mother of a daughter, I find these consequences sobering. They include things like eating disorders (on the rise, along with obesity), and very young girls going on diets. I don’t want my daughter spending her time worrying about her weight, and whether or not it’s “acceptable”. I don’t like that she will likely face public scrutiny over her size, when my son most likely will not – at least not in the same way.

If you would like to hear an alternative perspective on how to approach the obesity epidemic, or you need ideas for how to instill a positive body image in your kids, I encourage you to listen to this podcast. It will give you some serious food for thought:

Talking Body Acceptance with Jennifer Rowe of Fat and not Afraid [ 28:12 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Next week on the Strocel.com podcast I’ll be sharing an interview with my friend Alison, a.k.a. BluebirdMama. I interviewed her for the Crafting my Life Online Course, talking about tackling our personal dragons. Since our interview, she moved back into a converted school bus with her three children, with an attached building, and has set out to live a more intentional life. If you could use some inspiration when it comes to following your own heart rather than following the crowed, you’ll want to tune in. Subscribe to the Strocel.com podcast in iTunes, and you won’t miss a minute! Also, if you have a podcast idea, please share it with me. I’d love to hear your suggestions!

Filed Under: Podcasts Tagged With: Feminism, Interview, Podcast, Politics

Amanda Todd, Anonymous, and Maternal Rage

Amber on October 17, 2012 11 Comments

It’s rare for me to feel as fired up as I do right now about a blog post. I’m going to try to cogently lay out my feelings about the Amanda Todd suicide – an event that happened in my own backyard. I’m not sure I have a whole lot to offer to the discussion. As a child I wasn’t bullied, and I don’t believe I acted as a bully. I’m not an expert on bullying or cyber-stalking, and I’m not an educator. But I am a parent. As someone who’s trying to sort it all out, I feel a strong need to talk about it all in this space. I hope you’ll take the time to join in and share your thoughts as I share mine.

Amanda Todd’s story has hit close to home for me. If you don’t follow the news (and I wouldn’t blame you), I’ll give you a brief synopsis. One week ago, on October 10, 2012, the 15-year-old girl took her own life. She was driven to this following years of bullying, online and in real life. In September she posted a video to YouTube, which tells her story. I was only able to get through half of it, before I was crying too much to continue. It explains how one brief event, which she viewed as a mistake, led to years of stalking, even as she moved schools.

Amanda Todd attended school in the same district as my own children. The high school she was last enrolled at is about 10 minutes from my house by car. I’m sure that I know someone who knew her, or who knows a member of her family. The proximity, if nothing else, has only driven home the point that no one is immune. This could happen to one of the girls in my daughter’s class, if not my daughter herself. By the same token, any of the kids I see at drop-off and pick-up every day could engage in bullying behaviour, and likely at least some of them will during their school careers. Both of those roles carry a lifelong burden. That’s sobering and scary to me as a parent.

Photo Credit: artworksbytb on Flickr

I don’t know what could have been done to prevent Amanda Todd’s bullying and suicide. I believe bullying is a complex issue, with no single clear-cut answer. Of course, I speak with my children about bullying, and do my best to teach them to be kind and caring individuals. I know there are programs in place in schools, and I’ve watched teachers respond to name-calling and hitting. I think they’re doing the very best they can. Could they do better? I’m sure they could always do better – but they need tools and resources and community support. Parents do as well. There’s no single person or organization that we can point the finger of blame at in this situation.

Having said all of that, when I heard yesterday on the radio that Anonymous had outed the man who was allegedly Amanda Todd’s stalker and primary tormenter, I reacted strongly. The person Anonymous named is a 30-year-old who lives in a community that neighbours mine. The story is that he coaxed Amanda to flash her breasts on a webcam, then contacted her later and threatened to publicly expose her if she didn’t ‘give him a show’. When she didn’t comply he used Facebook to share images with her classmates at several schools. He threatened her physically and shamed her publicly, and her classmates joined in. While the identity of the individual is still in question, the events are not – this is what someone did to Amanda Todd. Once again, a young woman is sexually victimized, and she faces the blame for it.

Obviously, I have no way of knowing if Anonymous is right about this guy. But let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that they are. By all accounts they’re kind of good at this. Plus, my reaction upon hearing the radio story came from the place of imagining it to be true. When I heard it, my heart caught in my throat and I was angry. This is an adult man. He preyed on and tormented a young girl. He posted images that could only be called child pornography. This makes him not just a bully, but a criminal on several counts.

Photo Credit: Dan Morrill on Flickr

I am what you would call a bleeding heart liberal. I believe there are complex economic and social factors behind most crimes. You won’t generally find me advocating in favour of tougher sentencing or bigger jails. I also don’t believe that vigilantism is an appropriate response to crime. As a society, we need the protections and framework of the law and the justice system. We need to honour everyone’s rights, not so much because criminals deserve it, but because if we expect our own rights to be honoured we must not violate those of others. You won’t see me going after the alleged perpetrator online.

In spite of my bleeding heart tendencies, this time I can’t make the case for mercy. This time the mama bear inside of me is angry, and I am filled with maternal rage. When you start preying on children, I lose my capacity for sympathy. I want not just justice, but vengeance. It’s not mine to give, but I can’t express in words how furious I am to think about what this man allegedly did. If he is in fact the person who stalked and tormented Amanda Todd I don’t want him walking the same streets as my children – or anyone’s children. Whoever did this must not be allowed to hurt anyone like this ever again. I hope that the justice system prevails, and the culprit is found, whether it’s the man that Anonymous pinpointed or someone else.

When I became a parent, I was forever changed. One of the ways that I changed has to do with the way I view crimes against children. While I’ve always found them horrifying, now I find them enraging. My conciliatory nature evaporates, and I want someone not just to pay for what they did, but to suffer for it. I think not only about the child in question, but about that child’s family. Amanda Todd had a mother, and she will never be the same again. On her behalf I am angry, and I am sad. But mostly I hope against hope that we can do better next time. I think we’ve all had enough pain already, and I want it to end. I know that’s a tall order, but it’s what I’m pulling for. I don’t want to spend any more time shaking as I listen to the radio my car, filled with all the maternal rage I can hold.

Do you find that your reaction to certain crimes has changed since you had children of your own? How do you talk about bullying with your own children? And how has the Amanda Todd case impacted you?

Filed Under: Kids and Parenting Tagged With: Feminism, Navel Gazing, Parenting, Politics

Happiness, Mothers and Guilt

Amber on October 9, 2012 6 Comments

If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. It’s a folksy sort of phrase, and one you hear a lot. As a mother, I will concede that it has a grain of truth. When I’m not happy, I’m not exactly fun to be around, and that doesn’t make for a great home situation. Although, as I wrote that it occurred to me that if anyone in my house is unhappy, it has a way of spreading. If one of my kids is miserable at dinner, it’s not a pleasant meal for anyone. If my husband’s having a rough go of things, we feel it. Unhappiness and happiness are both catching sorts of emotions.

Regardless of the truthfulness (or lack thereof) of folksy sayings, one of the most common uses for this particular expression is to say that if moms aren’t taking care of themselves, their families suffer. It’s very similar to the oxygen mask analogy. That particular piece of wisdom refers to the instructions that we all hear on a plane – in the event that the cabin loses pressure, put on your own oxygen mask before helping others. This is because if you asphyxiate and die, you’re no help to anyone else. From this, we draw that we need to take care of ourselves, before we can take care of other people.

I do see some truth in this wisdom. I know that when I’m tired and hungry and feeling emotionally overwhelmed, I’m not at my best. When I’m not at my best, I can’t give my best to other people. I also know that I’m not setting a very good example for my children. I want them to learn how to make sure there own needs are met. It’s not always easy, but if I can make sure my needs are met most of the time, everything else in my world is just easier. Happiness sometimes flows from that.

While I absolutely believe that it is important to meet your own needs, sometimes I see this idea that a mother must meet her own needs taken to another level. It becomes not so much a suggestion as an admonition. Making yourself a priority becomes something that you must do. Make sure that you get enough exercise. Make sure that you get lots of “me” time. Make sure that you and your partner have regular date nights. Make sure that you have a good work-life balance. After all, you have to be happy, because if mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.

I see some problems with this thought process. The first problem is that, let’s be honest, parenting requires a degree of self-sacrifice. This is true for mothers and fathers. When you have children you’re spending your time and money and energy on those children. You’re putting their needs ahead of your own some of the time. If you can find a way to make everyone happy, that’s fabulous. If you can’t, though, you have to choose and compromise, and since two-year-olds aren’t all that good at compromise you’ll probably be giving more than you get. In the long run, I’ve found that I’m happier if I embrace that reality.

The second problem I see is that not every mother chooses to do all those things that she’s supposed to be doing to make herself happy. If you really want to see a movie, by all means, find a way to make it happen. But if you really are happy hanging out at home with your kids in the evening, that’s okay, too. Maybe you haven’t been to a theatre in living memory, because making sure you’re home for bedtime works for you. There’s nothing wrong with that.

The final problem I see is that very few people give this same message to fathers. Nobody is telling them that they need to put their own happiness first. Whenever we start telling women that they have to do something men don’t, we run the risk of setting an unrealistic gender-based ideal. We’re telling Mama that she must be happy for the sake of her family, but we’re not telling Dad the same thing. That sounds more like a guilt trip than self-care to me. Maybe we’re assuming Dad is already taking care of himself, but speaking for my own family that’s not always true. So let’s level the playing field on this one, and let men and women make their own decisions.

With seven and a half years under my belt, I may not be what you’d call a seasoned parent, but I’ve learned a few things. One of those is that kids grow up way too fast. When I look back on my children’s babyhoods, I don’t wish that I had seen more movies. And if I could go back in time, it wouldn’t be to go on another dinner date with my husband while I sweated about how my wee one was doing without me. Instead, it would be to experience all of those little moments of their infancy that passed all too quickly. To feel their tiny fingers wrap around mine one more time. To nurse them again, or hold them while they slept. Those are the moments I miss.

I don’t think that mothers should just accept unhappiness. Rather, I think we should let them define happiness on their own terms. If that means I don’t make it to yoga classes regularly, and I’m fine with that, I don’t owe anyone else any explanations. And don’t ask me for one, because like they say, if mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.

Have you ever felt pressure, as a mother, to pursue someone else’s definition of balance and happiness? And do you find that you’re the bellwether for the rest of your family’s happiness? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Filed Under: Kids and Parenting Tagged With: Feminism, Navel Gazing, Parenting

What’s Actually Wonderful About Being a Girl?

Amber on September 12, 2012 6 Comments

It was a sunny day in 1987 when I marched into the school library, alongside all the other girls in grade five at Philip Sheffield Elementary in Abbotsford, British Columbia. We found ourselves seated in front of a smiling public health nurse, who had brought in a film and a whole bunch of props. We were there for the talk.

The point of the talk was to prepare us all for the day we got our periods. The government of British Columbia didn’t want any of us to mistakenly believe we were dying of some horrible and exotic disease if we found blood in our underwear. I can understand that – why not save young people any grief you can? Of course, most of what followed wasn’t really news to most of the girls in the room that day, though. I don’t remember a whole lot about the session, other than brief flashes, like the nurse’s feminine hygiene scrapbook. Different kinds of pads and tampons were glued to each page, with neatly printed labels underneath. OB tampon, no applicator. Lightdays mini pad, oval. It really would make a fabulous conversation-starter for your coffee table.

Image credit – Tom Magliery on Flickr

The one thing I do remember very clearly about that day was getting two booklets to take home, one of which was called “It’s Wonderful Being a Girl”. They were sort of outdated, and filled with an odd combination of facts and reassuring platitudes. Half of it was about the icky bits – the cramps, the blood, the headaches, the bloating. The other half was meant to reassure – it means your body’s working the way it’s designed to, it will all be over in a few days, you can still play sports, no boys will know. There were also “helpful” hints – wear something pretty to make yourself feel better, try a hot water bottle if the cramps are too uncomfortable, get lots of rest, eat healthfully.

For the past 20+ years I have thought about that booklet each time my period arrived, and what a bill of goods it sold. I’m sorry if I’m letting down my gender, and the smiling public health nurse, but I wouldn’t consider menstruation particularly “wonderful”. The mood swings, the breakouts, the bloating and the general messiness may be a sign that everything’s working as it should, but they’re not fun. Maybe it would be different if I had a Red Tent to retreat to, where I could be with the other women of the community, free from the normal obligations of my daily life. As it is, though, I’m just kind of cranky with the children as I go about my normal routine.

Regardless of what my life is like, I’m kind of annoyed at the messages in that booklet. Why do we need to sell this? It’s science, not a magazine. We don’t need to dress up the information with frills and bows and platitudes, while simultaneously holding our noses over the messiness. Let’s talk about it matter-of-factly, please. And really, let’s not suggest that wearing something pretty is the answer to every problem a woman may face in her life. Nice shoes can help, but they’re not actually the solution to most problems.

I don’t know what the talk looks like today. Hopefully they’ve updated it in the past 25 years. In fact, a quick Google search showed that better resources were available even in the 1980s. In any case, I’ve developed my own impromptu curriculum. My children never give me any bathroom privacy so I get to field questions about what I’m doing. Both my seven-year-old daughter and my four-year-old son know all about menstruation. I haven’t even had to hand out any outdated booklets or anything, because they’re getting a first-hand view. No one will think they’re dying if they find blood in their underwear at my house.

Is it wonderful being a girl? I’ve always enjoyed it. But not because an old booklet I got in grade five told me to. And not because I’m wearing pretty clothes while I’m having my period – so there.

Did you get the talk in school? What do you remember about it? And did you find it helpful or just comical? I’d love to hear!

Filed Under: Random Awesomeness Tagged With: Feminism, Memories, Navel Gazing

Maternity Leave: Allowing and Honouring Choice

Amber on July 25, 2012 7 Comments

My husband and I subscribe to the Sunday New York Times. This week, as I sat down over my breakfast cereal and opened the Style section in search of Social Q’s (I love Social Q’s) I was greeted by an article about Marissa Mayer’s maternity leave. If you’re not familiar, Ms. Mayer is the new CEO of Yahoo!, and she recently announced that she’s six months pregnant. She also announced that she plans to only a few weeks of maternity leave, and she’ll work throughout it.

My first reaction was to wonder why this was in the Style section. Hello, New York Times, stories about women don’t automatically belong in the Style section. This seemed more like a business story than a fashion story, but maybe I just think that because all the estrogen has gone to my head. My second reaction was to think that if a male CEO’s partner was expecting their first child, and he planned to take a couple of weeks off work after the birth (while checking in periodically), it certainly would not be considered newsworthy. However, having given birth and breastfed two children of my own, I do concede that there is a difference when you’re the one carrying the baby.

I spent years on this blog researching and writing about maternity leave. I know how important maternity leave is. I wrote a Maternity Leave Manifesto, which argues for paid, year-long maternity leaves for everyone, as well as dedicated paid leave for co-parents. I’ve taken two such leaves myself, and I was extremely grateful that I was able to take that time with my children.

Having said that, I think that there’s a different between making leave available, and compelling new parents to take it. Even here in Canada, not every mother who qualifies for a year-long paid maternity leave takes advantage of the whole thing. There are a wide range of reasons why someone may choose not to use all of the benefits available to them, and I believe we need to allow everyone to make their own best decision for themselves, whether it’s Marissa Mayer, or someone with considerably fewer resources. The point is to provide choice, not to dictate one correct choice.

Still, there’s something about the idea that someone can’t take leave that implies there is no real choice. My mother tells me that she wasn’t planning on having any children. When she interviewed for a job at a bank, the interviewer didn’t want to hire her, because he felt that as a young woman she would just get pregnant and leave. She assured him that was not the case, and while she did eventually get pregnant and leave, I think most of us can agree that was her right. In the intervening 30+ years, our societal attitudes have changed. It’s no longer acceptable to say that you won’t hire a young woman because she may become pregnant. That’s a good thing. But as the attention Marissa Mayer is getting shows, we have not come so far that a woman’s decision to become pregnant is a non-issue. We also have not come so far that her professional dedication isn’t called into question as soon as she starts to show.

The more powerful a position that a woman holds, the more likely that her pregnancy is going to become a source of societal debate. We’ll hear that you can’t have it all. We’ll hear that her child is being shortchanged. We’ll hear that she’s not doing her job as well. We’ll hear snide comments about nannies and baby nurses. We’ll hear that no one would speak this way about a man becoming a father. Somehow, we’ll decide that someone else’s decisions about how to combine work and family are our business. And we’ll reflect on what this debate shows us about the state of motherhood and career and gender relations.

If I were to write my Maternity Leave Manifesto again, I would add two more points:

It’s up to every parent and family to decide how to structure their own leave. No one should feel compelled to take either an abbreviated or extended maternity or parental leave.
We must protect each parent’s right to choice, and honour that choice when it’s made. This means we have to change the corporate culture so that women aren’t penalized for taking leave, and we need to get over ourselves when we start thinking that women can’t combine a high pressure career with motherhood.

I don’t know the first thing about Marissa Mayer, and in truth this isn’t really about her. I’ve seen the same discussion many times before when high-profile women announced their pregnancies. I imagine I will see it again. Rather than focusing on what any one person decides, though, I’d like to see the debate move towards an intelligent discussion about labour policy and gender equity. Women will not have equal status in the workplace as long as pregnancy is the source of much hand-waving and public debate. And babies will lose out as long as their parents feel forced to make a decision, instead of free to make the best choice for their families.

Have you seen the discussion over Marissa Mayer’s pregnancy and maternity leave? What do you think would be a positive outcome of the discussion? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Filed Under: Maternity Leave Tagged With: Feminism, Maternity Leave, Politics

Repost: Feminist / Mother

Amber on July 17, 2012 2 Comments

Two years ago today, I was thinking about combining feminism and motherhood. Today, I’m sharing those thoughts with you again.

This is me, combining feminism and motherhood

I have always considered myself a feminist. In school a lot of my friends didn’t – they regarded feminism as sort of passe, a relic of another time. I believed that everyone should have the same opportunities and freedoms, regardless of gender. And I thought that believing that made me a feminist. I still do think that believing that makes me a feminist, actually.

I’m not sure that much of my life has been dictated by my feminism. I haven’t marched or published a feminist zine or anything like that. But in my own way, I have expressed my desire to make a world that is more equitable for everyone. I have exercised my choices in the way that best worked for me, and done my best to support other women who were doing the same thing. And I recognize that many other women before me fought so that I could have the choices that I do.

My feminism became much less complacent when I had children. Suddenly, gender issues played a much bigger role in my daily life. My decisions became much harder and more complex, and my time and resources became much more limited. I had to choose where I invested my time more carefully and deliberately. I had to consider the impact of my decisions on my children. And other people suddenly had a whole lot more opinions about what I did.

If I worked, I was a bad mother, and even still my job commitment was viewed as suspect. If I didn’t work, then I was setting back the cause and wasting my education. If I took on too many obligations, I was failing myself and not setting appropriate boundaries. So I decided that there was really only one thing to do – please myself. I am not willing to live in a way that doesn’t work for me in order to please others or fulfill an externally-assigned role. I do consider the impact of my choices, and the statement they make. But I place equal weight on my own needs, and the needs of my family.

Having children didn’t make me less of a feminist. In fact, it made me more equality-minded and more concerned about the legacy I am leaving. But that legacy is now much more personal to me. It is no longer about hand-waving arguments and intellectual discourse. Instead, it is about the way that my daughter and son look at me, and at each other, based on the life that I lead. It is about what my grandchildren (should I have them) will think of me and learn from me, good and bad. It is about making it that far with my sanity intact.

Feminism is very much about choice. It is about protecting our rights to make up our own minds, it is about making up our own minds, and it about honouring the choices that others make. As long as our choices do not intrude on others’ lives, or step on someone else’s rights, they remain ours alone to make. If I decide to stay at home, or work at home, or work outside the home, or participate in an off-the-grid cashless community, these are my choices to make. They are also your choices to make, and we can make different ones and that’s totally cool. We can also change our mind and switch up our choices. Still cool.

In the world I live in, there are not a whole lot of great, affordable childcare options. In the world I live in, women don’t always have access to much maternity leave, and when they receive it, they may not be able to afford to take it. In the world I live in, sometimes your current career isn’t working and you need a change. In the world I live in, people get laid off or fall ill or have to move across the country. Life happens, and we have to deal with it. Working to create better support systems is a feminist thing to do, and it is a necessary response to the difficulties we face. But until the day those support systems are in place, making compromises and structuring your world as best you can is also a feminist thing to do.

I am a feminist and I am a mother. I believe that I can be both. And I believe I have the right to choose to be both in the best way I can, right now. I hope that, one day, the world does a better job of affording this right to all mothers.

Filed Under: Kids and Parenting, Random Awesomeness Tagged With: Feminism, Navel Gazing, Parenting, Politics

My Children’s Hair: Gender and Home Haircuts

Amber on June 13, 2012 9 Comments

I have two children, who can be classified as one of each. They have the traditional hairstyles of their respective genders. My daughter Hannah favours long, flowing locks. My son Jacob has short “boy” cuts. In parenting these two children, I have learned a few things about kids and hair. First, I have learned that I feel way more angst over my daughter’s hair. How long is it? What colour is it? How shall we style it today? These are all questions I’ve considered in relation to my daughter that I haven’t really worried about with my son.

For Jacob I’ve opted for short hair out of a combination of convention and convenience. Convention because as much as I buy into gender neutral parenting, I don’t particularly relish the idea of correcting everyone who compliments my “daughter’s” hair. Convenience because, really, nothing is more convenient than wash and go. Somewhat ironically, though, I’ve discovered this is the far more expensive option. Even though I get his hair super short, he needs a haircut every two or three months to keep it from getting scraggy. On top of this, a boy style is harder, especially given Jacob’s penchant to cry, squirm, and cover his head when someone gets near him with scissors. My solution is to take him to the super-expensive kids’ cut place where non-cooperative clients are their bread and butter.

Jacob’s short cut

This week I got to experience the difference between my children’s hair yet again, when Hannah cut her own hair for the second time. Now, if Jacob cut his own hair, I would probably just roll my eyes. But when my daughter does it, I have to struggle to remain calm. The first time Hannah gave herself a trim she was four and she wanted to see what it was like. This time there was gum in her hair and she took matters into her own hands. Of course, after she took the scissors to her hair it needed fixing, and the Great Clips was super busy so I got to try my hand at cutting my daughter’s hair.

Hannah’s hair pre-cut

I’m happy to say that both Hannah and I are reasonably pleased with the results of the home haircut. She was still and calm while I worked. Her little brother stood by saying, “It’s okay, sweetie, I’m here.” This was lovely, because for once the kid was repeating something I said to him that was actually positive. Plus, Hannah thought it was hilarious, so that was good. On top of all that, my daughter decided that she was looking forward to a cooler cut for the summer. Plus, it was free, so I’m calling this one a win – although I’d rather not experience it again anytime soon.

Hannah’s hair post-cut

Hannah is seven years old now, and I’ve pretty much handed control over her hair to her. She washes and brushes it herself. She even does some basic styling herself. But hopefully, this time, my talk about why we don’t cut our hair ourselves has sunk in. And if it hasn’t, well, I guess that it really is her head after all.

Have your kids ever cut their own hair? How about more than once? And what are the differences between your sons’ hair and your daughters’ hair? I’d love to hear your stories!

Filed Under: Kids and Parenting, Random Awesomeness Tagged With: Feminism, Kids, Navel Gazing, Parenting