Tag Archives: motherhood

Mommie Dearest: Focusing On Celeb Pregnancies Only Raises The Bar Higher For Other Mothers

Avital Norman NathmanJanuary 14, 2013 //

Stars Who've Played Sexy Cover Girl While Pregnant

These sexy stars posed naked for mags while pregs. 15 Photos »

Hidden Pregnancies

These seven celebs hid the fact that they had a bump in the oven. 7 Photos »

Give Kate Space

Stop getting all up in a pregnant woman's business, y'all. Read More »

I’m not sure if you all heard about it or not, but Kim Kardashian is pregnant. I’ll wait a moment for the shock to sink in.

We can now look forward to six more months of paparazzi falling all over themselves for the newest baby bump shots, interviews with Kim and Kanye’s potential nannies, photoshoots of their nurseries, and “in depth” articles that pontificate on everything from what Kris Jenner will go by (something tells me she doesn’t dig “Granny”) to whether Kanye will cut the cord, to dissecting which potential weight loss programs Kim will utilize/shill to get back into her “pre-baby bod.”

And I can tell you already, I’m over it. Keep reading »

Mommie Dearest: The Year In Motherhood Headlines

Avital Norman NathmanJanuary 2, 2013 //

Moms Are 2nd Class

Why are we treating moms like second class citizens? Read More »

Aussies Get Paid Leave

Australia enacts paid parental leave for dads and gay couples. Read More »

Mommy Wars Ceasefire

I want a ceasefire on the mommy wars, because it helps no one. Read More »

Motherhood is one hot topic. From magazine covers that pushed people’s buttons to daily headlines on both news and gossip sites, moms were praised, targeted, and questioned.

While most headlines were pure click bait, some were actually attached to insightful, thought-provoking pieces. As we head into 2013, let’s take a look back at the good, the meh, and the ugly when it came to motherhood in mainstream headlines from 2012: Keep reading »

Girl Talk: Motherhood & The Tragedy At Sandy Hook Elementary

Catherine ZuckermanDecember 21, 2012 //

On Motherhood

Why are we treating moms like second class citizens? Read More »

Fearing Guns

How a gun-loving West Texas girl learned to fear assault weapons. Read More »

On The Newtown Massacre

Thoughts from a woman who went through a violent attack at her school. Read More »

I am not a mother. This fact has kept me from expressing my heartbreak over the shootings in Sandy Hook. In the aftermath of this horrifying event, I’ve watched countless friends — mothers, all of them — post wrenching status updates on Facebook. I’ve read them, feeling oddly ashamed inside. These moms talked of compassion for those poor little children, of the need to step up to the plate as adults, of the fear they have for the future, of roiling anger toward the government, and of utter helplessness. They posted pictures of the beautiful young faces lost to this insane tragedy. They urged others to take a stand, and to hold their own children close.

The same thoughts streamed through my head. Tears welled in my eyes, too. I texted my siblings and begged them to hug and kiss their little ones for me.

But something was silencing the part of me that wanted to join these moms in their outrage. I felt it wasn’t my place. How could I know, after all, what kind of fear these parents were expressing? How could I possibly relate to their protective instincts? I am not a mother. Keep reading »

Mommie Dearest: Why Toy Catalogs Make Me Roll My Eyes

Avital Norman NathmanNovember 29, 2012 //

Little Girls & LEGOs

Why LEGOs "for girls" are extremely popular. Read More »

Remixed Toy Ads

Remixed toy ads tell the truth about gendered marketing. Read More »

Sweet Or Creepy?

Put your daughter's face on a Disney princess doll. Read More »

Mommie Dearest is The Frisky’s new biweekly column about being a mama.

I have a love/hate relationship with catalogs. There are some that I love to flip through and pretend that I have the money to burn. Who wouldn’t want her own cotton candy machine, night vision goggles, or handcrafted teak patio furniture? (I don’t even have a patio.) The holiday season provides me with an ample supply of these catalogs, depositing no less than three catalogs a day into my mailbox. However, they’re not all fantasy furnishings and expensive gadgets. The majority of the catalogs I receive actually cause me to roll my eyes, gnash my teeth and fill my already stuffed recycling bin to the brim: toy catalogs promoting tired traditional gender stereotypes. Keep reading »

Hitched: On Mothers-In-Law (And Mother-In-Law Jokes)

Andrea GrimesNovember 14, 2012 //

I have known since I was a wee child that someday, there would be a woman in my life that I would hate more than any person on the planet. She will be the epitome of all things evil; a seething skin-bag of meddlesome, ignorant lady-pus, hardly worthy to walk among us and yet, walk among us she will. Unabashed, her goal in life will be to make me miserable. She will shame me and mock me and re-fold my towels in the most offensive possible way, all in the name of “helping.” She will make passive aggressive comments about my weight and my pot roast. She will kiss my husband on the mouth in front of me.

She will be my mother-in-law. Keep reading »

Study: Children With Lesbian Parents Are Not Screwed Up

Jessica WakemanNovember 1, 2012 //

Lesbians are great parents whose children are happy with life and academically successful, according to the findings of a study conducted by the Williams Institute. [Queerty]
A cultural history of mansplaining. [The Atlantic]
A Wisconsin politician said he had to become a lobbyist because “my wife loves to shop.” You know, women be shopping. [The Broad Side]
Bill O’Reilly’s show found a bunch of random women on NYC streets dressed in sexy Halloween costumes to talk about who they’re voting for in this weird ‘on the street’ segment. [Slate] Keep reading »

The Soapbox: Trying to Make Sense Of The NYC Nanny Murders

Kate McGuinnessOctober 30, 2012 //

Nanny Scam

I was the victim of an Internet nanny scam. Read More »

Six Figure Nanny

Some families are willing to pay six figures for a super-nanny. Read More »

Frisky Parenting!

All the posts The Frisky has ever done about parenting! Read More »

Originally appeared on Role/Reboot. Republished here with permission.

Last week, two young children, Leo and Lulu Krim, were allegedly stabbed to death by their nanny in their home in Manhattan. The children’s mother discovered the bodies as Yoselyn Ortega, the nanny, began to hack at her own throat. Although the nanny survived, she is hospitalized and unable to speak.

The reports to date are that the Krim family was kind to the nanny — there were no bad feelings on either side of the relationship. A friend of the Krim family recommended Ms. Ortega, and she’d been their employee for approximately two years.

Parents are searching for an explanation that makes the incident understandable believing that if they can understand why it occurred, they can take precautions to avoid a similar catastrophe. These deaths happened at the hands of a nanny, but children may be harmed in daycare, in school, at Boy Scouts or … the list is long. Too long. Keep reading »

Awesome Mom’s Reaction When Her Black Son Wanted To Be A Princess

Jessica WakemanOctober 30, 2012 //

Little Boy Princess

A little boy learns he can't be a princess for Halloween. Read More »

Last week we watched an interesting social experiment on the TV show “What Would You Do?” where actors playing a mom and kids went to a Halloween costume store looking for non-gender-conforming costumes. A little boy begged to be a princess and a little girl begged to be Spiderman, while nosy shoppers (mostly) discouraged the kids and their mom from those costumes. So I was delighted to see an actual real-life mom write a piece for the New York Times this weekend about the time her three-year-old son wanted to be a princess. And interestingly, her concern wasn’t that he wanted to be girly — it was that all the princess junk out there didn’t take into account her son is black.

Doreen Oliver writes that her older son is autistic and struggles to communicate. So if her younger son wants to express himself in any way, even by dressing up like a princess on Halloween, she and her husband will support him. And, she adds, “[I]f it turns out Bug is gay, we’d embrace his identity.” The problem wasn’t that Bug wanted to be a princess, though — it was that “his idea of a princess had blond hair and peach-colored skin” and sure enough all the princess costumes had blonde wigs and pictures of “smiling white women.” Keep reading »

The Soapbox: On Disney’s First Latina Princess

Veronica ArreolaOctober 29, 2012 //

America On Racism

She was once asked to wear "whiteface" in a role. Read More »

Can't Date Outside My Race

Dennis doesn't date outside his race because his race won't date him. Read More »

Mindy's Race Jokes

"The Mindy Project" makes some squicky jokes about race. Read More »

“Disney is releasing a Latina princess soon, mija,” I declared to my daughter as we drove away from her school and on our way to pick up her dad. “Good!” she said firmly. But of course, I rarely let that be the end of any conversation. “Why good?” I probed.

What followed was a discussion of how we both recognized that Latinas deserve a princess that looks like them — this is despite the fact that my husband and I worked hard to minimize “the princess effect” in our home. Princesses were far from banned. Rather we opted for a different approach: we emphasize strong princesses like Leia, Wonder Woman and Xena (not a real princess, but warrior princesses counted). I also would bring up real-life princesses who did good in the world whenever I could. Oh, the way I used to bring up Princess Diana and Queen Noor! Goodness. We also discussed the strong traits of the Disney princess kingdom: Ariel was adventurous, Belle loved to read and Rapunzel knew how to wield a cast-iron skillet. As you can see, we aren’t anti-Princess, but we are anti-”I’m a pretty-princess waiting for a prince to save me.” Keep reading »

Irish Politician To Swap Lives With Single Mother For A Week

Jessica WakemanOctober 16, 2012 //

Single Mom Speaks

Rick Santorum can kiss this single, working mother's ass. Read More »

Single Mom Hallmark Card

Hallmark made a card for black single moms on Father's Day. Read More »

Ann Hates Single Moms

Ann Coulter trashed single mothers on the "Today" show. Read More »

Like an episode of “Wife Swap” with feminist underpinnings and adorable accents, an Irish politician plans to swap lives for a week with a single mother of three.

Senator John Gilroy from County Cork in Ireland will live trade lives with Andrea Gagley, an activist with Single Parents Acting For The Rights Of Kids. Gagley works a part-time job and takes a college course while raising her three sons on her own. She issued the challenge to politicians on the Facebook page for Ireland’s Labour Party and Gilroy, a married father of two, took her up on it. He will live on her salary for a week while working at her part-time job and collecting her Lone Parent Allowance and Child Benefit Allowance (which I assume are Irish versions of welfare). ”He is in for a very harsh landing. He may work long hours but he has back-up at home to facilitate that, whereas I have to do everything myself,” Gagley said. The Irish Herald reports that several production companies are seeking to make a documentary about Gilroy and Gagley’s “life swap.” Keep reading »