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• Homophile Texan Wishes Son Were Gay

  Much like this Texas woman, I always thought that if I gave birth to a boy, I would want him to be gay. The Salon writer's reasons are different from mine. She wanted someone to watch musicals with and whose interior design judgment could be trusted. Me? I'm not much into Project Runway and sort of hate shopping. I just don't need the competition from eventual girlfriends and female life partners a son would have the insensitivity to drag through my house -- MY HOUSE! -- and who would take his attention away from me (me!). Case in point, from Salon:   Read More... Posted Jun 28 2008, 02:35 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: Salon, popularity contest, mom wants a gay son, audrey hepburn, gay children, sarah bird

• Locally Grown Ain’t All That

  Anyone with a shred of concern for the environment knows that locally grown produce is preferable to supermarket produce, right? Wrong—that is, according to Salon writer Roberta Kwok, who's done some serious squash-related research. The common sense argument for buying local is that transporting food long distances between the producers and the distributors uses up unnecessary fuel. But this argument fails to take into account the fact that conventional distributors drive to supermarkets in big trucks packed with produce, while farmers markets are stocked by Fords and Chevys carrying only, say, 100 pieces of fruit. Read More... Posted Jun 25 2008, 11:45 AM by Hannah Tennant-Moore with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: carbon footprint, organic, Salon, locavore, wholesale produce, buy local, farmers markets, food miles, conventional growers, produce, locally grown, supermarkets

• Let's Put on a Show

  With the Tony Awards coming up on Sunday -- I know, you've been counting the minutes -- Salon decided to pay tribute to the school musical with this fun story that highlights several videos of real productions found on YouTube. (Ah, if only the memorable performances in my high school's version of "Kiss Me Kate" could have been shared via the Internet back in the day.) As polished and amazing as a Broadway show can be, there is still something uniquely moving and inspirational about watching a bunch of kids put on a show. Read More... Posted Jun 13 2008, 09:28 AM by Jen Chaney with | with no comments Filed under: youtube, Salon, theater, plays, school musical, Tony Award

• Immigrant Gay Folks Face New Challenges

  Following the recent Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage, it's clear that some things are gonna change around here. (For starters, you may want to book that popular wedding venue extra early.) But Sandip Roy points out that for some immigrant gay people, a whole new situation has opened up. In some cultures, being... Read More... Posted Jun 02 2008, 05:33 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: kids, California, Salon, Supreme Court, gay marriage, immigrant, wedding, single, mate

• Pole Dancing Kits and Other Modern Toys

  Padded bras for first graders, bikini waxes for eight-year-olds, pole dancing kits sold alongside Etch-a-sketches in the toy store—excuse me, but how did this happen? How is it affecting girls' self-image? And, um, what happened to feminism? These are a few of the questions tackled in a recent Salon interview with M. Gigi Durham, author of “The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls and What We Can Do About it.” Read More... Posted May 21 2008, 06:30 PM by Hannah Tennant-Moore with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: barbie, sex ed, media, tweens, Salon, sex education, feminism, young girls, abstinence only, teenage girls, sexualization of young girls, gigi durham, pole dancing kits, the lolita effect, female sexuality, padded bras, sexualization of youth, bikini waxes, teen girls

• 5 Reasons We're Falling Behind Our Parents

  Nan Mooney's book "Not Keeping Up with Our Parents" describes the decline of the  professional middle class in America and points to a few key reasons our generation is faltering when it comes to money-matters.  Apparently, it has little to do with cutting out lattes:   Read More... Posted May 15 2008, 01:01 PM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with 17 comment(s) Filed under: Seattle, Salon, finances, decline of the middle class, trouble with money, money-troubles, nan mooney

• Parent Trap, Baby Crap

  Remember the mile-long checklist of stuff your area mega-store recommended for your baby registry? Stuff your mom had never heard of, like breast pads, and stuff you had never heard of, like, um, everything else? Of course you know now, but did you even know back then there were so many baby shampoos to choose from? This was your entry to Parenting, Inc., what one author calls the modern way parents' every fear, hope and dream are exploited to get them to buy things like a souped up baby blanket (the Miracle Blanket) to $800 Bugaboos.   Read More... Posted Mar 31 2008, 02:33 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 14 comment(s) Filed under: parenting, Salon, baby registry, Pamela Paul, unnecessary baby stuff, miracle blanket, bugaboo stroller, inc

• The Internet is Not the Devil

  It seems that every generation views bashing the up-and-coming one as a kind of sport, and this one is no exception. Where older folks once lamented rock music and long hair as markers of the end of civilization, now we have teenagers who are ignorant and narcissistic and spend so much time online that they can no longer interact with real people in the real world. Well, Emily Goldwasser at Salon isn't buying it, and she says the internet is not a danger and a disaster for our kids. She's responding in part to a phone survey of teens that showed a "stunning ignorance" of history and literature.  Boy, does she make some good points in this excellent article: She highlights... Read More... Posted Mar 17 2008, 06:31 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: youtube, education, research study, teenagers, internet, technology, blogs, Google, Salon, social networking, activism, writing, pop culture, survey

• Not Cut Out To Be a Mom?

  There's a couple stories (via Jezebel) on one of the big taboos: What happens when you have a baby and suspect you made a terrible, horrible mistake? Is it possible that some women just aren't made for motherhood? Lucy Beresford interviewed many women who had at a minimum, serious ambivalence about being a mother, and says that our inability to talk about this causes serious damage to both mothers and children. For this silent minority, bonding and attachment just don't happen, and the results are tragic for everyone involved. Why do some women find maternal instincts less than instinctual?... Read More... Posted Mar 04 2008, 10:01 AM by Kelly Mills with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: parenting, pregnancy, books, Motherhood, Salon, jezebel, taboo, vicki glemblocki, mistake, maternal instinct, lucy beresford, ambivalence, times of london

• FEMA Trailers, Homes to Thousands, a Known Danger

  So here's yet another sad story, a bit of evidence that national leaders would just like the problems left by Hurricane Katrina to go away. (Anyone notice that it went, yet again, unremarked upon by our president and, while we're at it, doesn't really come up in candidate stump speeches this primary season?) It turns out, those teeny tiny trailers that were supposed to be temporary but are actually starting to seem permanent to the nearly 40,000 people still living in them. Well, those trailers are toxic, off-gassing formaldehyde and  upping risks of cancer and birth defects for those who live in them. And officials have known about this. And they acted to NOT act on it.   Read More... Posted Jan 29 2008, 05:03 PM by Madeline Holler with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: tragedy, Katrina, Salon, birth defects, childhood illness, trailer, childhood cancers, CBS News, FEMA

• Breaking News: Salon Finds a Non-Dysfunctional Family

  In these modern times, claiming to be from a dysfunctional family is about as novel as shopping online for gifts. At least one movie studio always comes out with a film about a zany, eccentric family who alternately abuse each other and teach each other about the power of love; news sources print columns about how to survive holiay dinners with the relatives; and some people drink too much and pass out under the strings of lights that snake over many storefronts and rooftops. Estranged family members are noticable by their absence, and at least one person is in rare form at every gathering. Awww, joy to the world. I guess that's why I actually noticed this bit on Salon's Table Talk about a non-dysfunctional family. Read More... Posted Dec 12 2007, 04:35 PM by Kelly Mills with | with no comments Filed under: Movies, drinking, holidays, Salon, relationships, dysfunctional family, normal, relatives

• Single Moms By Choice Get Flack

  Someone I know recently told me she's decided to try and have a baby. She's single and nearing the end of her fertility window, and she has always wanted children. She came to the realization that at this point, it's unlikely she's going to meet the right guy, fall in love, get married, and get knocked up in enough time to still be physically able to have kids, and that's important to her. My reaction was total delight because I think she's gonna be a great mom. So when I saw that Louise Sloan wrote a funny guide to becoming a single mom, I thought, "Great! It's about time someone did." But apparently many other folks don't feel the same way. When Sloan was interviewed by Salon a couple weeks ago... Read More... Posted Oct 29 2007, 03:30 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 8 comment(s) Filed under: biological parents rights, Salon, single parenting, newsweek, guide, louise sloan, single moms

• Working Mom Woes: Another Study, More Venom

  A recent British study reveals non-breeder people resent the hell out of working moms (not dads, mind you) and all their sick time, maternity leave, kid-meeting-going ways.  Or so it appears at first glance.  Over at Broadsheet, Carol Lloyd rightly points out that "...it's a shame that this survey almost exclusively nabs headlines as a catfight in the making because a couple of its findings are truly disturbing." Nevertheless, I still don't understand why everyone is so bent out of shape about people taking time off to care for family members (small, innocent, cute ones even)?? Perhaps someone can explain it to me...   Read More... Posted Sep 24 2007, 02:32 PM by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: mommy wars, Salon, working moms, working mothers, working dads, broadsheet

• Embryo Culture and The Ethics of Assisted Reproduction

  I probably wouldn't have read Embryo Culture, a new book on ethics inside a test tube nation, until I read this interview on Salon with author Beth Kohl. I was surprised at how engaging she was and how connected I felt to the reproductive, political and spiritual journey she went on while becoming a mother.  It reminded me of a very clear moment when the worlds of assisted reproduction and doing it the old-fashioned way collided on Thursday morning in another mother's living room. Read More... Posted Aug 28 2007, 05:27 PM by Jessica Ashley (Sassafrass) with | with no comments Filed under: IVF, Salon, pregnancy and delivery, assisted reproduction, beth kohl, embryo culture

• Skinny Jeans Curse Our Daughters

  I'd take the rack or thumbscrews over skinny jeans any day. By skinny jeans I mean that denim instrument of self-flagellation some of us keep around and try on from time to time in the vain hope we'll be able to fit into that unmaintainable size, a size we were once however many years ago. In this bit, the author gets a new twist on the skinny jean mind-f*ck, when she squeezes her one-year-old into a pair of pants that were just not designed to accommodate the squishy goodness of a toddler. Aside from the whole issue of mini-adult clothes passing for kid outfits today, the skinny jeans became a reminder of the total nuttiness our girls get about weight and body image and all that. Long live the comfy pants.   Read More... Posted Aug 28 2007, 02:33 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Salon, body image, girls and self-esteem, skinny jeans

• The Bad News: Annie's Mac Ain't All That. There's No Good News.

  Five bucks says that you, dear reader, will be preparing a box of Annie's macaroni and cheese for your little darlings' lunch or dinner at some point within the next week. And while you may feel some tiny pang of guilt that it's from a box, you probably feel better that it isn't Kraft. Because Annie's is natural, right? It's natural and therefore it is better for your child. Even the most foodie of my friends have a box of Annie's in the pantry for "just in case", because it's better than the alternative quickie dinner, isn't it? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but someone has to be: You are wrong. I'm wrong. We are all wrong. Salon's exposé of the un-goodness of Annie's Macaroni and Cheese proves that it's no better than its mainstream competitors. Read More... Posted Jan 31 2007, 08:13 AM by Patti with | with 7 comment(s) Filed under: food, healthy eating, cooking, eating, family dinners, dinner, Salon, Annie's Homegrown