When it’s necessary to overrule a child’s “no touching” requests
I am a pediatric nurse, and I was just worrying the other day about the message I was sending to a four-year-old girl during a treatment. She very clearly said “no,” but of course it was necessary for us to treat her (nasal suctioning — totally not fun!).
I would love to hear more suggestions from parents about what works when it is necessary to overrule a child’s wishes about their bodies.
Learning from Jerry Seinfeld and Kesha: How to politely decline a hug
I recently watched a video of Jerry Seinfeld rebuffing a potential hug from Kesha with some serious awkwardness. The question is: how does someone who doesn’t want a hug (a totally okay thing for lots of legit health/social/psychological/whatever reasons!) go about politely decline a hug without seeming like a dick who doesn’t know who Kesha is?
How young is too young to teach kids about sexual objectification?
Recently, some situations have come up which make me, as an intersectional feminist, question how to speak to my sister, let alone my nieces, about sexual objectification. How young is too young to teach kids about sexual objectification? Beyond that, has anyone got any ideas on how to break down sexual objectification for young people to understand?
I will not teach my daughter how to avoid being raped
I cannot teach her this lesson for a simple reason — my daughter cannot avoid being raped, because being raped is not something the victim holds any control over. To teach her that she can avoid being raped, makes a fraction of the responsibility of being raped owned by her. My daughter owns none of this risk. Instead, will teach her this…
The importance of teaching kids about their bodies to protect them
I still remember the conversation, in the coat room of a restaurant for my eighth birthday where my parents tried to explain to me that I had done nothing wrong and why I needed to tell them when an adult acted in a way that made me uncomfortable. They also reiterated that while respecting adults is important that, my body belonged to me and that no one should yell at me, bully or ever touch me without my permission.
Body Autonomy: a feminist, sex-positive perspective on teaching your children body ownership
As people, we get one body, and, as a feminist, it is damn important to me to claim total ownership of mine. The best thing that I can ever do for my children is to give them autonomy over themselves. I want my daughter especially — who came into a world that legally accepts her body has her own but sends messages all the time that reject that truth — to fill out her skin with a personal spirit that is impermeable.
Protect yourself with a kitty cat keychain… with claws
This $6 keychain from Wicked Clothes is fierce! REALLY fierce. Slip your fingers through the holes and the kitty cat becomes a close-proximity defense tool.