Tis The Season to Gift A Teen Earth Hates Me.
I read a lot of interviews and I’ve done a bunch myself. My least favorite question of a woman is this one: Do you think motherhood has changed you? Because, really? How can it not change the person you are? You may think it doesn’t. You may hope it doesn’t. You may be in denial about it. But you are a changed person once you take on the role of being a parent. Even if you are the most selfish human being in the world (nothing wrong with that), a child requires an active participation from you that never existed within you. A child can draw out the cranky you. A child can tap into your most impatient you. A child can touch you in the way no one else ever has or will. A child can do to you what you didn’t expect and don’t want (that terrible sound? Yes that’s your mother’s I-Told-You-So-ism’s coming out of your mouth!). But, and this is key, a child does change you. Having a child forces you to stay home. Having a child forces you to lose sleep. Having a child forces you to think about her/him before you think about you. So please, stop asking that question. It’s reductive, it’s ignorant, it’s dismissive. If you want to know what happens in a woman’s life once she takes on the role of mother, ask her how she’s feeling, in that moment. Because, there? That’s the most interesting answer you’ll get.
Louise Erdrich: “I started Future Home of the Living God sometime after the 2000 U.S. election. I was furious and worried. I saw the results of electing George W. Bush as a disaster for reproductive rights. Sure enough, he began by reinstating the global gag rule, which cuts international funding for contraceptives if abortion is mentioned. This, when we face overpopulation.”
RIP Della Reese.
Ronan Farrow, champion.
Nora O’Donnell: “This is a moment that demands a frank and honest assessment of where we stand and, more generally, the safety of women.”
The Don’t-Touch-My-Hair game.
How to pray when you’re a Jubu (Jewish and a Buddhist).
Mood Right Now.
Jason Ferron, artist
And now have a laugh with Michelle Wolf.
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