Poetry Sunday: “You Are a Dark Body,”
by Natalie Scenters-Zapico
This poem is about thirst and how a life of thirst then quenched with a fistful of water can make you contend with all the women you could have been, the children you could have had, and the ever-changing body you are given.
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Food Wars: The Struggle for Healthy Eating
The past ten years have seen an explosion of interest in and controversy about just what comprises healthy eating. As a result, new diets and regimes abound.
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‘Long Shot’: Beauty and the Beast Go to Washington
Female presidents of the United States may be in short supply (or, sadly, in no supply) in the real world, but they've become surprisingly common on screens big and small.
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Sandra Day O’Connor—First Woman
on the Supreme Court
'First: Sandra Day O’Connor' is a compelling biography by Evan Thomas. He celebrates O’Connor’s achievements and traces her unlikely trajectory from a dusty ranch in the Arizona desert to the Supreme Court—the pinnacle of the legal profession.
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Poetry Sunday: “Theodicy,” by Meryl Natchez
So many events from the past reappear in a different light, and in that light how often my parenting was found wanting. Can any mother escape blame? We are fallen gods. — Meryl Natchez
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Being A Mother — The Role of a Lifetime
[From Our Archives]
Here, chosen from Our Archives, are reflections on how well or disappointingly each of five very different mothers inhabited that “role of a lifetime”—from her daughter’s point of view.
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Daughters, Mothers, and Grandmothers
The paradox of parenthood is that while this overarching connection and investment in your children is essential, being a good mother also requires that you let them become themselves.
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‘Knock Down the House’: Four Women Dare to Run for Congress
As 'Knock Down the House' argues so compellingly, the United States of America cannot be a government by and for the people unless people are willing to step up and make it so.
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Measles: The Recurrence of a Deadly Disease
and the Importance of Vaccination
The resurgence of this once eradicated disease means that people who have lost their immunity over time are now at risk of contracting this deadly disease.
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“Mother,” by Lola Ridge
Homage to a mother—is a common theme in poetry, but, refreshingly, is presented here without the Hallmark cliché or sentiment that so often mars such poems. Restraint is evident in every line
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When the Past Interferes with the Present
We fear old, buried feelings and fear their power. In this way, they are vampire-like in that the best way to defeat them is to expose them to the light.
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Super Tired of Superheroes?
Netflix Serves Up Several New Originals
The streaming services have also provided opportunities for writers, directors, and actors who are often overlooked by mainstream Hollywood. Several of Netflix's current offerings are by, for, and with women.
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Spring Complexion Care
The arrival of a new season is the perfect time to reassess your skin care and beauty regimen. Spring is the season of new beginnings and regrowth, re-evaluation, and cleansing. Same could be applied to your daily routine.
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Poetry Sunday: ‘Bright Stain,’ by Francesca Bell
My poems “Revision” and “Definitions” were both written out of a need to grapple with my experience of being trapped and defined by my female body—by the physical, biological, often excruciating facts of it—in a way that men are spared.
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The Arc of Progress: The Good, Bad, and Deadly
Living today under the threat of climate change, anticipating a possible self-inflicted collapse of our natural world, it does not surprise us to learn that the arc of progress has not always been good for us.
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‘Wild Nights With Emily,’ A Wacky and Wonderful ‘What If . . .’
Presented first as a stage piece, 'Wild Nights with Emily' is an entertaining, quirky, and terribly clever exercise in "What if . . .?"
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Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration is a general term used to describe dysfunction of the central portion of the retina, called the macula, inside our eyes. The macula gives us our ability to discriminate fine visual detail.
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Poetry Sunday:
“For the Young Men Who Died of AIDS,” by Julia Vinograd
Among the many powerful poems written about AIDS, I find this one especially moving. I like that it is written in plainspoken diction, in free verse, qualities that support its agonized and heartfelt utterance.
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As ‘The Chaperone,’ Elizabeth McGovern
Comes of Age — in Middle Age
'The Chaperone' is a story about a woman who is changing alongside a changing country, making discoveries about herself in late middle age.
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Finding Your Zone: The Experience of Flow
Finding something to do that puts you in the zone is a blessing. If you know what it is, do it, or do it more. If not, spend some time trying new things that might fit the bill.
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Shoulder Exercises:
Key Tips to Prevent Shoulder Injury
Women in mid-life are more likely to develop shoulder problems. Here are some fundamental shoulder exercises that can prevent many shoulder injuries.
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Poetry Sunday: Linda Gregg Tribute
“I believe that poetry at its best is found rather than written,” Linda Gregg observed in “The Art of Finding.” “What matters to me even more than the shapeliness and the dance of language is what the poem discovers deeper down than gracefulness and pleasures in figures of speech.”
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Living Large in the World of ‘Shrill’
'Shrill' represents another weapon in the arsenal against fat-shaming and prejudice against overweight people
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‘Diane’: Mary Kay Place Shines
in Well-Deserved Leading Role
'Diane' is an unrelenting portrait of real life, with all of its challenges and sadness, friends and family, and the inescapable truth that whatever we choose to do or not to do, we are all headed to the same place in the end.
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