Hello and welcome!
Would it be far too cliche to say my therapist suggested I write this? Probably, but also true. Though I had been thinking, for far too long now, that there must be other parents out there, aspiring for the middle of the road, yearning to be about average, cleaving to the hope of mediocrity. If you are, this blog is for you. If you're one of those sweater-set wearing PTA types who mills your own wheat for your homemade bread and reaps the benefits of well-adjusted children who adore you, think you're funny and cool, and respect you at all times...well...this blog is not for you.
So I won't take the first post as the get-to-know-me post; you'll discover tidbits about me as time goes on. It's mysterious that way, don't you think?
Tonight my 12-year old son declared that Gwyneth Paltrow is hot. And so begins my dilemma (and some back story). I'm a women's studies professor, which means I have to, at all times and much to the groaning chagrin of my sons, invoke cultural lessons about why "hot" is an inappropriate term for women they find attractive, as the term indicates that they fit into socially prescribed categories of feminity. "Say you find them attractive instead," I intone. "But isn't that the same as 'hot?'" they reply. Sigh. Back story point #2: I am a lesbian, and though I'm not particularly attracted to blondes, Gwyneth Paltrow would be the one exception. So ultimately, though my son's use of the word "hot" makes me feel icky and weird and wish he were still a little boy instead, my response is unfortunately not the one I should have had. I should have been the women's studies professor with keen analytical insight who helps her sons to get past sexist beauty ideals. I should have been the superior mother who nurtures her sons into being "good men" who like women for their inner qualities.
But, no. When my 12-year old declared Gwyneth Paltrow as hot, mediocre mother kicks in and says...you guessed it: "I know, she totally is!"
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