The entire world is organized in a way that makes teen girls feel bad about their bodies. Instagram is not the problem. — “I believe that Facebook’s products harm children,” said whistleblower Frances Haugen, as she testified before a Senate panel earlier this week. She claims to have inside information proving that Facebook’s social media products, which also include Instagram and WhatsApp, are “generating self-harm and self-hate — especially for vulnerable groups, like…

Competing against your kids can be another way of dominating them — It’s so easy for every day, run-of-the-mill parenting practices to pile up — one small misstep stacks atop the others — reinforcing problematic cultural conventions. Fatherly intentions are often pure, but we inadvertently teach our kids to conform with a sexist status quo. Especially when it comes to the familiar…

It’s never easy to acknowledge one’s own problematic behaviors, especially when it comes to courtship, romance, and sex. We’ll gaslight ourselves right out of self-reflection. — I told a former lover that I wrote a book about being a feminist dad. “I’ll read it,” they said. “But I don’t know if I can take it seriously. I remember what you were like when you were younger.” It’s true, I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my…

The surprising way testosterone actually relates to “masculinity” — You were probably taught that testosterone is responsible for characteristics commonly associated with masculinity. Supposedly, testosterone makes men assertive and competitive. It’s why they seek out social status and pursue multiple sexual partners. It’s the reason men prioritize acquiring material wealth. And it’s why they’re driven to defend their homesteads.

It’s time to teach children about power dynamics, not gendered views of what it means to be a man — It seems like a lot of men have the maturity of middle schoolers. …

People in positions of power, such as authors and publishers, must be willing to make inconvenient choices — For me, writing happens alone. It’s an isolated and independent process. My ideas are transmitted through my fingers to my keyboard — a cold, lifeless companion that I adore. My teenaged gamer-children taught me about mechanical Kaihua Speed Bronze switches, loud and clicky with a tactile bump. Switches are what…

My new book, Father Figure: How to Be a Feminist Dad, will be published on May 11 — many months from now. But I’ve already started promoting it. Almost every day, I’m recording podcast interviews, or responding to emails and calls from journalists. …

Real questions submitted by parents and caretakers who are trying to navigate their children’s education, entertainment, and emotional well-being during COVID-19. Answers from Jordan Shapiro PhD., author of The New Childhood: Raising Kids to Thrive in a Connected World (Little Brown Spark, 2019). How much do you tell your kids about what’s happening during the coronavirus crisis? Unless you’re going to turn off the…

Their habits simply mirror ours — Doors slam quickly when I return home after picking up my 11- and 14-year-old sons from school. They’re not angry or depressed, but they seem to crave some time alone on weekday afternoons. I guess they need opportunities to be liberated from the social stress of the everyday school routine…