Co-authored by FemmeInAction and ThisGirlLovesCollegeBasketball Local Since the pandemic, millions of dollars in American Can Rescue Plan funds have gone to help stabilize childcare centers across the country but those funds ran out on Saturday, September 30. Like many others, the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Child Day Care Center received COVID relief money, and with that no longer […]
Read More Newsroom Round-UpThis post was edited on October 18 by FemmeInAction As I weave through the toy aisles, my eyes dart from item to item. My mom intercepts and points me to the pink aisle. As I head down it I find myself staring at kitchens, baby dolls, princesses, and makeup. I pick my new baby doll: […]
Read More The Damaging Power of Gendered ToysThis post was edited on 10/27/2023 From ages five to eight years old, we were all asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The majority of children responded with “ballerina, doctor, or firefighter.” I have always wondered why adults started asking children that question at such a young age. While in […]
Read More what do you want to be when you grow up?Pregnancy is one of the most beautiful things about life, but it can also be the scariest. How could someone possibly be depressed after finally bringing their own child into the world after carrying them for 9 months?!? Birthing a child is an EXTREMELY difficult and exhausting process. Mental illnesses are very common in new […]
Read More A bad case of the baby bluesFrom a very young age I have understood that the patriarchal view of my purpose on this earth is to bear children and raise them, the way my mother did, and generations of women before her. I remember expressing fear of the pain of childbirth to my mother in elementary school, and she told me […]
Read More No I Don’t Want A Baby, Stop Asking.Kristen Shrewsbury is an instructional faculty member at JMU who teaches the special topics course WGSS 300: Queer Families. She’s a Harrisonburg native who went to JMU for her undergraduate degree from 1996 to 2001, and began working at JMU as a professional in 2007. She’s married to a same sex spouse and has two […]
Read More An interview with JMU professor Dr. ShrewsburyThe release of Pixar’s Turning Red has stirred up a conversation about whether or not it is appropriate to have puberty be a subject in a children’s film. Are movies like this a step in the right direction to normalizing periods for young girls or is it too advanced for Disney’s audience?
Read More Turning Red: The Importance of Normalizing Periods for Young GirlsRecently, the topic of what’s being taught in K-12 schools has been making national headlines. From topics such as “critical race theory” to book bans, lawmakers have turned the classroom into a political battleground. This has garnered attention from not just parents of K-12 children, but celebrities, social justice advocates, students, businesses, and more. The […]
Read More Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill isn’t actually about protecting childrenMy grandfather was, for the last sixteen years of my life, a pastor in my local church and it was amazing to have him be such an amazing role model for me in the early and more recent stages of my life. He is now recently retired and there is a new intern pastor that […]
Read More My little rant about churchesYou can take off 12 weeks of work when you give birth to your child. But hey, here’s the catch, we just won’t pay you for that time off. Alright, cool, see you in a couple weeks. As someone who is about to enter the workforce in the spring with lofty career goals for myself, […]
Read More unpaid maternity leave for 12 weeks: How gracious
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