How to Help Children Orphaned by COVID-19
The Atlantic recently ran an article urging the federal government to do more to help the country’s children who lost a parent or primary caregiver to COVID-19.1 It was long on urging assistance but shorter on detailed remedies. The federal government clearly has a role to play, but it can’t solve this problem singlehandedly, as much of the relevant control remains at … Continue reading
Do Gen X Women Want Power Like Nancy Pelosi’s Or Like J. Lo And Shakira?
The conventional wisdom has it that women become invisible once they pass 40. But in a week when the three newsiest women have all been part of that demographic — Shakira, J. Lo, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — women who are decidedly visible, the better question may be, what sort of visibility do women … Continue reading
‘Modern Love’ Episode Illustrates The Dangers Of Dating Dad
Senior year of college, a close friend was over the moon about her new beau and wanted to set me up too, as the newly coupled are wont to do. She identified the perfect candidate, a recent college graduate who soon left a voice message inviting me to watch a movie at his place. This … Continue reading
No, Men Don’t Need To Be More Like Women
Why does American culture constantly tell women to be more like men? The New York Times recently ran an op-ed entitled “Enough Leaning In. Let’s Tell Men to Lean Out,” opposing the assertiveness movement’s message that women should aspire to male standards. I found myself nodding along with the critique of “this fist-pumping restyling of feminism” … Continue reading
Empire’s Abortion Debate Is Muddled, But Improved
Spoilers for “Empire,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “Scandal” ahead. Sometimes we all need a mulligan.“Empire’s” writers just took one on abortion. I don’t blame them. The last time abortion arose on Fox’s music-oriented soap opera, the whole storyline felt too pointed. It existed seemingly only as a messenger, which never works well storytelling-wise and works even … Continue reading
We Finally Have The Infertility Memoir Women Need To Read
It’s not every day that a writer emails to say an article you wrote motivated her to finish writing a book. But such is the case with Callie Micks. While on a writing hiatus, Micks apparently came across a book review I’d written about waiting for a better infertility memoir. She emailed, “I had a … Continue reading
A Conservative Plan for Supporting America’s Families
Whether Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) intended to throw down a gauntlet when she introduced her Family Bill of Rights recently is sort of beside the point. As a conservative who cares about family policy and who was disappointed by Sen. Gillibrand’s plan, I believe there is a crucial conversation to be had about families and … Continue reading
How Vanity Fair’s Instagram Mommy Murfer Celebrates Traditional Living
Growing up, it was all about fiction for me. I loved vicariously visiting new places and gaining insight into how others live and might think. These days, I don’t have time for novels, but I do have Vanity Fair profiles. VF’s recent profile of Instagram influencer Courtney Adamo and her murfer (a.k.a. surfer mom) friends … Continue reading
Anti-vax: It’s worse than you think
Not everything retro is chic. Especially when it comes to preventable contagious diseases. A small but growing number of parents disagree, though. Through their actions — or their inactions, as it were — these families are resuscitating already cured diseases dreaded by our grandparents. And as these parents question the value of lifesaving vaccines, whether … Continue reading
melissa langsam braunstein 
For Generation X, Midlife Bites: A Review of Why We Can’t Sleep
Posted by melissa braunstein on April 13, 2020 · Leave a Comment
Jan Brady, Gen X TV’s quintessential middle sibling, appears in the introduction to Ada Calhoun’s Why We Can’t Sleep: Women’s New Midlife Crisis. Like Jan, Calhoun believes that Gen X (those born from 1965-1980) have been overlooked by the world, in favor of the more numerous Baby Boomers and Millennials. Calhoun makes some noise on behalf of … Continue reading →
Category Clips, Cultural Commentary, Parenthood, Politics · Tagged with Gen X, Middle Age, Midlife, Why We Can't Sleep, Women