Comments on: Ai ai ai!

By: Theresa

Theresa — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:16:49 +0000

Long time lurker here who could barely read through those comments there. I have 4 daughters, ranging in age from 17 to 10(twins) and there’s no shame in this house when it comes to the female body. While my girls understand that daddy needs privacy because he isn’t made like us, no one freaks out when they catch me on the toilet, or I catch them pulling on a bra or changing out of a swimsuit. Girly bits are just body parts, like toes or ears. They only become sexual parts when someone with a penis and a small brain doesn’t understand that nude moments among female family members is healthy because it shows the little ones that we are all different and that’s ok.

Don’t let those weirdos bother you.

By: Chelle

Chelle — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:01:02 +0000

Jenn. Keep going with the writing. Keep showing those small minded morons that you will not be beaten by their stupidity and ignorance. I feel sorry for people like that because they aren’t as lucky as you or I to have the family, the bonds with our mothers and daughters the way we have with ours.
Don’t be dissuaded. You are way better than them.

By: ~beautyandjoy~

~beautyandjoy~ — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:08:19 +0000

Thank you for saying so eloquently what captures so many hearts. I am still reading and tearing up right along with you. http://tinyurl.com/m5fpff

By: Marika

Marika — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:32:53 +0000

I thought your article was wonderful – warm, humorous and inspiring. You might be interested in a similar debate going on over here in Australia – http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/ (under the ‘We are Discussing’ banner on the bottom left).

I don’t have kids yet, but I hope that one day I can teach my daughters the same valuable lesson – that we are all lovely, just as we are.

By: Aubrey

Aubrey — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:26:12 +0000

Oh my goodness.
I am so sorry, Jenn, that some people took the beautiful, accepting, playful time you have with your daughters and read perversion into it.
*sigh*
but I get you. Power to the peeps, girl. Your daughters will learn to laugh and love and not be ashamed of their bodies. Love ya…

By: Catootes

Catootes — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 02:08:38 +0000

those horrid commenters? They dislike themselves and are uncomfortable within their own skin, and like mean girls and boys everywhere, seek to ridicule anyone strong enough to do what they secretly yearn to do or be and try to tear those of us who stand up and say FUCK YOUR conventions.
Show your girls how to shake their booty and be comfortable in their own skins.
The haters can go suck it.

By: MOMLISSA

MOMLISSA — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:52:42 +0000

Your posts make me cry. I am so sorry. that you’re going through all of this. (((hugs)))

By: Bo

Bo — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:22:32 +0000

Amanda Fortini wrote the Salon piece, which you might all want to read. http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/07/03/confessional_writing/index.html

I wasn’t at all perturbed by Jenn’s story in the Globe, but I can see why a casual reader might wonder why a professional writer didn’t see the flak coming.

By: Bad Hippie

Bad Hippie — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:56:26 +0000

I have the opposite problem, Jenn…I have a son. I want to teach him that air-brushed women are not the norm, and that we are all different and that’s okay. I was pretty casual with him when he was a child, but now that he’s a teen — I stay clothed. Still, we talk about the videos he sees or the women in magazines and he seems to have a pretty positive idea of what “real” women look like and that they should be respected. (It doesn’t hurt that some of his female friends are outstanding athletes and can kick his butt on the soccer field any day.) Kudos to you for having the sense to teach your daughters to value themselves as they are, and not as society says they should be.

By: Mrs. G

Mrs. G — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:02:37 +0000

“I loved you so much that I wrote this down. I was paying attention. This is what I saw. This was our life together. You mattered. You matter. You will always matter.”

oh, this makes me cry. How lucky your girls are to have a mother who pays attention. Naked, clothed, whatever.