Empathy is the ability to identify with another person’s emotions and point of view, but according to an article on Scientific American’s website, college students seem to be really lacking it these days. Citing social networking websites like Facebook...
A life-sized cardboard cutout of actor Clint Eastwood next to an empty chair is seen overlooking a freeway in Glendale, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012. The chair is a reference to Eastwood’s 12-minute speech during last week’s Republican National...
“Do you feel lucky, punk?” Well, I do. While you were out celebrating Labor Day, I was celebrating a unique and thought-provoking new holiday: the first annual National Empty Chair Day. That’s right, I put an empty chair in my front lawn. Now, for...
In the story of our lives, mothers are the most underrated characters.
Marge Simpson for example, is The Simpsons’ funniest character hands down.
But, like Marge, moms are credited with obscure accomplishments like cooking the best meals, being able to remember everyone’s birthday and anniversary and always seeming to know when we need new socks and underwear. Though sometimes that stuff is true, and as wholly essential it is to have ample undies, moms are valuable for far more important reasons.
Growing up, I knew my mom as a travel agent. She worked in a sparkling, golden building near the city and told me stories about all the places in the world she had been.
Yeah, she did all that other stuff, too, like making sure I wasn’t staying up until 10 p.m. watching Melrose Place as a 5-year-old or running around wearing a potato sack or something, but I thought of her as so much more than that.
My mother taught me how to never let the fact that I was a woman hold me back from anything. She taught me how to get things done.
My mom took me to see the ocean for the first time when I was 4 years old and told me how to dress for fickle weather last Wednesday, at 22.
When I was 10 years old, she quit her job to stay at home, but never stopped working, learning or teaching my siblings and myself.
And yet ironically, while women generally have little choice in whether or not they want to become mothers, they do more than their fair share.
In “A Woman’s Place: Unpaid Work in the Home,” by Loree A. Primeau, a study evaluating differences in women and men’s involvement in the work force, both public and private, Primeau found women who worked outside the home would suffer a “second shift,” a term coined by Arlie Hochschild.
This second shift causes fulltime working moms to put in “an extra month of 24-hour-days of work over the course of a year,” as they have an extra 35 hours of housework a week. The stay-at-home-mom works 55 hours a week, roughly four 24-hour-day months a year. Oh mama.
Moms are so much more than the ones who prepare our lunch according to what condiments we like. They’re the ones who teach us that yelling goofy things out the window while driving makes us feel better, and they’re the ones who hurt more than we do when someone breaks our hearts.
However, there is a misconception that women were put on this Earth only to reproduce, to be loving and nurturing mothers and to dedicate their lives to the principles of motherhood. Though it pains me to be the messenger, it’s not true.
Not all mothers instantly bond with their babies and not all mothers are fit.
Some mothers are so disillusioned by their social displacement and the pressure to perform that they succumb to mental illness and do unspeakable things.
The varying shades of mothers are proportional to the varying shades of women, so if we find we have a mother willing to put up with us while still maintaining a degree of sanity, we should never let them go.
So, mom, this one is for you, and it’s for grandma, and for every stepmom, transmom, dad, aunt, cousin, friend, neighbor, daughter or son who ever stepped up. Cheers.
After a long and busy school year, the time for rest and relaxation is quickly approaching. For many of you, this last week will secure you the superb grades you’ve worked so hard to get throughout the semester. For some, this week will be the wake-up...
If you’re sitting down to read this, you’re going to die. I, on the other hand, am typing this standing up; therefore, I am going to live forever. I don’t mean to alarm you, but it’s science. Cold, hard, paraphrased science. In a storm of articles...
Linze Griebenow Assistant Day Editor Grade: C After going to four schools in four years, I can happily say I’m graduating from NIU. Well, I’m happy I’m graduating after going to four schools in four years. Although I’ve only spent one solid year...
I spent my entire weekend doing nothing. I had a lot of work I needed to do, but I didn’t do anything. No one seemed to want to hang out; everyone was busy. So I did nothing. Knowing that I would have to accomplish something sometime, I went to CNN.com...
Too often, as we grow older we accept the so-called realities of life. We accept that our life will most likely be a stereotypical one, void of adventure, and that the most we can hope for is a steady job that puts food on the table in the present and...
“Personhood” is a fickle issue in DeKalb. The U.S. Supreme Court may have ruled that corporations are people, but DeKalb City Council isn’t ready to commit that women are people, too. Last week, during a Meeting of the Whole, 3rd Ward Alderwoman...
In less than two weeks, I will walk across a stage to accept the item listed at the bottom of my resume: my diploma. Colleges and universities across the nation will spend hours recognizing graduates during commencement ceremonies. I ask you to take just...
I hitchhiked for the first time in my life last week. It will not be my last. It started when I woke up late for class. My roommate offered to drive me to Barsema, as he had a class there at the same time. He drives like Dale Earnhardt Jr., so we both...
