language

If you refuse to accept “I can’t” and “It’s impossible” as answers when your children encounter problems, you’ll help them strengthen their critical thinking muscles.

Remove The Words 'Can't' And 'Impossible' From Your Parenting Vocabulary

Here's why eliminating those words will help them — and how to enforce more productive thinking habits.

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A girl is young, cute, flippant, naive, playful. A woman is grounded, mature, adult, capable.

What You're Really Doing When You Refer To Women As Girls

One slip up is all of our own doing, and has been called out by actress and neuroscientist, Mayim Bialik: Stop calling women ‘girls.'

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Listen, a vagina is not an artificial waterway for babies to be born.

Let's Talk About Genitals: The Term Birth Canal Is The Actual Worst

The way we as a society discuss genitalia is already messed up and confusing. When the word “vagina” is used to mean everything from, well, “vagina” to “vulva” to “the entire female reproductive system — yes, even including the ovaries,” it’s no freaking wonder we don’t know how to talk about this stuff.

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image credit:  https://paperdollsphotography.com/

Ditching The R Word Forever; You Can Teach An Old Dog New Tricks

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

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image credit: Thinkstock

Love It? Hate It? Vocal Fry Is Everywhere

I cringe when Kim Kardashian opens her pouty lips because I know the onslaught of vocal fry

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Imprecise, hurtful language is a problem. Image: Thinkstock.

I'm Not Saying 'Crazy' Anymore

Imprecise, hurtful language is a problem, because it legitimizes other people’s use of the c-word. This perpetuates the stigma around mental illness, because if a mall full of people, or a rampaging toddler is “crazy”, that re-enforces the image that mental illness isn’t real disability. It says “crazy” just equals chaos, impulsiveness, or the inability to get your life together.

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I have two kids and I curse like a sailor. I do not curse at them, but I curse around them. And they know the difference.

I'm Not A Bad Parent For Swearing Around My Children

I have two kids and I curse like a sailor. I do not curse at them, but I curse around them. And they know the difference. I tell them that "fuck" and "shit" are curse words, that they are for grownups to say. I don’t sugarcoat them. But I also do not intend to give up the words that offer me a level of catharsis I can’t seem to locate elsewhere in the English language.

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Fat isn't bad.

3 Tiny Ways That Thin People Can Shift Their Language To Support Fat Acceptance

So you’re on a diet, and you’re really pumped about it. You truly, honestly believe that you’re—say—“getting your body back” post-partum (that’s a harmful concept) or improving your fitness a la the latest technological tracking device (that’s also a harmful concept). And while I think we need to throw a lot of these ideas in the trash, I’m also understanding of how diet culture makes you believe that these are good things – things, in fact, to brag about.

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