Joanna Schroeder

The biggest news in feminist parenting lately has been about portrayals of powerful girls and women. Mattel’s new partnership with DC Comics is a big step forward in this, creating a new set of dolls and action figures that feature the female characters in the classic DC comics stories.

I’m spelling them out here so that other parents can talk about them and other boys can see that there isn’t just one way to become a good man.

This holiday film tells men it's OK to be emotional and vulnerable.

If we as women get to define for ourselves what beauty looks like, then the power will no longer rest with those who pad their fortunes with our self-loathing.

People try to keep it real by talking about the struggles of being a parent, and that’s great, but the truth is this: Parenting can be great fun.

Mattel’s brand new video featuring empowered little girls will make you cry. But will the toy industry ever change?

And then reality kicks in and you think, “What happened to us?” Where once there were fireworks are now phone calls about broken appliances and picking up diapers. But these changes aren’t necessarily bad. Sometimes things change dramatically and you realize how amazingly better your relationship is now, all these years later.

As moms and dads, we probably don’t talk directly about rape to kids, at least not until they’re older. But we’re still sending messages about sex and consent all the time. Because of that, we need to make sure we’re not teaching them some very dangerous lessons, even if just by accident.

There are about a zillion things I could say about what Patty Jenkins was able to accomplish with this movie, but for now I just want to touch on a few of the singular aspects of this film that were game-changers for all of Hollywood (and kids everywhere).

I'm going to keep an eye on my health—but keep the scale under the bathroom vanity.