YES! My parents never allowed me to get angry—I'd be punished if I was—so I learned at a very young age to be a cool girl. It really has caused me harm.

Yes! I am often the only women in the room at work, and the cool girl persona us very effective for getting men to listen to me.

great article. Really well put. In my experience it definitely is a protective armor, but I know many women who took a long time to outgrow this persona.

I do too. But apparently almost every other woman loves it. Why? I don't get it?

that's what I don't get. The only way this is logical is if you view motherhood as a punishment for bad choices. Which isn't exactly fair for the potential child.

so well said! There is such a knee jerk reaction to the word that it makes people unwilling to look at themselves. A lot of people hear "racist" and think KKK, think "well I'm not like that" and refuse to look any deeper.

What do you expect from a company that names its tablet iPad? I really don't think women are well understood over at Apple.

this would be great if you were born into an awesome loving family. Personally the thought if living with my family of origin fills me with dread!

this is good advice. Of course kids like what they like (I certainly didn't influence my kids love of monster trucks...). But you do have influence. You can introduce them to TV that you like, art projects and games. Common activities. It's much fun sharing your passion with your kid!

Wow, Caitlyn is just such an impressive human being. Her writing abilities, the way she makes connections between culture, the past, life and death.

I feel you, especially this attitude toward birth that is so dismissive.

I really understand this. I have a kid and most of my friends don't. It has absolutely changed our relationships. I love them and try to stay a good friend but my bandwidth is different. And there are things that are on my mind that bore them. I've found myself trying to cultivate friends with kids (partly just so my…

This is a great point. I also feel that the toll that just pregnancy can take on a woman is minimized.

I saw the fixer upper song as more of a statement that there is no flawless Prince Charming. That we all have our flaws and it's best to acknowledge that and make sure we can live with our flawed partner and flawed selves.

I hosted a vegetarian Thanksgiving one year. Did not go over well.

clearly anyone who is not Christian is not Anerican. Duh.

depends on the person and pregnancy. I ran a 1/2 marathon when I was 3 months along and continued to run until I was 7 months and to weight lift until I was 8.5 months. I'm not particularly a badass but lucked out with an easy pregnancy.

I think it is wonderful that she is refusing to be ashamed, or to hide, or pretend that it never happened. And even better that her fellow students are supporting her. This gives me hope for humanity.

good for you! It's so hard to find stuff that is gender neutral even for tiny babies.

I wish I could star this a million times. So true.