I just posted to FB too—and in response to one of my (more liberally minded) female friends who posted the HuffPost article, with some lame ass finger waggling message. Get it through your skulls folks: the only ones to blame for rape are the rapists. Gah. Patriarchy sucks.

Thanks to a narcissistic and emotionally abusive mom who blamed me for everything wrong about her life, I learned to apologize early and often. It's something I'm trying to undo now—why I should be continually apologetic for having needs or for making mistakes? I'm only human.

I'm very sorry for your loss—and around Christmas, too, which makes it even harder (I lost a boyfriend to cancer one week before Christmas; needless to say I have many negative memories associated with the holiday season). That said, you have no idea how much I would give to have had loving parents like you had, even…

I did a great exercise that helped me overcome the "ghost" abusers in my head. First I wrote down all of the negative messages I tell myself on a daily basis—these are the message my abusive mother projected onto me beginning when I was very small and continuing into my thirties. Writing down and seeing these messages…

As others have pointed out, just because they're your family, doesn't mean they'll treat you with unconditional love (like they should). Sadly, many families are dysfunctional and far too many parents abuse their children. Just hold on to the fact that you are worthy of love and no one ever deserves to be…

It's so reassuring to hear I'm not the only one out there who cut ties with my parents. My therapist tells me most people won't understand my decision to cut them out of my life, which sadly, can make me feel more lonely and isolated. But the reality is my parents emotionally abused me for 33 years of my life, and I…

Ugh, your family sounds like mine (the blaming you for everything part). I'm so happy this year I won't have to deal with my parents—or mom, in particular—since I cut off all ties with them. Always an option (you wouldn't believe how liberating it felt!). And yeah, retail blows.

I have a 2-year-old daughter, and I also get freaked out thinking of all the shit she's going to have to deal with as she gets older. Already, I'm super careful to not gripe about my body in front of her, and I openly criticize stereotypical portrayals of women in the media, but still, she will get the message…

I'm currently pregnant with my second child. While part of me would love to have a third child, my husband and I have decided it just isn't feasible. Even though we have a great arrangement with my mother-in-law to provide daycare, children are still ridiculously expensive. From the nearly non-existent paid maternity…

As a vegan, I'm even turned off by the zeal of some raw foodists. And yes, the raw food movement and veganism do not (necessarily) have the same goals, and equating the two isn't accurate. And for the record, I am not one of those supposed annoying vegans who chastises everyone I meet for his/her food choices. In…

I enjoyed much of season 7 if only to see James Marsters really shine as an actor. Sure, some moments of 7 were crap, but season 4 is definitely my least favorite.

Cathe Friedrich just came out with a new entirely low-impact series:

#cotd

I know, all this crap about "protecting women" from making a bad decision totally infuriates me. Um, I'm a grown women whose even old enough to have sex. Fuck you please, it's my body.

Excellent point. I've unfortunately had 2 miscarriages and the most distressing and traumatic part of both was the lengthy and invasive vaginal ultrasounds. Sure the techs were women and were friendly enough, but it's still damn uncomfortable and depressing. I can't imagine women being forced into more slut shaming…

I've heard of the kind of verbal abuses plus-sized people (mostly women) have to put up with. It's crazy unbelievable how cruel people can be. It seems to come back to the belief that society at large owns women's bodies and therefore, people are free to comment on a women's figure and/or food choices any time they…

Don't you get it? These asshats live to rewrite history. Sure, anyone with a basic knowledge of our country's founding gets that separation of church and state was a pivotal point. But these days, Republicans and the ilk pretend that history never happened. They just make up whatever they want, and repeat it enough…

#cotd

I've been comfortable at cooking for years, and even more recently have become adept at vegan cooking thanks to all the amazing vegan cookbooks out there.

There are many cookbooks out there for vegan and/or gluten-free baking. I'd recommend 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes by Kris Holecheck; she includes some gluten free recipes and recommendations on making foods GF. There are also two Babycakes books (search on Amazon). Those books feature recipes that are vegan, GF, and…