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Tag: culture

tribalism

Tribalism: From Kinship to Tyranny

Posted on March 22, 2022June 22, 2022 by Pamela Tsigdinos

Tribalism at its best provides a haven and kinship. Who doesn’t like to feel accepted and validated? Tribalism at its worst, however, fuels misunderstandings, culture wars, and, at the extreme, ugliness. Most of us have witnessed or encountered all of the above. My latest tribal experience stemmed from my participation in Slate‘s podcast, What I…

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egocentrism

Egocentrism Begins At Home, Not a Good Trend

Posted on October 24, 2021 by Pamela Tsigdinos

Egocentrism sure is easy to spot these days. This observation came to me this weekend. It started with a New York Times essay on co-housing initially titled: Is This the Cure for the Loneliness of American Motherhood? As an aside, my fellow blogger and dear friend Sarah discovered the print edition of the paper retooled…

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dilemmas

‘The Mother of All Dilemmas’ Explores Cultural Conditioning and ‘Choices’

Posted on July 12, 2021July 13, 2021 by Pamela Tsigdinos

Dilemmas, by their very definition, don’t offer easy or tidy resolutions. Now, toss in some deeply ingrained stereotypes, social and economic pressures, and reproductive siren songs and reckonings. Top it off with a healthy amount of identity sorting. What have you got? A hardy dilemma salad of sorts with some intense and, at times, biting…

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Tokenism

Tokenism Takes a New Form

Posted on October 9, 2020October 9, 2020 by Pamela Tsigdinos

Tokenism is an awkward thing to experience. I never fully understood how prevalent it is for childless women, but the penny dropped a few weeks ago. So, it started when a Random House marketing manager sent a ham-handed email. She asked if I’d like to read and share The Trying Game as part of October’s…

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Living the Life Unexpected Takes on New Meaning

Posted on March 17, 2020March 17, 2020 by Pamela Tsigdinos

Living the life unexpected has become all too startlingly familiar, hasn’t it? Who among us has not felt jolted by the sudden onset of this out-of-nowhere, insidious coronavirus threat to what had been our mostly well-ordered lives and sense of agency? But, from my personally Cloroxed plane seat amid the current pandemic yesterday a spectacular…

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childless

Childless is a word I detest

Posted on September 13, 2018November 12, 2022 by Pamela Tsigdinos

Childless. While there is not one thing I like about this word, I am supportive of those who want to draw attention to the social issues surrounding it. What’s behind my dislike of the word? First of all, it comes loaded with baggage.  Unkind stereotypes abound. I could find no evidence of the word ‘childful’…

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biological clock

Biological Clock and the Capitalizing of Fertility Fears

Posted on May 13, 2016December 11, 2016 by Pamela Tsigdinos

Moira Weigel’s essay in The Guardian, The foul reign of the biological clock, casts new light on a little explored but powerful cultural phenomenon. It also revealed the fertility industry’s long history of capitalizing on fertility fears, with women paying the price. Let’s start with the facts. The term ‘biological clock,’ Weigel explains, was originally…

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Our Modern Day Betty Friedan Moment

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Pamela Tsigdinos

  Is this all? Those three little words — Betty Friedan’s simple question — went on to define an era. Her book, The Feminine Mystique, arrived on February 19, 1963.  Per The New York Times Back Story: When she wrote the book, Ms. Friedan was a suburban housewife and mother who penned freelance articles for women’s magazines. She had become disillusioned…

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Silent Sorority

Male Call: The Head Cannot Heal the Heart

Posted on February 16, 2016February 16, 2016 by Pamela Tsigdinos

Editor’s Note: When it comes to matters of the heart, there’s nothing quite so comforting and validating as discovering you’re not alone in teasing out complicated emotions. Whether in the blogosphere or in society as a whole male voices are in the minority on the topic of disenfranchised grief. It’s rare to hear men give…

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nine

Treasure Trove of Truth: Blogging Infertility

Posted on February 3, 2016February 8, 2021 by Pamela Tsigdinos

Nine years ago tonight the blog Coming2Terms arrived on the scene. It started with a hesitant point and click … PUBLISH. The blogosphere in 2007 was still relatively new and more than a bit wild and disordered. It seemed the perfect place to explore taboo topics. Discussion about infertility and failed fertility treatment was, indeed, not…

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  • Not Having Children After Infertility ‘An Assault to Identity’
  • Ending Fertility Treatment Equated with Madness?
  • Casting off Chains of Infertility: Fertility Diary, The Life of Pi and Search for Peace
  • Dear Abby Strikes Out On Infertility, Childless Not By Choice Question
  • IVF Rollercoaster: BBC Radio Show Callers Describe ‘Grueling, Painful, Isolating, Roll of Dice’
  • Infertility Community’s Black Sheep: Women Who Don’t Achieve Motherhood
  • Identity after Infertility and Failed IVF
  • Defining Abuse in Assisted Reproductive Technology
  • Life After Infertility: One Decade, Many Thoughts
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