Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash By Kimberly Poovey Let’s talk about titties. Honkers. Tatas. Bazombas. Melons. Jugs. Breasts. Boobs.  Starting in late elementary school (elementary school), my cis female counterparts and I began to be defined by our newly budding breasts. It was a constant talking point. Who was developing fastest? Slowest? Who had the largest bra size? Who didn’t need a bra at all? We watched each other’s chests like hawks to see who was crossing the coveted line of Womanhood, and who was left behind.  I needed a real bra for the first time in the 4th grade. My br ..read more

Photo by Louis Galvez on Unsplash By Kimberly Poovey When I was in middle school, my mother was pregnant with a dearly-wanted baby. We were all so excited for this little one’s arrival. I couldn’t wait to be a big sister all over again.  Near the end of my mom’s first trimester, I vividly remember my parents returning home from a routine prenatal appointment with their heads hung low. Mom walked into the house crying. Dad gently told me that the baby didn’t have a heartbeat anymore.  We were gutted. I was devastated. My young heart had not even considered that this bab ..read more

Photo by Alicia Petresc on Unsplash By Kimberly Poovey *A version of this post originally appeared on Columbia Mom in May of 2020* I grew up as the poster child for the evangelical pro-life movement. From infancy, my mom brought me to our local Crisis Pregnancy Center as she volunteered or brought in donations. From the time I was in kindergarten, I was fundraising on my own for the center’s annual “Walk for Life” events, often winning prizes for bringing in the most donations. I attended every annual fundraising banquet and held pro-life signs on the side of the highway to “raise awareness ..read more

Photo by Kristina Tripkovic on Unsplash By Kathryn Libel *Content Warning: Mental Illness* The phone is ringing. Again.  I shut the ringer off.  This is one of those weeks when I feel like anyone with the audacity to invade my privacy by calling me on the phone and expecting me to pick it up and talk to them is simply not going to get the satisfaction of dictating my life.  Why, yes, it is that time of the month, how could you tell? Seriously, though, this last week has been really tough. Not answering the phone is a big clue that the depression is closing in on me, like a whale ..read more

Photo by M. on Unsplash By Sarah Miller *Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault* Need help now? Call 800-656-HOPE (4673) to be connected with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area. * * * * It took me a long time to be able to say what happened to me when I was 17 was rape.  You see, I was drinking and I didn’t say no. Growing up, we were told that girls who drink, “get taken advantage of,” and it was “their own fault” for getting that drunk. Good girls didn’t get drunk and make bad choices. Unfortunately, I was a good girl, but I got drunk and something bad h ..read more

Photo by Benjamin Manley on Unsplash By Kathryn Libel Have you ever read “The Fire Cat” by Esther Averill? It’s a picture book that was a favorite of my kids. There’s a cat who lives in a barrel, gets wet in the rain, and bullies all the other cats in the side yard he lives in, even though he knows he shouldn’t. The neighbor lady sees his potential and brings him in to live at her house. But Pickles just can’t stand the soft chairs and convenient playthings in her house and he quickly returns to his home in the barrel.  Lately, I’ve been feeling like Pickles a bit. I have come to own that ..read more

Photo by Adam Nieścioruk on Unsplash By Kimberly Poovey The last few months have been profoundly disheartening as I’ve watched family and friends refuse masks and vaccinations in the name of “freedom” and “doing their own research.” After an early summer that felt almost hopeful, Covid-19 numbers have skyrocketed all over the country, completely overwhelming our healthcare system. Now, school has just started in my part of the United States with countless children (including my own) under twelve who are unable to be vaccinated. Frankly, I’m terrified. People who I thought were sensible and int ..read more

Photo by Jordan Rowland on Unsplash By Kimberly Poovey A version of this piece was originally published on Her View From Home In my six short years of being a parent, I’ve learned there are a million right ways to be a parent and very, very few wrong ways. While this revelation may be obvious to some, it was so astonishing to me that it was like getting the wind knocked out of my lungs. It is much harder to screw up and damage your child than you think it is, and it is much easier to let your children know they are loved and secure and safe than you ever imagined ..read more

Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash By Kathryn Libel The trend of evangelicals walking away from and denouncing aspects of their faith tradition has been alarming to some. For others, it’s a sign of a long overdue spiritual awakening.  Russell Moore recently left the Southern Baptist Convention, citing racism, covering up of sexual abuse, and abusive behavior as the reasons he could no longer be a Southern Baptist. Until that day, Moore was the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United Sta ..read more

Photo by Yoav Hornung on Unsplash By Sarah Miller It’s Pride month. I have all sorts of feelings about it; and yet, I don’t know how to feel. I was straight, to my knowledge, for 34 years. I have been gay for one year. Part of me feels so proud. I feel proud that I found myself enough to go for what I wanted. I want to wear rainbows everyday and tell everyone I see that I’m gay and I’m with an incredible woman. I want to wear my rainbow vans and I want people to see the shoes and think, “Oh, she’s gay.” I want to casually drop the fact that I’m gay into conversations. I want to tell every ..read more