Have a Wonderful Weekend.

Reader Kate, your comment changed my mood entirely. I am so moved by your tiny daughter and her big compassion.

and thanks reader Kate for your comment…I am now crying at work.

I was really put off by ‘The Rock’ piece to be honest. I know it’s meant in fun, but it picks up on a condescending vibe I’ve been picking up on for awhile from a lot of feminist thinking. If you want people to behave better and understand how their behavior comes across, I don’t know that mocking them is the most effective way to do that.

(I would note, I’m a feminist, and my ideal of feminism is that everyone be treated equally.)

Completely unrelated but I had the thought the other day, would COJ ever consider doing a podcast? Even if it’s just readings of your posts and conversations about them? I love the voices of the authors and commenters so I’m just selfishly asking for a platform conducive to my life. <3

The photographs of the breastfeeding woman were very beautiful. But as I read through the New Yorker’s commentary I couldn’t help but think does Ferrané’s wife’s have a name? Why is she referred to in the possessive – rather than as an individual actor in his work? Perhaps she wanted to keep her name hidden? I really couldn’t get past that…left feeling slightly bemused.

Thanks for sharing my New York Times Magazine covers blog post :) They are pretty cool, eh?

Have a great weekend <3

These are probably the two best reader comments yet – both made me cry and laugh out loud in the same minute.

Can’t believe that dress is sold out already! It must be super comfy. Definitely will be searching high and low for an exact replica!

Those photos of nursing! So incredible. Also, sad as it sounds I know some men who would find that article about the Rock legitimately helpful (if you could get them to read it, of course!)

Kate’s daughter. ?

Kate’s comment… this goes down as a top 10 in the Cup of Jo blog for sure!!! Never underestimate even the littlest of ppl in your life.

The breastfeeding photos are so beautiful. I am a new mom and have been craving artistic depictions of modern motherhood, but it’s been difficult to find artwork that honours both the beauty and messiness involved in helping this small creature thrive… A friend sent me Liz Berry’s haunting poem “The Republic of Motherhood”, which might be a poetic mirror of what the woman in these photos is going through. Here’s a link: https://granta.com/the-republic-of-motherhood/.

In addition to the three Weinstein articles you posted above, I loved this one, from Lupita Nyong’o: https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/opinion/lupita-nyongo-harvey-weinstein.amp.html

These posts and all the wisdom encapsulated in them are honestly one of my favourite things about Friday. Thank you for sharing!

Or The Prison Test, “don’t say anything to a woman you wouldn’t want said to you in prison”. Ha!

‘I can’t take care of you if you don’t tell me.’ Crying so hard right now.

“I can’t take care of you if you don’t tell me.” Profoundly true and something I needed reminding of.

I practice a real life version of “the Rock Test” everyday. When I am biking, when I walk to the subway at 8 am, when I am at Home Depot, when I go outside for literally 12 seconds to throw out my recycling–basically any time I am not with my boyfriend–I am a target for getting some comment. It happens every single day in the city, which I think might surprise people who live in less dense areas. I used to live elsewhere, and sometimes I am still surprised by this, years later. And I find it hard to talk to my mom about it for the same reason because it’s such a rare occurrence in suburban Delaware, and so she doesn’t recognize that it’s not OK when a random guy says “hi.” And usually the comments are something like “Hello, how are you?” They aren’t overtly sexual comments (though I’ve gotten plenty of those too). And as I type that sentence, I know some people must think I am crazy for hating it when a random man says hello to me. For a long time I struggled with whether I should acknowledge the person or not. Was I being rude? Or were they being creepy? And then one day it occurred to me, I NEVER see a random man say “Hello, how are you?” to another random man on the street. No one has ever done this to my boyfriend. It is not something they do because (1) they don’t care, they’re not trying to have sex with a random man and/or (2) they don’t feel superior to another random man on the street. They recognize this guy as roughly their equal and/or not an object of sexual interest. So now when a stranger approaches me, I ask myself: would they say this to a random guy on the street? If the answer is no, I ignore them. I don’t smile, but I also don’t say anything mean. I feel shitty every single time it happens, and since today is October 20th, it’s probably happened over a hundred times this year already. But all I can do is not let them know they make me feel shitty.

I missed that first comment on a parenting question because that post (like several others you have posted in the past few weeks) got soooo many responses and it is so beautiful! i cried a little.
on that note, i just want to thank you for posting such amazing content that is not only thoughtful, it is thought -provoking and it encourages the Cup of Jo community to contribute their own little grain of salt. I honestly always close the tab feeling that my life has been enriched in one way or another after reading this blog. Cheers!