CC image courtesy of Pixabay, Animus Photograpy. HA note: The author’s name has been changed to ensure anonymity. “Ella” is a pseudonym. On the surface, patriarchy and sexism did not impact my childhood as drastically as many of my homeschooled peers. My parents encouraged higher education and my mother believed that women should be able to support themselves. I was
Read more
CC image courtesy of Pixabay, Animus Photograpy. By Shade Ardent, HA Editorial Team ‘A woman’s place is in the home’ ‘We were created to be his helpmeet.’ ‘You will stay at home under my authority until I hand you over to your husband.’ ‘You need to be more submissive.’ ‘There’s no need for college.’ ‘Courtship not dating is what’s right
Read more
“Do you want to go to counselling?” my mom asked.
She asked this after she and my dad had spent at least two hours interrogating me on my faith, the most terrifying conversation I’d ever had. At seventeen, I’d tried my best to explain my own agnosticism through tears, saying how I never truly believed what they did. I hadn’t come out as trans, but coming out as non-Christian alone proved to be terrifying.
Read more
By Wende Benner, HA Editorial Staff One of the interesting aspects of homeschooling is the flexibility that parents have to customize their children’s education. Thus, different homeschool alumni–even those using the same curriculum–can often have vastly different experiences learning (or not learning) a particular subject. Black history is one of those areas where the difference can be as stark as
Read more
Kid me, 9 years old.
Hot summer evening in the Midwest, post-bathtime, pre-bedtime. I’m running around at home with just shorts on, and my mom freaks out that I don’t have a shirt on. I don’t understand why I can’t be like all my male friends and go shirtless, but somehow I know better than to say so.
Read more
From the time Trump started his campaign, up until his taking office, there have been multiple people sending out tweets about Barron, his 10 year old son. Many of these have ranged in topic from speculation on whether he is autistic, to calling him a future serial shooter.
Read more
As I was growing up, appearance was very important to my mother.
You must cover certain parts of your body, you must not show certain areas of skin, you must hide particular shapes that are a part of your body, you must do your hair in an exact way, your clothing must draw the correct attention from worldly, sex-obsessed men, your eyes are the pathway to your soul and must be makeup-free, you must present your body in this way. Only this way.
Read more
When I was about 13, I asked my mom for the first time when I’d get my period. Beverly Cleary was a favorite author when I was in public school, and she wrote at some length about periods. My mind had not yet grasped that I wasn’t a girl and that periods were not for me.
Read more
The used syringes in question were needles used for HRT (or hormone replacement therapy), prescribed by a medical doctor. But they might as well have been used for heroine, as far as my parents were concerned. They would go on to kick me out about seven months later.
Read more
My first day of school remains a vague and unpleasant memory, shrouded in the protective haze I tend to assign to experiences I’d rather forget.
I was fifteen. I remember not knowing what to wear, what to expect, what to do with my perpetually terrible hair. I remember that I didn’t own a backpack.
Read more
Homeschoolers Anonymous 