Joanna Schroeder

Mattel’s brand new video featuring empowered little girls will make you cry. But will the toy industry ever change?

No, it’s not the presents. It’s all the little things.

People try to keep it real by talking about the struggles of being a parent, and that’s great, but the truth is this: Parenting can be great fun.

I’m spelling them out here so that other parents can talk about them and other boys can see that there isn’t just one way to become a good man.

That’s the thing: I love sex.

I first saw shame take over my son’s face in a somewhat unexpected place: the toy aisle at Target.

I'm going to keep an eye on my health—but keep the scale under the bathroom vanity.

And then reality kicks in and you think, “What happened to us?” Where once there were fireworks are now phone calls about broken appliances and picking up diapers. But these changes aren’t necessarily bad. Sometimes things change dramatically and you realize how amazingly better your relationship is now, all these years later.

There are about a zillion things I could say about what Patty Jenkins was able to accomplish with this movie, but for now I just want to touch on a few of the singular aspects of this film that were game-changers for all of Hollywood (and kids everywhere).

As I grew older, I came to rely upon dieting as a way to ease my anxiety and feel in control. I was no longer in a cycle of eating too little or body dysmorphia, but controlling my food intake made me feel less invisible in a sea of girls where I felt like I'd disappear. It was almost a form of self-medication, to know that I could go on a diet and lose a few pounds.