Broken Boys and Angry Men

There’s a thing about open doors: If you have to abandon yourself at the threshold so you can enter and be received with love, that open door is an invitation to betray yourself for someone else’s comfort. That open door is a trapdoor.Hello friends, welcome to the this week’s podcast episode, which is based on an essay I published a couple of weeks ago. I read the essay to start us off, a thing I don’t always do, because this piece resonated with a lot of readers, and I know people prefer to have an audio version that isn’t read by a bot. I am no fan of bots, as I believe I made clear in last week’s essay. Who can keep up with all the insanity these days? I’m already writing a new essay in my head about the importance of the free press, which is under attack again. But let’s stay with ambiguous grief, the topic of “Somebody That I Used to Know” — that’s the kind of grief you feel when you lose someone who is still alive. So many of us have experienced — or are currently living with — that kind of loss. I’d imagine most of us have felt it at least once, at the end of a romantic relationship, or when a friendship lasts for a season, and not a lifetime. The painful feeling of knowing someone is out there, a person you used to text first when something significant or silly happened, or you saw a meme that made you laugh, or you got scary or upsetting news — and now you have no idea what their life is like. It hurts, it’s brutal sometimes, but it’s also the nature of things. None of us lasts forever, so these “small deaths” are a kind of practice test, a way to train ourselves to get used to impermanence and our own vulnerability.When I started writing the essay, I wanted to defend and reassure grown children who experience parental or familial gaslighting, it’s no reflection on them. It’s personal to me, I lived that way for decades with my mother. I loved her so much, but she did not make it easy. I started thinking about this topic because I came across an article (and wished I hadn’t) written by a mother who said she’d “left the door open” for her adult, estranged daughter, and that she prayed one day her daughter would walk through that open door. She was writing about her grief over the loss of her child, the pain she feels, and I’m sure she is in pain. However. I think there are many of us who’ve heard some version of that story. My child wants little to do with me, I am devastated, I’ve tried to communicate, and now I’ve decided to live my life. But the door is open. There’s a thing about open doors: If you have to abandon yourself at the threshold so you can enter and be received with love, that open door is an invitation to betray yourself for someone else’s comfort. “Accept my version of reality, and all will be well again.” “Pretend I haven’t hurt you, and we can go back to the way things were.” “Act like the things I’ve said or done don’t matter, like they didn’t happen even if they broke your heart, and we can enjoy a family dinner. “ “Just because I voted for a man who makes you less safe, behave as though that’s ‘only politics’ and shouldn’t be a thing that comes between us.” “Even though he breaks every Commandment, pretend it makes sense when I say I voted for him because I’m a conservative Christian.” “Though you meant no harm, though you were simply trying to exist in the world and say things that were true, grovel before me and I’ll decide if your begging is enough to satisfy me.”That “open door” is a trapdoor, and people who love you don’t ask you to abandon yourself — they love you for who you are. Any parent who is unable to do that over “ideological differences” (read: because their child is a member of the LGBTQ community) is failing that child and themselves, full stop. That’s not Christ-like, it’s devastating. Things have become twisted and strange. There’s a lack of empathy that is horrifying to take in every day, but it doesn’t have to be like this, and it isn’t sustainable. People are not okay. We’re meant to be kind to one another, it feels good as you may have noticed. It feels awful to despise people, it’s exhausting and depleting. I see how it hardens people who succumb, and it’s ugly. The cruelty, the arrogance. There’s no love in that, no joy, no growth. We all get to choose who we’re going to be, though.I hope you enjoy this episode. You might have noticed you didn’t receive an essay from me this week. I was asked to be the first guest essayist at Quiet Observations, my friend Paul Crenshaw’s new ‘stack, and you will find an essay waiting for you there. It is a quiet essay right from my heart. I won’t tell you what it’s about, or who, but I will say this person taught me everything I know about love, and we could all use a little more of that right now, don’t you think?Sending you love, friends. Always.Wanna meet me in person? I’d love that so much, and I have a retreat coming up in less than a month! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit allyhamilton.yogisanonymous.com/subscribe

As ever, this week’s episode is a riff off of this week’s essay. I don’t always read the essay to get things cooking, but I did this week because it felt like a good jumping off point to talk about the broader topic of having a little compassion for ourselves right now, and for each other. For the first time, I also read a comment someone left underneath the essay. If you listen, I think you’ll understand why. There’s really no point in creating anything if there isn’t anyone there to see it or hear it, or receive it and respond. Or maybe that isn’t exactly right. Maybe if any one of us who writes or paints or makes music, suddenly found ourselves starring in a real-life version of one of those dystopian tv shows or films that are so popular, we’d still make our art. I know if I thought I were the last person on earth (or in some space station where everyone else had perished), I’d find a way to write, but I can’t think of anything lonelier than writing into a vast universe with no hope of a response, can you? I don’t think any of us would want to be the last person on earth or floating through space, and when you watch those shows or films, the one thing the person is always motivated to do is find out if anyone is “out there.” As much as people seem to scream at each other on the internet, we do long for connection. We do want to be understood.It hurts to be human right now, or it does if you’re paying attention to what’s happening in the world, and letting yourself feel the emotions anyone would feel in the face of so much heartache and violence. It’s especially painful when you acknowledge that so much of this is unnecessary. We don’t have to be living this way. Of course there’s the inherent grief that’s built into the mix of loving people because we don’t last forever. There’s the grief of losing relationships for other reasons, too. I am talking about casual, intentional cruelty, though. Here in the states we’re seeing so much of that, and for people who think and feel the way I do, it is unfathomable that anyone would have voted for this. Twice. There are times I have to get away from the screens and go outside and breathe, sit alone by the ocean, or walk my dog until we’re both ready to curl up under a blanket, because it is a constant onslaught, and it makes my head spin sometimes. It is okay not to be okay. Being apathetic is the thing that is worrisome.There are times I have to take a break so I can remind myself the world is beautiful. I have to recalibrate and fill my tank so I can fight for the world I love, and the one I want for my children, and all our children — and for us, too. I read the reader comment because it is meaningful and poignant, and also as a reminder that we’re all connected, and our fates are tied. Whether we’re talking about seemingly small things, like letting someone merge on the freeway (I would argue this is no small thing, but rather the kind of magic that restores my faith in humanity), or the way we’re treating our allies, our actions matter, they have an impact on the people around us, and a ripple effect that travels farther than we might think. Some people understand this and live their lives accordingly. They embody kindness, acceptance, generosity and love. They move through the world without armor, and they don’t take it personally when people attack them. They see the pain underneath the words. (This is what I would call an advanced spiritual practice.) That’s why we feel so heartbroken when we lose them, and why people who wouldn’t normally, might cry in public when talking about them. This episode is dedicated to the one and only Dolly Parton. If you have it to spare, people have been donating $9.25 (“9 to 5”) to her Imagination Library all week, and I think she would be so tickled by that. I linked it in the essay, but I’ll link it again here This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit allyhamilton.yogisanonymous.com/subscribe

Today on the pod, Dina and I talk about holding the ache of the empty nest and the excitement of what a third act might hold simultaneously, the odyssey of the “male genius” and whether any of them will ever take a note along the way? We’re looking at you Chris Nolan and Steven Spielberg (lol, they’re not sweating it), and the very real pain of losing close friends when the request to “agree to disagree” means you have to accept not all people are deserving of empathy, dignity, and bodily autonomy. A line many of us are not willing to cross. Also, the horror, despair, and heartbreak of recognizing your old friend is now standing on the other side of that line.That’s the nutshell version of our conversation, but as ever, we dug in. We both have older teenage/young adult kids on the cusp of their own heroes’ journeys, and the mixed bag of pride and unending love, along with mourning for the days of chubby arms around our necks, waists, legs, is real. So is the joy of the new kinds of adventures you have with your adult kids.We both saw Disclosure Day, and Dina just saw The Odyssey, and wrote about her feelings, too, so after you listen to this conversation, if you’d like more (you will) you’ll find her essay here. Get ready for gems like this, which you’ll also hear in our talk,It can’t be that hard to imagine a version of Helen who, bored with her Spartan trinkets and grossed out by Menelaus scratching his balls with the same hand he eats with, manifests a different future for herself.So yes, we laughed a lot. I wrote about losing a friend this week, but also about the pain of being asked to pretend things aren’t what they are. There were some tears in this episode, too. You can find my essay here. This is the heart of it,One thing I dislike with the heat of a thousand suns is the feeling that arises when someone says they love you, but wants you to stand in a field of horse manure and pretend it smells like roses. Being asked to behave like things are not as they are, or to carry on after something hurtful has happened without any kind of acknowledgement, is an invitation to betray yourself so someone else can feel comfortable. That’s the moment love starts dying on the vine. What’s the point of standing there, smiling with sad eyes while we murder any chance of intimacy or trust between us? The first time someone asks won’t be the last. The first time is a test, and failing is the only way you win.It’s always such a joy to be in conversation with all of you.Sending you so much love. Watch out for those Trojan horses ;)Ally & Dina This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit allyhamilton.yogisanonymous.com/subscribe

A conversation with my son about what it means to be a good man. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit allyhamilton.yogisanonymous.com/subscribe

It’s been a minute since I did a podcast without a guest, but this week’s episode is me, talking to you, about a thing we can all agree is never a good idea — namely, jumping to conclusions. I am someone who has always taken my time figuring out what to make of people, situations, ideas, and even my own thoughts once in a while. Some of that might be my nature, some of it is surely nurture. I grew up in an environment where it made sense to pay attention to the clues, to test the waters, to look for any change in the weather, in an effort to keep the peace, and keep myself safe. Maybe you relate, and understand I don’t mean the literal weather. Old habits die hard.However, sometimes people make it exceedingly easy to figure out whether you want to ride the ride. They might say something so demeaning about women and girls, you no longer have to wonder about what kind of person they are, or what kind of values they hold. If a man said he grabs women by the pussy — you would know without any doubt, that man has no respect for women at all, and would not be a man you would want to encounter alone. You would not trust him with your daughters, or anyone’s daughters. Certainly not a country-full of daughters. That is not a man who is going to be thinking about women as equal, full-bodied human beings who deserve dignity and respect and the same rights as boys and men. It’s clear as day. If a man said assault victims should “just take some responsibility for themselves” to avoid being attacked and, “act like an adult for f***s sake” and stay away from alcohol so they don’t end up in “a compromising situation” you would also know this is not a safe man, and not a man who respects women or understands the world we’re living in. You wouldn’t need to spend more time deciding if this was the man to represent your interests as a candidate, unless you didn’t care about the interests of girls and women. He’s spelling it out for you across the sky. The Maya Angelou quote comes to mind, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Or to give it a timely spin, “When someone shows you they’re a predatory-abusive-rapey-misogynistic-narcissist, believe them the first time.” There is a human desire to twist ourselves in knots when we don’t want a thing to be true, or we want something so much, we are willing to convince ourselves what we’re seeing or hearing is not really that bad. When the “grab ‘em by the pussy” tapes came out, people who wanted to vote for the president said, “It’s just locker room talk.” But that is predator-talk. That is malignant narcissist-talk. That is misogynistic talk. That is the talk of a man who believes the rules do not apply to him.Progressives who stuck with Platner, overlooking one scandal after another, saying “Conservatives don’t care if their candidates are predators, so Progressives shouldn’t, either,” and, “Way to go with your purity tests, hope you’re happy when Susan Collins wins” … seem to have forgotten the foundation of the Progressive Party, which is all people deserve to be treated with dignity. If you are going to throw girls and women outside the circle of care instantly because you want to “win” — you will be winning more of what we already have. No thanks.Here’s another question on my mind this week — how many times can you lie to people before they stop believing you at all? There’s “flooding the zone” with constant mayhem which exhausts people, but there’s also the never-ending river of gaslighting. I can see how exhausting people might work in their favor, but the constant lies have created a scenario where they have no credibility with anyone who is sane. I cannot see how that’s a good thing. That’s where we are now. Maybe that’s the downside to “alternate facts.” That’s why people were clamoring for “proof of life” from the office of Mitch McConnell, and why those requests reached a crescendo over the weekend. Even when they put out a picture of Mitch with his wife on Sunday, people wondered if it was AI generated, or a recirculated picture that was released in 2023. Hey tech bro billionaires, y’all are the ones who just love your environment-destroying AI, so enjoy the chaos. Apparently the photo is real, and as long as Mitch keeps voting against the SAVE Act, he is not my top concern.Lindsey Graham dying Saturday night of a “brief and sudden illness” — which seems to be the result of aortic rupture/cardiac arrest — was certainly unexpected, especially while everyone was looking at Mitch McConnell. His younger sister’s appointment by the governor to finish out his term is not so strange. Spouses take over in these cases frequently, and Lindsey Graham was not married. I don’t have anything else I’m going to say about Graham right now, except I believe he knew what was going to happen in 2016, he knew without a doubt he’d been right after January 6th, 2021, and he could not find the moral fortitude to do what was necessary for the country. He will go down in history as one of this president’s great enablers, and that is a real shame for him and horrendous for us. The two stories that broke my heart last week were the ones that left two families shattered. ICE agents shot a husband and father-of-three, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, an unarmed business-owner on his way to work. Of course they said he “weaponized his car and they shot him in self-defense” (script lifted from the Kristi Noem presser about the Renee Good murder), and of course they were not wearing their body-cams. They tried to blame the Dems. The medical examiner ruled Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s death a homicide.Lastly, the investigation into the death of Nolan Xavier Wells in Mississippi is ongoing. I will go ahead and warn you, I broke down fully talking about this because I am a mom with a son the same age, and the thought of what Nolan’s family is going through as they try to get answers about a story that makes no sense is so painful. I talked about the conversations all parents of white children need to be having with their kids. The thought of whatever Nolan went through at the end is hard to bear, and once again, there is no such thing as other people’s children. It’s why I saved this story for the end.I genuinely hope we do a better job of taking care of each other soon, friends. Life does not have to feel this way. We could be loving each other, and staring at the stars.Thumbnail image: hossein-ghodsi-6ErQio7WJHs-unsplash.jpg This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit allyhamilton.yogisanonymous.com/subscribe

When Lauren Hough sets off on a road trip across America with Woody, her husky mix and constant companion, it’s partly because there are always reasons not to take the trip. Always reasons not to sit by the redwoods, swim in the creeks, see the ocean. Sometimes people wait so long for the perfect time to embark on an adventure like this, they never see the places they always wanted to see, and then it’s too late. It was partly because Texas Highways kept sending her out on the road to cover stories, and Lauren likes to drive. But also, it was because the internet had “broken her brain.” In Monster of a Land: On the Road in Search of Modern America, Lauren captures the experience of being chronically online, and what it’s doing all of us. Things you can’t do while driving: scroll on your phone, answer texts, check Twitter. It’s easy to dehumanize people on a device, we all know this. It’s another thing to be on the receiving end of a wild lack of compassion when you’re going through a tragedy — personally or collectively. If you live in places like Texas, Florida, California — any state with extreme weather that is also hated by “the left” or “the right” — then you know how it feels. It was brutal to be in the midst of wildfires in California, for example, watching them devour entire neighborhoods overnight, while people online were saying, “Whatever, those celebrities will just buy new mansions next week.” Haha, super funny. Let me check the app again to see if I need to evacuate with my kids and my dog, and the artwork from their childhoods and the photographs I can fit in my trunk.We’ve all had our less-than-compassionate moments, though, it’s a sign of these times. I’ve had so many conversations with the kindest people I know, and that is the worst lament of all — “I’m a good person, I’ve never wished ill on anyone, I don’t want to be this enraged all the time. I don’t want to feel hate in my heart.”Lauren crosses America with Woody in tow, and meets all kinds of people along the way — because, Woody. People you might dismiss or even disparage online, but in person, everything changes. In Monster of a Land, you see the country with Lauren, and the people in it through her eyes, and realize maybe all this rage is misdirected. The ideas you might have had about how a place would look when you got there, or how the people would be if you stopped to chat…what if they were all wrong? What if the enemy isn’t who you think it is? What if we could solve everything by being a lot kinder to one another … and opening some local pubs? Checking on our neighbors? That would be crazy, wouldn’t it?We had such a great conversation. Lauren very generously read four passages from her incredible book. I hope you enjoy the talk. I know you’ll enjoy the ride. Monster of a Land: In Search of Modern America comes out June 16th, but you can order it now! It’s the road trip for our times.Come As You Are is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit allyhamilton.yogisanonymous.com/subscribe

This episode is about the two different justice systems that exist: one for clean-cut, well-off white boys and men, and another for the rest of us. This topic was spurred on by Judge Nicholas Rowland’s devastatingly lenient sentencing of three teenage boys in the U.K. on May 21st — but this is, infuriatingly and unconscionably — nothing new. Start paying attention to cases like these, and there’s no missing it. We talked about assault in a straightforward way because sadly, it is a fact of life. We’d love for that to change.When girls and women accuse “upstanding” young white men of rape — men like Brock Turner, Jesse Mack Butler, Mason Lee Gipson, Christopher Belter, Reuben Vanstiphout, Steven van de Velde, and Jacob Walter Anderson to name a few — judges will focus on their “promise and potential”, leaving the girls or women in the courtroom (and the ones watching from elsewhere), to wonder about the intrinsic value of their own lives, and if there might be anything special about the future that lies ahead of them. You wouldn’t think so listening to these judges, or looking at the sentences they give out. Media rags will describe these violent young men as “baby-faced” and put them on the cover for weeks if the cases are high profile enough and it will help them sell papers. It’s been happening for as long as I can remember, back before Robert Chambers, though he was on the cover of newspapers for months on end. “The Preppy Murder” they called it, and even at fifteen, I wondered about Jennifer Levin’s mother, and how she must feel. They described him as a “handsome altar boy”, but that was a narrative painted by his legal team. The truth was a lot darker, but it didn’t matter because he was selling papers. If he hadn’t been so arrogant, I have no doubt that judge would have been talking about his promise and potential eventually, but he got drunk at a party and decided to act out the murder on a Barbie and laugh about it. So he went to jail. That’s how far a guy has to go to pay for what he did. He has to strangle a Barbie on camera and laugh about it while he says, “Oops, I think I killed it.” That’s when a judge will think twice about saying he has “promise.” We talked about what it feels like to know as a girl and as a woman, this is what’s in store if you come forward, and, importantly, we talked about how to change things at home, in the judicial system, and in the world at large. Parents, aunties, anyone who has children, preteens and teens in their lives, please take note (without those young ears around). We talked about rehabilitation in the context of incarceration. Huge love to the fabulous Dina Honour, you can find her brilliant essay on the topic here. My essay about this heartbreaking reality is here. I would be so appreciative if you would sign this petition started by award winning Criminal Behavioural Analyst Laura Richards to Investigate Judge Nicholas Rowland and Introduce Judicial Accountability Framework Now. We really can’t go on this way, it isn’t good for anyone.Sending you lots of love, friends. Thank you to all who were with us live, and thank you to those who listen later. It is so wonderful to be in conversation with you.Ally and Dina This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit allyhamilton.yogisanonymous.com/subscribe

This episode is all about love, and I am so thankful I got to dig into this topic with these two fantastic human beings and phenomenal writers. Kate’s novel, Book of Grace, is a sweeping, epic love story that cannot be stopped by time, loss, death — or all the different ways women sometimes prevent themselves from following their inner compass because they put themselves last on the list. It asks the questions, how do we love what doesn’t stay? How do we give people grace when they can’t choose us, they can’t choose themselves, or they tell us goodbye for other reasons? Is our love still valid and worthwhile?How would life be if people were their best and highest selves when life handed them curveballs — even painful ones? What would that look like, and what could grow if forgiveness was the soil? What if we didn’t hold on so tightly to our vision of how things should be, and instead allowed something wild and unexpected to take root and flourish? Is it possible we’d be amazed? Is it possible everyone under the tree would blossom?As if to answer those very questions, Katrina’s book, Hurricane Lessons: A memoir of betrayal and becoming is about the unraveling of her twenty-year marriage, and the reclamation of her true self. Sometimes you walk into a Pilates studio thinking you’re there to strengthen your core, and it turns your life inside out. The experience blows through your family like a hurricane. You will be rooting for Katrina every step of the way, but you probably know that just from listening to the talk. We talked about grief. We talked about complicated grief, and how relationships don’t end when people die. We could have talked for hours.I cannot recommend these books enough. These are strange times in our country. There is a persistent and intentional attack on women’s rights, on the LGBTQ community, on women who have decided not to have children, and women who have children, but no support. There are systemic issues like the gender pay gap, a lack of affordable childcare, PTO, affordable healthcare, and a continued pressure for women to carry the mental load for everyone. These are the stories we need in the world right now. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did (the joy) and I hope you will order these incredible books if you can! Also, big shoutout and so much gratitude to everyone who showed up to be with us live! Elissa Altman thank you for making us laugh, pretty sure the thumbnail attached here is thanks to you, and Paul Crenshaw thank you for this incredible Jack Gilbert poem you recommended when we were talking about reframing relationships that end. A divorce is not a failure. It’s simply a relationship that ended. Come As You Are is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit allyhamilton.yogisanonymous.com/subscribe

It has been hard lately, a thing I was writing about this week in French Toast for the Table — and something Dina was also writing about in her essay, If Men Are in Crisis, I Know Something That Might Help (Shhh…It’s Feminism). For those of us who grew up with chaos, uncertainty and violence, and learned hyper-vigilance as a tool of survival, waking up in this country day after day feels all-too-familiar. It’s an ongoing assault on the nervous system to hear the voices of smug men spewing contempt toward women, Black people, brown people, the LGBTQ community, the immigrant community, survivors of abuse, or anyone who doesn’t please them, for any number of reasons — from the highest offices in the land. Of course it’s not just their words, it’s the real-life consequences that follow. We knew when they overturned Roe women and girls would suffer, and — in many cases — lose their lives. Maternal and infant mortality rates have gone up in every state with restrictive abortion bans because that’s how it works. Then they started talking about the SAVE Act. The president canceled all funding for DEI programs in the government and in public schools and universities, refused funding for schools teaching critical race theory, and demanded all red states racially gerrymander their maps so he could try to retain his tiny majority stronghold in the House and Senate. Of course he didn’t say the quiet part out loud. Now the Voting Rights Act is gutted.The Epstein survivors get no justice, but the perpetrators of heinous crimes get their names blurred. Women couldn’t get a credit card or bank account in their own names until 1974, landlords could refuse to rent apartments to single mothers until 1988, and female senators were not allowed to wear pants on the Senate floor until 1993. We still have a gender pay gap.I believe in my heart there are more of us who want the world to be a kind and loving place than there are people who are cruel and depraved, or pathologically self-serving. And I know there are many of us wondering what brought us to this precipice where we now find ourselves, and what do we need to do to gather everyone up, and head in a much better direction?I don’t know how we do anything if we can’t communicate. I have had conversations with men who think if you’re a feminist it means you “hate men” and that is not correct. Feminism means you believe in equal rights and opportunities for all people politically, socially and economically, regardless of gender. It means you want to dismantle the patriarchy because you realize it’s making us all very ill — even the men and boys it was set up to serve.And while we’re here, “down with the patriarchy” does not mean “erasing male voices” — it means we make a circle where we put the most vulnerable people in the middle — the kids and the elderly. We make sure they’re safe. The rest of us are in that circle shoulder-to-shoulder, no one is on top.White supremacy, patriarchy, and technocracy are the ties that bind. They are an intertwined beast. That’s the systemic part of teaching boys not to cry, not to be vulnerable. Painting ourselves into these corners where men can’t ask for help or show emotion is not helping and it’s not realistic, and telling women they are not allowed to be angry is the fastest way to be dealing with an angry woman.Dina and I talked about intersectional feminism and what it is, patriarchy, white supremacy, the wide range of normal human emotion, and Somebody, Somewhere — among other things. Not sure exactly how or why, but we end up laughing a lot. Which is good. I hope you laugh, too. I hope you do whatever you need to do, all emotions are welcome. Please let us know how you’re feeling in the comments, and if you have any questions .Sending you lots of love,Ally and Dina This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit allyhamilton.yogisanonymous.com/subscribe

Huge thanks to everyone who showed up live to join for this conversation, and to everyone about to listen. This talk is for any woman who has been reeling since the CNN report about the “rape academy.” Much has been written in the last few weeks, especially by women trying to get our heads around the idea that it isn’t just desolate parking lots and dark streets where we aren’t safe, it isn’t just that we have to worry about what time of day we’re going running, it isn’t just that a man could slip something in a drink if we’re out with friends — it’s that now, it could be our husbands slipping something into our last cup of tea for the night. (Not all husbands.)There’s a larger conversation to be had about what is happening when girls and women are not considered as intrinsically valuable as boys and men. (And it should be noted, and it was, that little boys are also victims of sexual assault). When that sentiment is weaved into the fabric of the stories we grow up with, the films we watch, and the messages we’re receiving everywhere we go, it’s the system that needs an overhaul. This is also a talk for the men who are devastated, who love and respect the women in their lives, and who don’t want things to be this way. We wondered if some of them might not know how to help right now, or what to say, or what questions to ask. It’s a talk for the “not all men” men, and the ones who get furious over the “choose the bear” conversations. It’s a talk for anyone who would like things to be different, and so much better than this.Here is Dina’s linked essay that we referenced, A Willing Suspension of Disbelief, and here are links to The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (which was initially published in a magazine in 1892, so shoutout to me for randomly retaining bizarre facts in my head, but not remembering things from last week), and Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates (do not read before bed or if you are feeling overwhelmed by everything already, it is very sad and very disturbing, but excellent. It has stayed with both Dina and me for 40 years, so do with that what you will). Here is my essay we were referencing, Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Where do the motherless daughters run?I would not say that we found answers or even that we were looking for answers today, but I would say we found the comfort and relief that comes from being together, and naming things — calling things what they are. Pulling the monster out from underneath the bed so it stops tormenting us, and making it sit down where we can all see it clearly and talk about it. That’s a lot less scary to do with a whole group of people there with you, and it’s a start. Dina and I had such a marvelous time together, and it was such a joy to be with everyone in attendance. Amazing that we could be talking about such dark things, and come away feeling so much connection and joy. We hope you feel that as much as we do.Love to every single one of you,Ally and DinaCome As You Are is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit allyhamilton.yogisanonymous.com/subscribe