The women of my mother's generation had, in the main, only one decision to make about their lives: who they would marry. From that, so much else followed: where they would live, in what sort of conditions, whether they would be happy or sad or, so often, a bit of both. There were roles and there were rules.

I have a cat, the pet that ranks just above a throw pillow in terms of required responsibility.

Here is one of the worst things about having someone you love die: It happens again every single morning.

Ideas are like pizza dough, made to be tossed around.

When an actress takes off her clothes onscreen but a nursing mother is told to leave, what message do we send about the roles of women?

If you raise an intelligent girl she will become a feminist because of the facts of her own life. Raising feminist boys is more difficult. Raising egalitarian boys. One of the reasons you have to raise them that way is because it's better for them.

I don't have to listen to the Gospel on Sunday to know the stories of the New Testament. They inform so much of what I write that they're practically like a news scrim that goes through my brain 24/7.