Elizabeth Broadbent

Elizabeth Broadbent

Bio

Elizabeth Broadbent is a staff writer at Scary Mommy, blogs at Manic Pixie Dream Mama, and writes a regular column for ADDitude Magazine, All Together ADHD. Her work has appeared in Time Magazine online, Bustle, Romper, xoJane, Babble, Today Parents, popsugar, and many others, in addition to being discussed on both CNN and the Today Show. She has three children, sizes small, smaller, and smallest; three dogs, sizes large, larger, and largest, and one husband, disposition saintly. See her on Facebook at Manic Pixie Dream Mama or visit her on Twitter @manicpixiemama.  

Elizabeth Broadbent Articles

I didn’t know what I was doing, so I clung to what I could. I reduced parenting to good and bad, black and white, and put myself on the side of the angels. Image: Elizabeth Broadbent

I Used To Judge Formula-Feeding Moms, And So Many Others

I didn’t trumpet these views to my mommy groups, of course. I wasn’t crass. But when a girl let her daughter cry it out, I decided the tot seemed a tad withdrawn. When a mom told me all her sons were cut, I nodded politely while thinking, she is so deluded. She made up a medical excuse for a pass on child mutilation. When I saw mothers in the grocery store, carseats in tow, I paraded by, baby in wrap, nose in the air. At least those moms could see another option.

Read...
Photoshopped in-womb: just say no. (Image Credit: Pexels)

Your Photoshopped Fetus Creeps Me Out

Let’s just all as a human race hold hands, sing kumbaya, and admit that ultrasound pics look like something out of Dia de Los Muertos rather than an actual human baby.

Read...

I Knew The Risks — But I Took Drugs During My Pregnancies Anyway

Zoloft's long been known as the safest antidepressant to take during pregnancy. Most psychiatrists consider that if the patient needs drugs, Zoloft should be the first line of attack. And yet, some risks exist — some risks always exist.

Read...
'Pox parties' are still around, but they're much more secretive than they used to be.

There's Good Evidence That The Anti-Vaccine Movement Is Growing

There’s good evidence the anti-vaccine movement is growing.

Read...
Body positive for everyone else...

I Never Know What I'll See When I Look In The Mirror

Like so many women, I never know what I’ll see in the mirror. Sometimes I catch sight of myself in a window and cringe, appalled at my own body.

Read...
They don’t need to look like anything other than their fresh-faced selves, conventions be damned.

Put Down The Powder Puff, Mommy

Make-up is meant to make you more attractive. And in the case of little girls, attractive to whom? Pageant judges, for one. Dance judges. Cheerleading judges. People who are going to tell her if she’s good enough to win a trophy or not, in sports that typically objectify and sexualize little girls. Moms, step away from the powder puff.

Read...
The process is *kind of* a big deal.

You Don’t Really Want Those Boudoir Photos

It’s a trend in the photography business, along with bestie shoots and cake smash pics: boudoir photos.

Read...

To Moms Who Raise Their Kids "Colorblind": Psst, You're Racist

When you insist on raising your kids to be colorblind, you're saying: I don’t want to see race.

Read...
Strong feminist women are threatening. We do things differently.

8 Things Strong, Feminist Women Do WAY Differently

They call us bitches. We're too forward, or too loud. They say we're not ladylike. That we should shut up and sit down. And we should be content with what we've got — what else do we want, anyway? They say we're trying to be men. They say we hate men. But we say we're strong women, and they can go to hell. The internet glorifies strong women while slut-shaming out the other side of its mouth.

Read...

No Way, Hillary Clinton, $250,000 is NOT Middle Class

Hillary Clinton claims that "middle class" means people who make less than $250,000 a year. That's wildly out of touch, according to the US census, which pegs the median American income at $53,657. Making $250,000 puts you slap in the top five percent of American wage-earners.

Read...