Jody Allard

Jody Allard

Bio

Jody Allard is a former techie turned freelance writer living in Seattle. Her online work has appeared on Time, xoJane, and Offbeat Home, among others. She writes primarily about food, family, mothering, and life with a chronic illness. 

Jody Allard Articles

You Are Enough: How Justice Kennedy's Idealization of Marriage Failed Single Parents

No one enters into marriage and becomes whole; there is no magical superpower that's granted alongside the marriage license. Marriage is simply two imperfect people who choose to come together in an imperfect union. That union can be remarkable and powerful, but it can also be dysfunctional and excruciating. Sometimes, it's even abusive.

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The Hidden Privilege Of "Unschooling"

Only highly educated white people seemed willing to consider the idea that their children might learn best without any instruction at all.

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Frozen Embryos Don't Have Rights, Women Do 

"It's simple, really. If you can muddy the waters enough, and espouse concern for the rights of those poor defenseless embryos enough, what should be a simple statement about the rights of women to make choices for their own bodies becomes, instead, a convoluted argument around viability and fetal stages that puts the presumed "rights" of fetuses on an equal footing with the actual rights of adult women."

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Image: healthaim.com

As France Drops Bombs, I Demand Peace

There is a bitter, ugly irony today in the trending hashtag #Pray4Paris and the haunting “Peace for Paris” graphic shown alongside the news of France’s military strikes against ISIS-held positions on Sunday.

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Don't be afraid.

It Doesn’t Matter What Causes Autism (But It Does Matter How We Treat It)

I know what autism looks like, and I understand why people are afraid of it because, at its worst moments, it is desperately, terribly ugly — it is children who can’t communicate, who become adults who are unable to live independently, and who simply cannot cope with the onslaught of sensory input that we barely notice. It is meltdowns that are triggered by nothing and everything, learning difficulties, and services that cost our healthcare system billions of dollars every year.

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Credit: ThinkStock

5 Ways Not To Be A Jerk To Your Friend With A Chronic Disease

I don't believe that you're incapable of treating me and my friends with compassion. Maybe you just need a little help.

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It’s taken me much longer to figure out how to simply eat in a way that feels right in my body, and to accept my body for what it is — broken, fat, and mine.

On Learning To Accept My Chronically Ill Body

My only regret is that I wasted nearly 40 years trying to bend my chronically ill body to an imaginary idea of perfection.

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Your Allergies May Come From Your Ancestors' Sex With Neanderthals

In today's WTF science news, two separate studies suggest that modern allergies may stem from long ago human-Neanderthal sex. Thanks, Obama.

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Cut it out with the pink ribbons.

6 Things You Can Do Today To Help Someone With Breast Cancer

As you've probably gathered by the explosion of pink everything, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And, while many people try to spread awareness with the best of intentions, there isn't anyone left on this planet who hasn't heard of breast cancer. Breast cancer patients need many things, but sharing silly Facebook statuses and engaging in other click-it-and-forget-about-it forms of awareness isn't one of them.

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