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

Your Slut-Shaming Dress Code Is Distracting My Daughter From Learning 

After sorting through all of the reasons why people claim that dress codes are needed, I can't find a single one that holds any weight or that isn't founded in strangely Victorian ideals about girl's bodies.

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Rand Paul Is Running On Ableism

What Paul and his sympathizers fail to recognize is that there is a crisis facing Social Security disability, but it isn't fraud.

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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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Student Ahmed Mohamed Detained For Bringing Homemade Clock To School

Now, you might be wondering how on Earth a teacher thought that a simple circuit board attached to a clock display was a bomb. And that would be a reasonable thing to wonder –– until you learn that the student detained was Ahmed Mohamed, a Muslim whose father immigrated from Sudan.

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Pope Francis' New Policy on Abortion "Forgiveness" Misses The Mark

While this is, of course, better than excommunicating women for their reproductive choices, it is still founded on the premise that abortion is a sin and that men in power must absolve women of their mistakes. It also continues to paint women as incapable of understanding their options and making autonomous choices for their bodies and their lives.

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New People Rating App Is Literally The Worst Idea Ever

In case you thought that the Internet couldn't sink any lower, the creators of a new app are about to prove you wrong.

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Pumpkin Spice Lattes Are Back and It's Officially Pumpkin Everything Season

ICYMI, today marks the first official day of the seasonal return of the Starbucks pumpkin spice latte.

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Planned Parenthood (photo credit: Women's eNews)

Why We Should Thank Planned Parenthood, Not Defund It

". . . it is illegal to sell fetal tissue, but it is perfectly legal to receive compensation for the time and expense involved in collecting, preparing, storing, and transporting tissue for research purposes. This is well-established in the rules and regulations surrounding organ and tissue donation. Similar regulations also make it illegal to sell children, but legal to compensate parents for medical care and expenses incurred during an adoption."

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Brace Yourselves, Grammar Sticklers: Singular "They" Is The Word Of The Year 

As a former English lit major and long-time editor, I've met my share of linguistics pedants. Today is not their day. But for everyone else who appreciates the natural evolution of language, rejoice! Singular "they" was just named 2015's Word of the Year.

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