As someone who is distancing themselves from a narcissistic mother who was physically and emotionally abusive to me as a child well up until my late teens (the last time she hit me but the emotional abuse continued) she CANNOT understand why. Because in her mind, she has done nothing wrong.
If you spend your child's life telling them you are not their friend, don't be surprised when they are in their 30's and no longer need you like they did when they were younger and your role should naturally morph into one of friendship, don't be surprised when it doesn't. A child will never just decide to cut off a parent over "nothing" because that decision made out of self preservation still leaves behind a wound that never heals.
Parents who paint themselves as the victim fail to see that they are a victim of their own behavior. 

My husband and I are 35 and we're not having children.
The journey to contentment with this decision wasn't an easy one on my part. 
I grew up in a tumultuous household, as a girl, I always thought "when I have kids I'm going to do this or that and my kids will have the life I never did".
Then I hit 30 and it was like that clock starting tolling like Big Ben in my head and heart. My husband never wanted children, I knew this and contemplated leaving him until one day all that internal noise just stopped when I realised having a child wouldn't heal me, I need to do that myself. Along with this, was realising I wanted a baby, not a 9 year old that asks a million questions and needs school pick up and drop offs or a teenager that needs to be driven around everyone. And then there was the dark realisation that as much as I swore to myself I would be different, I couldn't guarantee I would never raise a hand to my child since that reaction to frustration and overwhelm is so engrained in me from my own upbringing.
So that was that really. At the end of the day, I would rather regret not having kids than having them and wishing I didn't. 

Far out, she's been through so much, she deserves such a happy life!

"Heard is said to use the name Martha Jane Cannary to keep the press away."
And now her right to anonymity in the press has been taken away...by the press.

Sad men hate seeing happy women, in whatever situation makes their heart sing whether it's marrying her childhood sweetheart or cuddling up on the couch with a glass of wine enjoying her peace. 
These are the same men who scream from the rooftops about male loneliness. 
These men deserve to be lonely. 

@alidymmott Yeah you probably are. 
Think of it as trying to drive a car a long distance with the fuel light on.
Yeah the car is moving but over time, that will be doing damage as you force the fuel lines to suck out all the sediment from the bottom of the tank that can eventually causing damage to your fuel pump. For optimal performance and longevity it's best to fill up using a good quality fuel.

We spent so much time and put so much effort into raising girls up and telling them they can do anything, be anything, wear anything etc and all very valid, but in the process we neglected our boys. 
While we have made sure we are positive role models for girls, we forgot to be the same for boys and so they have turned to online influences who have prayed upon their hunger for male role models.
We're so protective of our girls, we need to know where they're going, who they're speaking to, what they're watching online, but we leave our boys out there treading water, fending for themselves. 
We've fought so hard against toxic masculinity, we forgot to praise and showcase positive masculinity and in doing so confused he message and so boys think their masculinity is something to hide and be shameful of, that they are shameful.
The result of this? Of this perceived favoritism and competition amongst young boys and girls in young people who don't have the tools to process all this, is a hatred for girls. 

It's never done lightly and it's never over nothing. While the reason may seem trivial, it's usually the last straw after a lifetime of abuse, bad behavior or neglect. 
For me, at 35 I am finally honoring the promise I made to myself as a child - as soon as I'm old enough, I'm leaving and never speaking to her again.
Even at such a young age I knew I deserved better than the mother I got. 
The mother who rather than being concerned for my safety after I was in a car accident at 18 with my then boyfriend, was jealous that I called his parents rather than her to take me to the hospital because "she was the one to wipe my arse as a baby, not his parents"...okay, what? 
The mother who used to beat me for wetting the bed. The mother who called us sluts for talking to boys. And the mother who bailed on me dress shopping for my wedding dress and recently told me if she can't find an outfit, she simply won't go....to MY WEDDING! So no, it's never over nothing, and never out of the blue. It's not a decision made lightly, it's one that is agonized over and mourned as if they've died. 

I'm a daughter of a toxic boy mum.
We're all grown now, in our 30s and 40s, but it still hurts. 
My brother recently went overseas for a couple weeks, my sister told me our mother burst into tears as she hugged him bye.
I was overseas in an earthquake, she didn't try to call me to see if I was okay. 
I told her my long term partner and I are getting married, she's not excited and didn't come dress shopping with me. She gifted my brother a large sum of money when he and his partner got engaged (I have yet to receive even a card to say congratulations. 
I have now started "quiet quitting" our relationship and only see her when necessary. It's been 7 months and she hasn't called me a single time in this time. She has texted me but only to ask if MY future husband can help my brother build a new outdoor deck.
I'm thinking about uninviting her to my wedding. 

So go ahead, be obsessed with your sons, your daughters will notice. 

Nah I'ma stick to my gym tights.
I want to actually be able to see my muscles working in the gym 

Once again these sorts of people highlight the need for more stringent laws to protect children online. 
The move to ban minors from accessing social media is going to make a huge difference BUT it's not enough. All minors need to be removed from social media entirely so that people like these, the Franke case and most recently, here in Australia the Brisbane woman who poisoned her one year old can't continue to harm and exploit children for monetary gain. 
We have child employment laws to protect child actors from being exploited but these laws don't extend to social media, so the social media ban for minors needs to expand it's reach. 

Have you ever seen a person with dementia/Alzheimer's? Tell me they weren't suffering!
My grandfather basically starved to death because he stopped eating in the later stages of his battle with Alzheimer's, he suffered. You can use all the flowery language you want, but that is what it is. 

@laura__palmer I'd love to know that average age of the female Trump voter. 
From the polls I have seen, the number of female Trump voters starts dramatically rising in women aged in their late 40's. 
It's no coincidence that women who's likelihood of needing procedures like abortions are significant less would vote for someone who is ready to take such medical rights away.
These are people who have the mentality that "it doesn't apply to me so why should I care"?.
They forget it may apply to their daughters, their granddaughters, their friends etc. 
But really, what they fail at most is the basic decency to understand an issue doesn't have to affect them to want to make change. 

Bring this up to any man, even the "good" ones and they are absolutely shocked. 
I want to get a treadmill to keep active at home, my partner has said "you can walk the dog" and I do but even with my "Scary dog" privilege (one of the legit reasons I chose and American Staffordshire Terrier) I walk him early morning and evening on high alert. 
I park as close to the entrance to my gym at 4am as I can, I don't walk with my music on in my headphones anymore. 
I listened  to the Outloud ep where the team were discussing this, and while I agree that men are at a higher risk of violence, the unspoken part of the sentence is "violence perpetrated by men". No one seems to acknowledge this, not even the WHAT ABOUT MEN gang seem to grasp what it is they are actually saying. Male violence is a huge problem, it's one women walk around carrying the knowledge of like a weight around our necks, and one that men are oblivious to but all seem to think in the event of an attack they would do x,y and z because they're big and strong and therefore couldn't possibly be a target. 

I think it depends what workplace she's in. 
However, with little context, assuming she is in a corporate setting, both dresses are a hard no. 
From the close up views of each outfit I was like "okay those comments are out of line" but once the full dress was shown? Yeah nah, sorry babe, HR has a point even if it was not handled in the most professional manner. 
Saying "I'm basically in a blazer" but it turns out that you are literally ONLY wearing a blazer absolutely calls for an appropriate attire reminder. 
She shouldn't have been singled out though, and staff member comments should not have been shared. That HR Managers needs a chat with HR.
It should have been an email addressed to all staff with an "office attire" guideline reminder, which one would assume the business would have and would have been included in all employment contracts. 

I've gone no contact with my mother. 
I haven't told her why and she hasn't asked, I'm not even sure that she's noticed. It's been 3 months. 

The fact that he looked her male partner in the eyes and apologised to HIM shows exactly what he thinks of women.
To men like this, women are nothing more than the possession of men to do as they please with. 

I think what this article fails to notice and even on Outloud when they discussed Em Rata's vulva cleavage (camel toe) is that the "influencers" doing this all have one thing in common, thin bodies. 
If a thin person does anything it's instantly a "look", fit" or "trend" when a bigger body does the exact same we would instantly do the fake "oh honey, no".

@simple simon This is literally not a thing...right?
None of them men in my life are doing this....but maybe that's because they are grown men.
Who knows what the kids these days are up to 

Hall passes are supposed to just be silly fun that will never in a million years happen.
Like mine is Henry Cavill. My partner's is Mila Kunis. Our paths will never cross and if they do, there is absolutely zero chance of anything happening. 
Thus making it a harmless silly game. 
Having your hall pass be your partner's best friend is not how the game works.
Even if you both have open relationships, surely this is still a boundary you wouldn't cross?