Dr. Peggy Drexler

Be honest: What mother-daughter pair among us hasn't watched reruns of Gilmore Girls (or the more current tween smash Pretty Little Liars) and wished -- at least a little bit -- that we, too, could be just like Lorelai and Rory? Exchanging witty banter, enjoying each other's company for days...

There is an old saying: "It's hard to see the forest for the trees."

Especially when the woods are on fire.

In the flailing efforts to forestall economic collapse, and the long fight to right an economy that still can't find its way, there is long-term danger lurking in...

Back when we were living in San Francisco, both my son and daughter went to a "progressive" school that taught grades K through 8. The school had a very clear motto, one that was repeated to the kids and their parents again and again: "Everyone at [Our School] is a...

To any woman whose hope for a Romney-led surge in the economy obscures her concern about his presidency's impact on her well-being, I have to say bamboozled is the operative word.

Maybe that's a little harsh. Let's go with short-sighted.

The Romney team is working overtime to bring women into...

At 33, Dianne had been married to Daniel for just under a year. She was smart, pretty, cheerful, and enjoyed the finer things: The slouchy designer handbag slung over her shoulder must have cost upwards of a thousand dollars. She was used to being taken care of: Back home in...

Back when we were living in San Francisco, both my son and daughter went to a "progressive" school that taught grades K through 8. The school had a very clear motto, one that was repeated to the kids and their parents again and again: "Everyone at [Our School] is a...

We've come a long way from The Odd Couple, the 1965 Broadway hit about two mismatched male roommates and whose premise now feels centuries old -- and not because of the rotary phones and the early Eisenhower décor. Back then, the unspoken possibility of men living together in stereotypical sex...

Say goodbye to Daddy's Little Girl -- the dependent, passively feminine daughters we used to know. In their place, we're seeing an updated, fully re-designed model of the young female -- ambitious, educated, worldly and in need of nobody's protection. Women, for the first time, make up more...

Calling all tired, overworked, underappreciated moms: The times they are a-changing.

According to recent studies, men are shouldering more of the domestic burden -- and spending more time parenting -- than any generation before them. They're more involved with their families. They hug more, they say "I...

As Americans rinse off the stench of the long sad Edwards affair, we find ourselves wondering yet again: how did this happen?

Part of it is the same hubris and delusions of entitlement that ensnared Clinton, Gingrich, Spitzer, Schwarzenegger, Baker, Swaggart and others who have seen their private behavior torch...

Melanie's husband died suddenly at 35, leaving her to care for their three sons, ages 8, 4, and 10 months. She had no family nearby. Turns out, she had something just as valuable: A network of friends. Friends who really stepped up to the plate in the wake of Melanie's...

These days, gay parents are no novelty: We see them strolling through our neighborhoods, participating in our PTA meetings, and, perhaps most notably, appearing on our TV screens: Mitchell and Cam, fathers to Lily, on the ratings smash Modern Family; Glee's Sue Sylvester, expectant mom to a baby conceived with...

My father died of a heart attack when I was three years old. I went to sleep with a father, and by the time I woke, I no longer had one. My mother, in her grief, subsequently removed all traces of him. There were no photos on bookshelves; no fond...

Ok. Let me get this straight. Vice President Joe Biden happens to mention that he has no problem with same-sex marriage. Then President Obama says that he supports it. Then some schoolmates of Mitt Romney say he and his buddies held down a shy, quiet student they thought to be...

In my work studying the sons of single and two-mother families, I found deep concern about the lack of male role models for these boys. But shift genders, and girls and female role models is a conversation we seldom seem to have.

Part of that is the fact that...

What's so hard about mothering? Aside from being everything to everyone -- including the eternal fountain of love, connectedness, support, and protection -- moms function as personal shoppers, cooks, janitors, bankers, and repairmen. We're responsible for scheduling appointments, social events, and homework. What's more, we're supposed to love every second...

At my final meeting with 10-year-old Quentin, a boy I'd been observing for many years, I gave him a gift. It was a video called Yankee Sluggers, and told the stories of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. For me, the gift symbolized my journey with Quentin and spoke directly to...

More than just about anything, Fiona's boys hated having their nails trimmed. They were rough-and-tumble types, with a penchant for superheroes and playing with sticks. So Fiona came up with a diversionary tactic: nail polish. "At one point, both boys had toenails in every color I own--purple, gold, fire engine...

Quentin, three-and-a-half, was happily darting around the playground, like usual, when out of nowhere another little boy ran right up and kicked him in the shins. Quentin looked stunned, like he couldn't believe what had just happened. But he didn't kick back. First, he cried for a few minutes --...

My son was nearly two years old and had yet to utter a word. It was driving me nuts.
He was my first child. Like many new moms, I felt a special pressure for him to succeed. That's our burden as mothers. For decades, women have been told...