Author: nanallen

Several years ago, two of my friends, Karla and Claire, wrote a great book entitled When the Glass Slipper Doesn’t Fit or When the Silver Spoon is in Someone Else’s Mouth. These were real life experiences that explored the notion that life doesn’t always turn out the way we plan. I love the book and […]

At the dinner table one night I, as a young teen, was sharing news that a girl at school had excelled academically to the point that she could skip a grade. The response? “Yeah, but she’s ugly and she’ll never get married.” What? This message screamed at me. In fact, it was ingrained in me […]

Birthdays were always big deals in my growing up years. Always a party. Always presents. Always cake. Since my mother wasn’t very good at baking the traditional layer cake, she would bake her sure-thing pound cake and put the traditional white icing with pink and green decorations on the outside. Of course, everybody knows that […]

Statistics[i] show that one fourth of the women in America have been sexually molested as children. Though nowadays there are laws and groups that are supposed to protect children from such abuse, it is still rampant primarily because most children do not tell anyone about it – ever. Sometimes there is disclosure but many years […]

When I was helping plan a 30-year college sorority reunion a few years back, one of my “sisters” declined the invitation saying that she had gained 30 pounds since college and didn’t feel good about herself. She was ashamed of her body, she said. Thirty pounds in thirty years. I assured her that we had […]

When I was growing up, the Miss America Pageant was a big TV night. While my mother pin-curled my hair for church the next day, the whole family watched the pageant. It was our chance to see the faraway (at least from South Alabama) glamorous Atlantic City and 50 of the country’s most beautiful girls. […]

“Social media may be fueling plastic surgery trends, docs warn.” This was a headline on my news feed this morning. The article says, “…in 2017, 42 percent of plastic surgeons from the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) reported patients sought cosmetic procedures to look better in selfies, Instagram, and Snapchat.”[i] I was outraged […]

“Because I’m worth it.” That’s a slogan that was launched in the 1970’s by the cosmetic line L’Oreal of Paris. The “revolutionary” idea was that women do indeed have intrinsic value; therefore, pampering themselves with beauty products is a sign that they have discovered and deserve the right to flaunt that worth. The TV ad was born […]

I believe that every person is born with two price tags. One, placed by its Creator, is indelible as if tattooed on its soul. It says, “priceless,” “immeasurable,” “precious.” This price tag cannot be removed or altered. It is permanent. The other tag can fluctuate wildly—especially in women. Most of the time, this variable can […]