The XX Factor : big families

Panics and Markets

Ann Hulbert — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:53:00 GMT

While we're parsing our octuplet obsession, it's worth reading Judith Warner's recent column on child-related panics in general—whether they're about teenagers and sex, or overscheduled kids, or overmedicated kids, or commodified kids. She makes the good...(read more)

"Which One Would You Give Back?"

Elisheva Weiss — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:56:00 GMT

Noreen , I feel your pain. As the oldest of 11 children, I am no stranger to the raised eyebrows that come with the large-family territory, and I am constantly taken aback by the questions people feel they can ask me (like whether I think my parents are...(read more)

The Octs Have It

Torie Bosch — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:16:00 GMT

Jessica , you're right—TLC must be salivating at the thought of signing a reality TV show deal with the mother of the octuplets. (Incidentally, the word octuplets appears in neither my Word spell checker nor in the dictionary Slate uses, though the dictionary...(read more)

Big Family Values

Torie Bosch — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:22:00 GMT

Michelle Duggar gave birth to her 18 th child this week. The megamom is something of an icon in homeschooling and Quiverfull circles, but whenever I see her in the news, on the Today show, or on her family's numerous reality-TV shows and specials, I find...(read more)