Body Image
Shy freshman mortified over school showers
Dear Straight Talk: I'm a high school freshman and very private about my body. I can't handle anybody seeing me naked except my sister and my best friend. Not even my mom. Our gym teacher told us, with hot weather coming, everyone…
12 Comments
Did girl’s risqué attire contribute to close call?
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: A friend almost got raped. We were at a club and she can be really insecure about guys so she was flirting to the max wearing four-inch heels, short shorts, cleavage…
2 Comments
Former “cutter” worries about scars
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: I’m 18, heading to college, happy to leave high school behind and become my own person. The trouble is I have scars on my arms from cutting when I was younger…
1 Comment
Dear 16-year-old You, read this column!
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: I’m glad I don’t have worse concerns than this, but my daughter is going to Mexico with another family and I’m worried she will cook herself on the…
5 Comments
Mom shames overweight daughters
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: My sister and I are overweight. Every Saturday, our mom makes us strip naked and weighs us. We find it humiliating and embarrassing to stand there naked and be weighed…
4 Comments
Cold feet over school showers
DEAR STRAIGHT TALK: I’m starting middle school this fall and will have to change for gym class in the locker room and even take communal showers. The gym teacher is strict about making…
9 Comments
Halloween costumes hit deeper societal nerve
Dear Readers: Last week the teen panel and I responded to “Call me square” who complained that all her daughter’s friends dressed like hookers for Halloween. She then asked if Halloween was where girls began training to…
0 Comments
Halloween costumes not going to make girls strippers
Dear Straight Talk: What’s with all the slutty Halloween costumes? My 13-year-old’s friends all dressed like hookers. My daughter was in a Renaissance outfit and was furious with me because she felt “stupid” at the…
0 Comments
Good looks a matter of management
Dear Straight Talk: I moved in with my dad and step-mom over the summer and am attending eighth grade at my third middle school. My stepmother obviously knows what it’s like to be a teenager… 0 Comments
“Magazine beauty” a dangerous illusion
Dear Straight Talk: I’m a graduating senior and maybe this will save somebody the agony I went through. In your advice last week you said: “Do what you’re good at. Embrace your… 0 Comments
