I grew up in Long Island City. When I was growing up, my parents owned a women's clothing store in Queens. It was for older women. I got my bras there, until I realized I didn't want those huge, taupe bras. Everything was beige, with massive amounts of hooks.

The stereotypes of feminists as ugly, or man-haters, or hairy, or whatever it is - that's really strategic. That's a really smart way to keep young women away from feminism, is to kind of put out this idea that all feminists hate men, or all feminists are ugly; and that they really come from a place of fear.

I think talking is as casual as blogging, and sometimes writing can be as casual as talking. My informal writing style is a political choice, because I want feminism to be more accessible.

If feminism wasn't powerful, if feminism wasn't influential, people wouldn't spend so much time putting it down.

My family thought the fascination with acting was just another fad.

My kids grew up here. My son and daughter both went to Notre Dame.

She may hide it, but Clinton is a policy nerd. Ask about microfinance, and she'll talk your ear off. Mention early childhood interventions, and she will gush about obscure details of a home visitation experiment in Elmira, N.Y., that dramatically improved child outcomes.

I think sometimes it's hard, parent's expectations, wanting to be seen by the people in your family and feeling that you can't do that, you can't get them to see you the way that you want to be seen, and come to an understanding or find a way to talk that doesn't revert to bad habits.