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THURSDAY • APRIL 9 • 2026
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Good morning,
Obedience. What a loaded word.
When my daughter was writing her marriage vows, I casually asked whether obedience was going to make an appearance. She gave me the look. You know the one. She walked herself down the aisle, by the way—not because she doesn’t love her father and me, but because she is a free-thinking, independent woman, and she wanted everyone there to know it from the first step.
For the record, my preferred marriage vow is the mantra from The Handmaid’s Tale: Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. Don’t let the bastards grind you down.
This week’s feature story stopped me. Thirty-one percent of Gen Z men believe a wife should always obey her husband. That's nearly three times the rate of their grandfathers. Read that again.
And one of our Dear Reader's, Kelly James, shared her experience writing obituaries—about what actually gets written down at the end. If anyone uses the word obedient about me when I’m gone, I will haunt them. Lovingly. Relentlessly.
And because we need to always find laughter, Abby has a new humor piece. Every word of it happened IRL. You’ll see.
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We Raised Them. So Who’s in Their Ear Now?
BY SUSAN DABBAR
Thirty-one percent of Gen Z men believe a wife should obey her husband—far more than their grandfathers ever did. Progress was supposed to move forward. Instead, it's bending back on itself. And for many of us, that number doesn’t just surprise us—it’s unsettling. The forces shaping these trends aren’t abstract. They’re happening in bedrooms, on screens, and inside the lives of the boys we know. This should have our full attention.
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BY KELLY K. JAMES
Twenty-plus obituaries will teach you this fast: No one cares about your résumé or highlight reel at the end. They remember the odd, specific, sometimes inconvenient truths and the memories that you hope live on. Have you thought about what’s actually going to be said about you? READ MORE
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TAKE NOTE
Timely and worth your attention.
💥 Charlie' s Angels turns 50. And stars Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith, and Cheryl Ladd reunited this week to celebrate the anniversary of the show that defined an era and, for many of us, what female power looked like on screen. Of course, Farrah was missed. They weren’t just beautiful. They were crime fighters. Cool, capable, sexy, and smart. What’s striking though, isn’t just the anniversary and the interviews. Scroll the comments, and the conversation shifts fast—from celebration to critique, zeroing in on faces, bodies, and whatever work may or may not have been done. The Angels were about power. The question is why we’re still so quick to strip it away.
🏀 Since 2022, investment in women's sports teams has grown 227 percent annually. The WNBA's new media deal will bring in more than triple its previous one. Last month 63,000 fans showed up to a women's soccer game in Denver. Madison Square Garden sold out for a women's hockey game on a Saturday night. McKinsey projects the U.S. women's sports market will hit $2.5 billion in annual revenue by 2030—roughly triple the growth rate of men's sports. But less than 2 percent of the total U.S. sports market. For now.
🫀 Your sleep schedule is now a health risk. A new long-term study suggests it’s not just how much you sleep—it’s when. Adults with irregular bedtimes who also get less than eight hours of sleep nearly double their risk of heart attack and stroke over time. We’ve spent years being told to “get more sleep." We've written about it too. Now the bar has quietly moved: go to bed at the same time, too. For women juggling travel, caregiving, stress, and bodies that no longer cooperate on command, that’s not advice—it’s a logistical problem.
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HUMOR
BY ABBY HEUGEL
Nobody warns you about the emotional arc of having a garage sale—the naive optimism the night before, the slow deterioration of your faith in humanity by noon, and the moment you realize you'd rather give it all away than negotiate over used Tupperware. There's a drunk uncle involved. And a 50-cent lamp return. That's all we're saying. READ MORE
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MONEY
BY MELANIE LOCKHERT
Bankruptcy. There. It's been said. Nearly half of all bankruptcy filings in 2024 were made by people over 50, and women file at higher rates than men. Not because we failed. Because we survived illness, divorce, caregiving, and a system designed to make us feel too ashamed to ask for help. How did this happen to us and what do you need to know now? READ MORE
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READER SPOTLIGHT
“God I love this magazine! I've been widowed for four years now. Numb for the first two but then found the love of my life. I love having him in my bed for a few hours as much as I love when he goes home. Prioritizing my needs for the first time in my life is exhilarating and I’ll never go back.” — Diane on My Own Bedroom Was Just the Start: Selfhood and Autonomy Inside Marriage Want to be featured next? Comment on your favorite piece—we read them all.
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