“I’ll never do what my mother did,” “I don’t make such mistakes as my father did,” young parents often say. What do they mean? We talked with five mothers about the fact that they do not want to transfer their own children from their childhood to childhood, and whether it is difficult for them to give them - and at the same time they saw how the approaches to communicating with children change over time.

In one of the first Lonely Planet guides to Russia there was a separate chapter with recommendations for traveling women, where, in particular, they warned that it was better not to sit on the grass or, even worse, on a stone parapet in the presence of a Russian babushka. What such a conditional "grandmother" can say can be imagined: "Do not sit on the ground (on the stone), you still have children to bear!

We talk a lot about relationships - about how couples live together, what obstacles they overcome to get married, and how they solve difficult issues. But nothing less than success stories are important and failures: we talked with several heroines about what their most difficult partings were, how they managed to survive it and what they could learn from this experience.

Relations with a large age difference BETWEEN PARTNERS accompanies many stereotypes: from the idealization of the union of young girls with mature men in traditional societies to the condemnation of the "kept women" of the established "fathers"; from the idea of ​​“teaching a youngster” from a mature mistress to popular notions about age-like sorceresses bewitching young admirers.

There is a widespread opinion that religion is incompatible with progressive ideas: the times when it helped develop science were long gone and even some modern initiatives could not rectify the situation. There is a lot of talk about the place and role of women in ancient religions like Christianity and Islam - and that in the patriarchal religious system, women will never be comfortable.

There are limitations in the life of priests, which are often also related to relatives. Their families are by definition more "traditional." However, there are many myths around church-going families — as if they couldn’t do anything mundane, for example, live fun. We talked with people who grew up in families of Orthodox priests, about how their childhood passed, what their parents forbade them and how their religious education affected their future.

"Do not have a hundred rubles, and have a hundred friends," - teaches us folklore. On the one hand, if you ask all your friends for a small amount, then, probably, you can really solve many problems. On the other hand, monetary difficulties often affect communication: some forget what they borrowed, while others are embarrassed to remind you that it is time to return the money.

At the fear of closeness, there are MOST DIFFERENT REASONS. Someone he comes from childhood, others avoid emotional and physical contact - and this is their defensive reaction to the traumatic experience of past relationships. Someone decides to work out negative attitudes with the therapist, others try to deal with the problem themselves, others prefer, in principle, to abandon the relationship.

Almost any young mother has ever heard the phrase "After three months it will become easier" - it sounds when you complain of lack of sleep, fatigue, fears, lack of varied nutrition, a sense of deja vu. For some moms, this number is becoming a real foothold. On condition of anonymity, we talked with three women about the difficulties they encountered during the first time after giving birth and how their lives differed from beautiful photos from instagram.

More people refuse animal products. Some oppose ill-treatment of livestock, others consider such a choice more environmentally friendly, the third such food helps to feel better. But it also happens that, having lived on a vegetarian diet for several years, a person makes a way in the opposite direction - and the reasons can also be very different.

ALL MORE PEOPLE contend with gender stereotypes - but if an adult has the strength to resist what is happening around, then children have a much more difficult situation: relatives, kindergarten teachers and school teachers, who can also impose patriarchal attitudes, come to the point. We have already talked with mothers about what stereotypes they encounter when buying toys for children - but education is not limited to toys alone.

The world is obsessed with the cult of youth: it’s almost embarrassing to look your age, and the anti-age industry offers new ways to deceive time. But this applies only to the appearance, in the professional sphere, young people, as a rule, are either not taken seriously, or like a curiosity. To get a job in 45 years is hard, but in 25 years is not easier.

It’s not easy to be parents, and to strive to educate children consciously and protect them from stereotypes is even more difficult, especially considering that the conversations about “real men” and “true women” are heard already in school. We have already talked with mothers about how they raise children, struggling with stereotypes and social pressure.

SEXUAL REVOLUTION, feminism and the development of contraception allowed women to decide for themselves when and when to give birth to them. Nevertheless, many still consider rejection of children as “egoism” or a trauma that prevents a woman from living a “normal” life. We have already talked about the ideology of childfree, and now we talked with several heroines about why they chose conscious childlessness.

In the English-speaking Internet space, gay couples blogs are commonplace; well-known actors, designers and musicians keep accounts in this format. In RuNet, the situation is much more complicated: because of the high level of intolerance, many prefer not to disclose the details of their personal lives. We asked Russian-speaking homosexual couples about how they met, why they started blogs and how it changed their lives.