Moms Signaling Compliance

As women, and particularly mothers, we not only conform to norms: we signal our willingness to follow them—to our detriment

I found myself yesterday scurrying to pick up my daughter early from her first day at a new school. My mission? To apply carefully selected, attractive, expensive Etsy nametags, emblazoned with her formerly favorite non-animal—unicorns—to the spare clothing in the almost-regulation-size wooden box in her cubby. I had considered several candidates for th…