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The institution of the Shogunate in Japan dates back to the 12th century when Minamoto no Yoritomo established the Kamakura Shogunate in 1192‚ marking the beginning of military rule in Japan. The Shogun‚ or supreme military commander‚ held de facto power over the country while the Emperor remained a figurehead. Over centuries‚ various Shogunates rose and fell‚ including the Ashikaga and Tokugawa Shogunates‚ each leaving a significant mark on Japanese history and culture until the Meiji Restoration in 1868‚ which marked the end of the Shogunate system and the restoration of imperial rule. Shogun (Season 1) Set in feudal Japan during the 17th century‚ the story follows an English navigator‚ John Blackthorne‚ who becomes embroiled in the complex political intrigues of the time. As Blackthorne navigates the treacherous landscape of samurai warfare and cultural clashes‚ he must adapt to the rigid hierarchy of Japanese society while also striving to maintain his own identity and loyalty.   Shogun E1 &; E2 Based on the 1975 novel of the same name‚ Shogun takes historical drama to the next level. Its attention to detail is of the same scope as programs like that of Yellowstone but on a scale to rival blockbuster films. However‚ its aesthetic realism is only the doorway that lets audiences in. Its mesmerizing performances and captivating tale of betrayal‚ Japanese feudal infighting‚ and global-scale treachery keep audiences on the edge of their seats. Unlike most made-for-TV epics‚ not a single performer stands out as subpar or out of place. As a matter of fact‚ two episodes into its reported ten-episode run‚ only one minor detail seems out of place: the lead actor’s blue contact lenses. Cosmo Jarvis has dark brown eyes in real life‚ and the lenses currently used are beyond distractingly fake looking. There are scenes in which the character almost looks blinded by cataracts. That said‚ his performance is so excellent and his presence so magnetic that they are almost forgivable.   WOKE ELEMENTS There are some instances in which women are given more leeway than seems natural for a drama set in 1600 Japan. However‚ I’m not a historian‚ so I could be wrong. After all‚ as girls‚ Japanese women were taught martial arts and expected to protect their homes. Also‚ the incredibly limited deference granted to one or two of these characters is logically explained and occurs very organically within the context of the story… for the most part.   The post Shogun first appeared on Worth It or Woke.

It started with a simple‚ sincere question from a mother of an 11-year-old boy.An anonymous mother posted a question to Quora‚ a website where people can ask questions and other people can answer them. This mother wrote:How do I tell my wonderful 11 year old son‚ (in a way that won't tear him down)‚ that the way he has started talking to me (disrespectfully) makes me not want to be around him (I've already told him the bad attitude is unacceptable)?It's a familiar scenario for those of us who have raised kids into the teen years. Our sweet‚ snuggly little kids turn into moody middle schoolers seemingly overnight‚ and sometimes we're left reeling trying to figure out how to handle their sensitive-yet-insensitive selves.Jo Eberhardt‚ a fantasy writer and mother of two from Australia‚ penned a reply that is so spot on that it keeps repeatedly popping up on social media. When you nail it‚ you nail it—and this mother nails it."Ah‚ puberty‚" she wrote‚ "It changes our sweet‚ wonderful little boys into sweet‚ eye-rolling‚ angsty‚ accidentally disrespectful‚ but still wonderful young proto-men." Yup.Eberhardt then described a discussion she had with her 11 1/2 -year-old son when he started going through this stage—a conversation they had in the car‚ which is usually the best place to have potentially uncomfortable discussions with kids.She told her son that she'd messed up in the way she'd talked to him about puberty‚ then explained exactly what was happening in his brain.“I've spent all this time talking to you about the way puberty changes your body‚" Eberhardt told her son‚ "and what to expect as you go through the changes‚ but I completely forgot to talk to you about what's going on in your brain right now. Puberty is the time when your brain grows and changes more than at any other time in your life — well‚ except for when you're a baby‚ perhaps. So I really let you down by not preparing you for that. I'm so sorry."Her son accepted her apology‚ then asked why is his brain was changing.“That's the amazing thing‚" she told him. "Did you know that your brain grew and developed so quickly when you were little that by the time you were about five or six‚ your brain was almost as big and powerful as an adult's brain?""But here's the thing‚" she continued‚ "Even though your brain was super powerful‚ the instructions were for a child's brain. And all the information about building an adult's brain was a bit… let's say fuzzy. So your brain did the best it could‚ but it didn't really know what kind of person you were going to be back then‚ or what shape brain you were going to need."“Now we come to puberty‚" she went on. "See‚ puberty is amazing. Not only is your body being transformed from a child's body to an adult's body‚ your brain has to be completely rewritten from a child's brain to an adult's brain."“That sounds hard‚" her son responded.“Yeah‚ it is‚" Eberhardt replied. “That's why I wish I'd warned you first. See‚ it takes a lot of energy to completely rewrite a brain. That's one of the reasons you get tired quicker at the moment — and that‚ of course‚ manifests in you being crankier and less patient than normal."Eberhardt paused‚ then added‚ “That must be really frustrating for you."Her son looked over at her‚ wiping his eyes. “It is‚" he responded. Sometimes I just feel really angry and I don't know why."It's amazing what happens when we explain to kids the physiological reasons for what they're going through.Eberhardt continued‚ “The other thing is that one of the first parts of your brain that gets super-sized to be like an adult is the amygdala. That's the part that controls your emotions and your survival instincts. You know how we've talked about fight/flight/freeze before‚ and how sometimes our brains think that being asked to speak in public is the same level of threat as being attacked by a sabre tooth tiger?"Her son laughed. “Yes. So you have to tell your brain that there's no sabre tooth tiger to help you calm down."“That's right‚" Eberhardt replied. "Well‚ that's what the amygdala looks after: sabre tooth tiger warnings and big emotions. So‚ the thing with puberty is that all of a sudden you've got an adult-sized amygdala hitting all your emotion buttons and your sabre-tooth tiger buttons. That must be really hard for you to manage."Her son nodded and said‚ “Sometimes I don't know why I say the things I do. They just come out‚ and then I feel bad."This is the moment where what a parent says can make or break a kid's spirit. But Eberhardt handled it with empathy and expertise.“I know‚ Sweetheart‚" she said before explaining:“See‚ the last part of your brain that gets rewritten is right at the front of your head. It's called the frontal cortex. And that's the part of your brain that's good at decision making and understanding consequences. So you've got this powerful adult amygdala hitting you with massive emotions‚ but you've still got a fuzzy child frontal cortex that can't make decisions or understand consequences as quickly as the amygdala wants you to. It pretty much sucks."“So it's not my fault?" her son asked.“No‚ it's puberty's fault your brain works the way it does‚" Eberhardt answered. "But that doesn't mean it's not your responsibility to recognise what's going on and change your actions. It's not easy‚ but it's not impossible‚ either. Your feelings are your feelings‚ and they're always okay. But you get to choose your actions. You get to choose what you do with your feelings. And‚ when you make a mistake‚ you get to choose to apologise for that mistake and make amends."Eberhardt said she then paused for dramatic effect. “That's how you prove that you're becoming an adult."It's also remarkable what happens when we empathize and communicate with our kids instead of simply chastising them.Her son responded with a perfectly understandable and relatable‚ “Puberty sucks."“Puberty absolutely sucks‚" Eberhardt responded. “I'm not in your head‚ but I can only imagine that it's a mess of confusion and chaos‚ and you don't know from one minute to the next how you feel about things."Her son looked at her in surprise. “Yes! Exactly!"“If it's confusing for you living inside there‚" Eberhardt continued‚ "imagine how confusing it is for me‚ when I only see your actions."“That must be really confusing‚" her son agreed.She nodded. “Do you know what that means?"“What?"“It means sometimes I'm going to make mistakes. Sometimes I'm going to get upset at things you do because I don't understand what's going on in your head. Sometimes I'm going to forget that you're halfway to being a man‚ and accidentally treat you like a child. Sometimes I'm going to expect more from you than you're able to give. This is my first time parenting someone through puberty‚ and I'm going to make mistakes. So can I ask you a favour?"“What is it?"“Can you just keep telling me what's going on in your head? The more we talk‚ the easier it will be for both of us to get through this puberty thing unscathed. Yeah?"“Yeah‚" her son said.When we let our kids know that we're going through these various phases together‚ it's easier to work with them instead of against them.Eberhardt said they "had a cuddle" before they got out of the car. She also said this conversation didn't magically make her son always speak respectfully or make her remember that he's not a little boy anymore. However‚ it did open up lines of communication and gave them a shared language to use.For example‚ she wrote‚ "He knows what I mean when I say‚ 'Sweetheart‚ I'm not a sabre tooth tiger.'"Ebehardt wrapped up her excellent answer by saying that she and her son are "muddling through this crazy puberty thing" together‚ and that she's "completely confident that he'll come out the other end a sweet‚ wonderful young man."It's always so helpful to see examples of good parenting in action. Ms. Eberhardt's response is something all parents can tuck away for the appropriate time. It's also a great reminder that our tweens aren't trying to try us—they're just trying to get used to their new and improved brains.This story originally appeared on 1.05.19

Society‚ pay attention. This is important.My wife‚ Zoe‚ is transgender. She came out to us — the kids and me — last summer and then slowly spread her beautiful feminine wings with extended family‚ friends‚ and neighbors.A little coming out here‚ a little coming out there — you know how it is.It's been a slow‚ often challenging process of telling people something so personal and scary‚ but pretty much everyone has been amazing.However‚ she dreaded coming out at the office.She works at a large technology company‚ managing a team of software developers in a predominantly male office environment. She's known many of her co-workers and employees for 15 or so years. They have called her "he" and "him" and "Mr." for a very long time. How would they handle the change?While we have laws in place in Ontario‚ Canada‚ to protect the rights of transgender employees‚ it does not shield them from awkwardness‚ quiet judgment‚ or loss of workplace friendships. Your workplace may not become outright hostile‚ but it can sometimes become a difficult place to go to every day because people only tolerate you rather than fully accept you.But this transition needed to happen‚ and so Zoe carefully crafted a coming out email and sent it to everyone she works with.The support was immediately apparent; she received about 75 incredibly kind responses from coworkers‚ both local and international.She then took one week off‚ followed by a week where she worked solely from home. It was only last Monday when she finally went back to the office.First day back at work! I asked if I could take a "first day of school" type picture with her lunchbox. She said no. Spoilsport. Despite knowing how nice her colleagues are and having read so many positive responses to her email‚ she was understandably still nervous.Hell‚ I was nervous. I made her promise to text me 80 billion times with updates and was more than prepared to go down there with my advocacy pants on if I needed to (I might be a tad overprotective).And that's when her office pals decided to show the rest of us how to do it right.She got in and found that a couple of them had decorated her cubicle to surprise her:Butterflies! Streamers! Rainbows! OMG!And made sure her new name was prominently displayed in a few locations:They got her a beautiful lily with a "Welcome‚ Zoe!" card:And this tearjerker quote was waiting for her on her desk:To top it all off‚ a 10 a.m. "meeting" she was scheduled to attend was actually a coming out party to welcome her back to work as her true self — complete with coffee and cupcakes and handshakes and hugs.(I stole one‚ and it was delicious.)NO‚ I'M NOT CRYING. YOU'RE CRYING.I did go to my wife's office that day. But instead of having my advocacy pants on‚ I had my hugging arms ready and some mascara in my purse in case I cried it off while thanking everyone.I wish we lived in a world where it was no big deal to come out.Sadly‚ that is not the case for many LGBTQ people. We live in a world of bathroom bills and "religious freedom" laws that directly target the members of our community. We live in a world where my family gets threats for daring to speak out for trans rights. We live in a world where we can't travel to certain locations for fear of discrimination — or worse.So when I see good stuff happening — especially when it takes place right on our doorstep — I'm going to share it far and wide. Let's normalize this stuff. Let's make celebrating diversity our everyday thing rather than hating or fearing it.Chill out‚ haters. Take a load off with us.It's a lot of energy to judge people‚ you know. It's way more fun to celebrate and support them for who they are.Besides‚ we have cupcakes.This article originally appeared on 04.08.16.

"It was all his idea." An offhand suggestion from her boyfriend of two years coupled with her own lifelong love of comic strips like "Calvin and Hobbes" and "Get Fuzzy" gave 22-year-old Catana Chetwynd the push she needed to start drawing an illustrated series about long-term relationships. Specifically‚ her own relationship. The drawings are refreshingly touching‚ honest‚ and instantly recognizable to anyone who's ever had to learn to live with‚ for‚ and around a long-term partner.Chetwynd says her goal is to explore the peculiar aspects of relationships at different stages‚ using her own as the master template.The series combines humor and playful drawings with spot-on depictions of the intense familiarity that long-standing coupledom often brings.The comics are almost too real — and really‚ really funny.If the following comics capture your relationship to a T‚ you're most definitely not alone. (All images by Catana Chetwynd.)"When I started doing the comic‚ we hadn't lived together or anything yet‚ and now we've done the whole thing of moving in together and meeting the parents and everything‚" Chetwynd says.The evolution of their relationship provides the creative fuel for the comic strip. Thankfully‚ her boyfriend John Freed is fully on board with being depicted in (digital) ink — despite having to occasionally awkwardly explain things that appear in the strip to their family and friends.The connection she has built with Freed‚ Chetwynd says she wouldn't trade for anything — especially now that it inspires her art."The end goal for me was always to have somebody that I could be comfortable with in this way‚ and I think I got that."You can follow Catana Comics on Facebook and Twitter‚ and can view the whole series on Chetwynd's website.This article originally appeared on 05.12.17.