Letters to the Editor
speeder
Published Letters: 130 Editor's Choice: 12
-
more on cocksucker
[Read the article: The C-word as a political tool]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As pointed out above, used as a term for a man, cocksucker does have a level of homophobia built in.
However I think there are additional differences between the insults of cocksucker and cunt.
Cocksucker is a description of an individual's behavior (you are a person who sucks cocks) and as such is less inflammatory than an insult that actual describes the person. Ie, "You are a cunt," (and in implication, nothing but a cunt, thus having reduced a female to nothing more than her genitals)
Now, in this sense Cunt would be more akin to dick or cock. However, dick is used way to casually and way to often to really have the same power as cunt (It is more the analogue of pussy. Additionally, it is often used to describe women these days.
Cock, would be closer, except - well, I've never actually heard anyone called a cock. This in and of itself should tell us something. The most powerful obscene references to genitalia often become used as an insulting descriptive of females, but the analogous term is not used for males.
-
I too . .
[Read the article: What's that enchanting MacBook Air ad song?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thought that the song was Feist. And yes, it has been stuck in my head since the moment I first saw the commercial online.
-
@fetboy
[Read the article: More ways to call Hillary Clinton the C-Word ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Sorry, douchebag and cunt aren't even nearly close on the "insult - o - meter" of the society we live in.
I am curious as to what this universal male slam is, as honestly I can not think of what it is. Is it fag? or pussy? If so, sorry to say but I think those have been bandies about way too much in the past few decades to reach the level of profanity that people consider cunt.
And if it is "pussy" or "fag" doesn't that in and of itself reflect certain levels of both misogyny and homophobia?
The only other thing I can think of is something implying a state of cuckoldry or castration. But in those cases, while the concept can be cruel and insulting, there is not a particular vulgarity that goes along with it.
-
Bullshit
[Read the article: Don't be happy, worry]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For a number of years, every time I saw my reflection I would say to myself "I hate my self and I want to die"
Then I went back on meds.
Guess what? I don't say that anymore. What I do still do: Get sad, cry, get happy, enjoy things, and leave my apartment for reasons other than having to work or being completely out of food.
It is life experiencing depression that is numbing, life with meds is freeing.
SSRI's aren't a panacea, and I agree CBT can be profound (I see a CBT therapist once a week), but I'm getting tired of the current trend of knocking SSRIs.
-
Couple more things
[Read the article: Don't be happy, worry]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]To the person who early on said something like, "If you are at a party chatting about your Social Anxiety Disorder," then you do not have social anxiety disorder.": For a long period of time, if I were forced to attend a social function, the days leading up to it were filled with dread. The day of I became pretty much unable to function. Within a few hours of the event I would be crying.
At the event I would often end up turning into a gad-fly.
Many people experience anxiety in different ways. For many of us it is the time before the event that is traumatic, not the event itself. Of course this is completely irrational - welcome to the world of mental disorders.
As for the alternative of CBT, and the accusations that American's would prefer a quick fix than doing all the hard work. I disagree. It is American's insurance companies that prefer the quick fix. My insurance will cover practically all of a generic SSRI, and a good portion of my brand name one. But they cover much less of my 150.00 a week therapist bill. (and they covered none of it for the first year I had this carrier.)
Most people cannot afford to spend 600.00 a month on therapy (or the 300.00 I know spend.) If weekly CBT were covered, I think many more people would try it.
-
Finally
[Read the article: Don't be happy, worry]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I didn't see the bit about "how the world would have lost out if creative people had meds before"
I'm sorry, I like to be polite to people, and I am sure you meant well, but comments like this infuse me with such anger that only appropriate response I can think of is, "Fuck You."
Creative people do not exist to provide you with entertainment or enlightenment. They are not your slaves, nor the slaves of society. They have as much of a right to happiness as you do. If Van Gough or Jim Morrisson would have had happier lives and the rest of us not had "The End" or "Starry Night," had they had prozac, then too bad for us.
The whole depression = creativity is BS anyway.
-
@ Angie
[Read the article: Don't be happy, worry]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks for explaining a very important piece of information that everyone commenting on this topic needs to understand.