Strangely, I typed in "www.salon.com" into my web browser, but inexplicably was directed to the website for People Magazine. Anyone else having this problem? If I wanted to read mindless diatribe about a fashion magazine, I wouldn't have subscribed to salon.com. If Ms. Traister wanted to write an article about how women are objectified in our society and how endless images of women as sex symbols is affecting the self-image od millions of women and children, I would have applauded that effort loudly (being the father of a wonderful daughter). But perhaps Ms. Traister would have been better off by not pinning the blame of dehumanizing women on one male photographer prone to bouts of megalomania, but instead wrote about how the entire fashion industry and especially women's magazine perpetuate the objectification of women every week and month that they publish their magazines. That would have been an excellent point of beginning for an article on this particular ill of society, assuming that's the type of article that Ms. Traister was wanting to write. Which it appears that it's not. Which is too bad. Because that type of article could be very informative and spark an excellent debate about the role of media in the formation of self-image (both in men and women), and that's something that could be very useful for everyone. But I guess Ms. Traister wasn't interested in that type of article. Too bad. And here I thought salon.com was going to be different. Sigh.

Instead of getting Jr. into college with the help of affirmative action, should he be getting in with the assistance of his parents' boot in his ass or whatever it takes for him to be motivated to get an education? And to suggest that boys lag behind girls in school because educators “prize passive “feminized” behavior such as sitting quietly, reading independently, and focusing on sedentary rather than dynamic projects” is intellectually retarded at best.

Where does the idiocy in our society end? When do we wake up and start to take responsibility for our actions and the consequences that those actions bring? Or are we too far along the way to becoming the great victim society? The issue of education and educational reform is so big, but some days I swear, we need a glorious revolution in the way we go about educating our youth because all of the old ideas continue to fail ad nauseam (and it ain’t a money issue).

PS – Did anyone else find the fact that the acronym for the “Postsecondary Education Opportunity Newsletter” is PEON?

"he has no understanding of the spiritual rights of mothers vs. fathers."

Honestly. It's not suprise that you withheld your name. If I wrote something that intellectually retarded and assinine, I wouldn't want to take credit it for it either.

Heather - You are my hero for the day. Are people's lives that empty and meaningless that they actually care whether or not some Hollywood-type screwed over an ex-roommate? Celebrity gossip is pathetic.

This letter writer needs to contact her local cult and join up as fast as she can. Someone of such a weak mind and feeble constitution would make a perfect cult member (and let's be honest - isn't that what militant vegans are anyway). The whole "if you don't believe exactly what I believe and don't care about it as much as I do, you are an anathma not worthy of my time or energy" mantra is prevalent in many other areas - such as Islamic fundamentalists, Christian fundamentalists (or the entire religious right, for that matter), and militiant liberals.

What I find most ironic is that the extreme fanatical liberals are just as guilty of the very behaviors for which they torch the Christian right. It's the whole "if you're not with me 100%, your against me and you are the enemy." Didn't they learn our lessons with McCarthy? Isn't it the liberals that preach tolerance out of their mouths but turn around and shit on those who don't agree with them? This LW needs to seriously get a life and find a cause that's really worth getting upset about - perhaps the constant genocide in various African countries or the oppression of the entire female population within the Muslim religion and community.

And Cary, honestly, thank you for giving yet another (self-proclaimed) radical activist an outlet for proving how ignorant the radicals really are. I am willing to bet she is a member of the group that espoused that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were a punishment for the US eating chickens. Yes, some group actually claimed this. Free speech is a great thing as it can also serve as a reminder how out of touch with reality some people are.