Letters to the Editor

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marge twain

Published Letters: 22     Editor's Choice: 1

  • They'd rather bake cookies

    [Read the article: Quote of the day]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    As if any of the men running or in office now could have done it without major sacrifices on the part of their wives: Putting a hold on their careers, taking responsibility for child-rearing, and maintaining the illusion that they'd rather bake cookies and host the Easter Egg Hunt...whatever that is.

    There's nothing wrong with spouses helping one another...as long as it's the man being helped.

  • Anecdotes

    [Read the article: "I would want to give my child, like, everything"]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    Let's be real, fem-bashers: Fathers DO feel free to opt out, during and at various times after the pregnancy. No law is going to change that. My Dad(very rich guy, married to my mom for 16 years) "opted out" of our life when I was 11.

    An informal survey of my peers(I'm 24 now) finds large numbers of us being raised by our mothers alone. Of those who recieved occaisonal contact or child support from their fathers, none of them were living it up in high style as the father's rights advocates on these boards like to claim.

    I wish they and the pro-lifers were as concerned about the staggering numbers of deadbeat dads and The extraordinary difficulty of raising children as a single mother in America. Let's be reminded also that pregnancy is a major health risk for the mother and for blue collar folks missing work can=zero pay. Women need to be able to make that difficut choice for themselves, without harassment and without permission slips.

  • Anecdotes

    [Read the article: "I would want to give my child, like, everything"]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    In my GED(don't laugh, people) class of 33 students, 30 were female(incl. me) I didn't talk to every single girl, but every one that I talked to was a young mother and although some of them had financial help from the kid's father, they all has to drop out of high school for the time and real work it takes to raise a baby. My girlfriends in the class were bright and eager to learn, wanting to get their lives on track, but needing to work full time to support their kid. I was struck by how much more their lives were altered by their unplanned pregnancies than their partners. The 3 guys in the class were all pot-smoking slackers, more like the stereotype of high-school dropouts.

  • pyehole

    [Read the article: The C-word as a political tool]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    Wow...you also use "cocksucker" as an insult for men? If that's the case that makes you homophobic

  • gendered insults

    [Read the article: The C-word as a political tool]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    Almost all insults that are male specific attempt to degrade the man by associating him with weakness, gayness or femininity, which are all equated by people who use those insults. That's why I find "cocksucker" offensive and a way of oppressing men through enforcing restrictive norms on what it can mean to be a man.

  • She always has me in stitches

    [Read the article: Quote of the Day]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    I love Margaret Cho for saying this. Perez Hilton criticized her for it but I think women can relate. Menstruation is such a taboo subject in the media. People are so often uncomfortable with it, this was refrshingly honest.

  • chill

    [Read the article: Quote of the Day]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    There was no divine goddess menses celebration in Margaret Cho's comments. We all try to contain our flow and if you always succeed every period you must be a saint. She was complaining about something many of us go through for a full quarter of our lives and are encouraged to feel alot of shame and fear around. Apparantly many posters and trolls here think it's so vile and disgusting it should never be mentioned. I thought it was funny and true

  • @P Morgan

    [Read the article: Quote of the Day]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    Let me clarify:

    I don't expect the subject of menstruation to be a breaking news item, cause for discomfort, childish fascination, whatever.

    I agree with you that it's normal and should be treated as such. However there is a cultural expectation of silence and shame that's beyond that associated with any other bodily function. That's why one never hears it mentioned at all on any tv show. Commercials for pads and tampons typically emphasize the shame aspect, although that seems to be changing for the better.

    Normal it may be, but I wonder if you know any women who would compare it to the ease of breathing. I wonder why you feel entitled to hold forth on what it's like for females. I don't want to stop you from participating, but sometimes, you can defer.

    I support civil topical discourse on this board between men and women and do not respond to trolls who try to divert every discussion into a name-calling gender war or who take it as an attack on men when women seek equality. I didn't mean you, actually Tina and symbol guy come more to mind here.

    It's okay that we have different opinions on which comedians are funny. Cho's comedy is fairly specific to the female and minority experience.

  • I really hate to respond to the unemployed misogynists here but...

    [Read the article: NOW, wait a second ... ]
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    Can we establish once and for all that feminists are a heterogenous group of thinkers under the broad banner of belief in gender equality?

    We don't attempt to share a brain and there is not a cohesive party line beyond that. If one feminist writer or one feminist group puts out a statement saying one thing there are sure to be responses to the contrary from other feminists and that's been the case from Seneca Falls until now.

    That's why gender baiting non-specific statements about what all feminists think or want aren't part of an effective dialogue. They just jam up the board and remind us how far we still have to go.

  • Wait a minute

    [Read the article: Is there such a thing as too much folic acid?]
    [Read more letters about this article: Here]

    "This effect was documented in the 1940s, when leukemia patients who were given high doses of folic acid showed accelerated cancer growth. "

    They did this test on people?? I'm curious: what was the purpose/hypothesis of this study?