Wow, thanks to your article I went and bought Barry's book. I am a big fan but somehow didn't realize she had a new book out there. Really hope to someday take her class, Writing the Unthinkable.

I love how every male journalist out there can't seem to stay away from the "stupid little women voters" story, which is really a red herring. I don't doubt that Obama will win over most of Clinton's supporters. That's not the issue. What is the issue is that journalists treated women like garbage all throughout this primary process. It's unconscionable and totally unacceptable, and millions of women are angry for completely rational reasons.

Goodness, lighten up, folks. I have a two year old and it's clear to me that a couple silly talking toys aren't going to lead her down a "passive, push-button" learning track. I wonder if people that say this kind of stuff have kids? Kids are always playing in tons of different ways. Singing, pretending, playing with rocks and sticks, watching other kids, climbing and swinging, playing peek a boo and other imitative games, etc. A few minutes here and there with a talking toy? I am beyond unconcerned about how this will affect my kid's learning skills. She's learning in tons of ways all the time.

I think people really overthink parenting these days.

There's a whole mess of us out there who typecast, that is, scan our typewritten pages to post on blogs. Why? Because the entire tactile experience of the typewriter is too good to give up. These emulators are like plastic fruit.

http://www.strikethru.net

Lately it seems like there are a lot of letters where the answer is very obvious. This is one of them. The husband described is a classic controlling/jealous male, a very common archetype, and one rarely changeable. Once you start living less of the life you want to live to appease this kind of person, you know you are heading down the wrong road.

LW, this guy won't change. Trust me, I dated him once. You need to get a divorce. There's really nothing more to say.

I was all set to go on about the blizzard of Palin stories on Salon, but Fishfry said everything I was going to say (and better).

Please. Stop.

Now where could this stereotype that liberals are obsessed with Sarah Palin be coming from?

Attention Salon: Sarah Palin is not running for president. And by the way, the election is weeks away at this point. Shouldn't we be discussing, oh, I don't know, THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES?

It's sad how men, so accustomed to and complicit in the sexual exploitation of women, see prostitution as "consensual" and are morally untroubled by purchasing it like a commodity from women who overwhelmingly come from abused, impoverished backgrounds, and turn to sex work as a desperate last resort. It's also pathetic how men call any resistance to the normalization of prostitution, pornography, and other forms of sexual abuse "puritanism." Puritanism is the notion that legitimate sex, as in a mutually pleasurable act by consenting partners, is wrong. This is of course, ridiculous. Prostitution, however, is obviously not sex. Prostitution is buying a product from an exploited seller for personal gain, made possible by a culture that encourages and abets the subjugation and objectification of women. It's not feminism, it's just a fact. If you see it any other way, I'd call you morally compromised, to put it politely.

As a former high school nobody, I thought it might be fun to go to my 20th next year, but after reading this essay I feel a little queasy. Might skip it.

I haven't heard this perspective about Michelle Obama before, or at least not written in this thoughtful of a way. Nice work.

I think that little guy has a point...

Cary, wonderful words to hear in the face of our current culture of gutlessness and panic, with the news spewing out breathless headlines around the clock about everything in America going to hell without any stops. For most people, this just isn't true. Most people still have jobs. Over 90%, in fact. Even if you are out of a job, negative, hysterical thinking is not going to land you the next one.

And about kids: unless you plan to quit working altogether when you have them, you're absolutely going to have to find a way to dial it back, and the sooner the better. Let this be one of your guiding reasons for changing your current situation. It's incompatible with family life.

"Once one feels the sublime in life, it is a wild ride down to a small apartment with no social life and dealing with medical and psychological issues, with no change in sight." Exactly what I suspected.

Pass the Prozac.

Rebecca, I thought your article was a nuanced take on a topic (confessional parenting writers) that usually brings on a lot of thoughtless commentary. Thanks for writing it.

Speaking of thoughtless commentary, I never cease to wonder at these weird childless people who obsessively read articles about parents and parenting, and then insist on clocking in with ill-informed, emotional rants about disliking kids and parents. If such people were truly comfortable with not having children, I suspect subjects like this wouldn't interest them in the slightest.

Tip for dudes: There is nothing less sexy then men whining about sex.

You said what I was thinking-- I think it's curious to define the apex of happiness as a complete lack of responsibility. I've both lived minimally and uncommitted, and later on as a mother/wife/student/employee all at once, and the latter life had exponentially more rewards to offer.

Laura, I really enjoyed your smart analysis of this book and this issue. So much to say on the topic (oh, where to begin), and you did a commendable job of saying it.