"I've heard frequently from my parents and their friends that girls are just easier to handle. They're quieter, more docile, more interested in reading. Boys have years of "everything is a gun" phase: even if you don't give them toy guns, they'll pick up sticks and shoot people with them."

You parents, or would-be parents? The ones who think girls are "easy" and "quiet"? Come to my house.

My 4 1/2 yo girl tromps around in snow boots and a cape, bellowing orders to her "men" to "get the bad guys". She uses her toy cel phone as a gun and practices the secret art of "hiyaa" on her invisible enemies with lethal efficiency.

She's also assertive, loud, and has more energy to burn than Sol.

She has no interest in baby dolls, princess stuff, or sitting quietly to read or draw. She wants to wrestle and run. (And no,she's not hyperactive or ADD, she's not gender-confused, and she's not been conditioned to shun Disney Princesses.)

She wears me out daily, frustrates me to the point of madness plenty, cracks me up regularly, and melts my heart more times than I can count. She's going to set the world on fire when she grows up. "Easy and quiet" she's not. And I wouldn't have her any other way. You can't "design" stuff like that.

according to the interview I heard on npr this afternoon, the jump in suicide rates seems to correspond with the drop in antidepressant prescriptions among teens. When the FDA put the black labels on the meds, rxs dropped significantly. And then the suicide rates increased.

I'm sure the picture is more complicated than that. But it's certainly worth looking at in greater depth.

If I remember correctly, the warning labels were placed on the meds because meds seemed to make certain depressed teens moe suicidal than their rxless peers.

Given this report in Lancet, we may have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

"Isn't it possible that the elephant in the room is something other than the chemicals at work in the brains of girls?

Might it have something to do with the increasingly unattainable beauty standards that corporate advertising stuffs down our young girl's throat?

Might it have something to do with the abstinence training that gets stuffed down our young girls throats?

Might it have something to do with the frustrating political climate our nation is in (doubtful, but I thought I would throw that one in there)?

Might it be related to global warming (anything's possible I suppose, but this sounds more likely than drugs, or lack of drugs, being the problem)?"

Any and all of those scenarios are possible. And I do take AKA Smirh's point about correlation not equaling causation. However, teen suicide rates were on a steady incremental decline for 15 years. Then there was a dramatic, sharp spike in 2003 and 2004. (The preliminary 2005 data will be published in a few weeks, and perhaps the trend, or anomaly, will become more clear).

I am no psych expert, but I thought that angle was important enough to mention for consideration. More time, more study, more consideration of other factors will give us answers eventually. In the meantime, my heart goes out to etns and their parents who are in a real Catch-22.

Our paranoid society does tend to swing like a pendulum from "(Prescription) Drugs are the answer!" to "Drugs are the problem!" and back again. But the human brain, particularly the hormone-drenched, synapse-blazing, fast-growing adolescent brain, is far too complicated for such a binary mentality.

I also think it's far to easy to say "Big Pharma's to blame!", especially in this scenario, when "Big Pharma" was backing away from these teens.

Here's some exercise equipment you can get your kids without getting a second mortgage or a therapist:

1. A ball. A big, soft, bouncy ball. That doesn't require a team or special skills to kick, throw, roll or chase after.

2. A jumprope. Short for single jumpers, longer for trios. You could also try a Chinese jumprope. They work on kitchen chairs when your friends can't come over to play.

3. A non-stationary bicycle or tricycle. Not one with 18 gears and all-terrain tires, but one that works in the driveway or the park.

4. A rug or mat long enough for summersaults and other tumbling. (Grass works too).

5. A parent or care-giver to play with.

No atheletic ability needed. Average- or slightly less-than-average coordiation is fine. No coaches or personal trainers. No teams. No recitals. No exhibitions.

They're toys.

"They (dogs) are other nations."

Dog nations?

Really?

What else goes on on her world?

I'm not saying "I have the answer! Everyone get medicated!"

I'm saying that ignoring that facet of the issue presents an incomplete picture of the phenemonon.

Iraq looks downright peaceful.

Would they really vote for any current Democratic candidate?

Aren't we mostly talking W's base?

Should we really worry too much about winning them over?

Or should we focus on the group of Republicans who are (at last) disillusioned with W?

Would those folks refuse for a black man, or a woman, or a Democrat?

At the risk of sounding humorless:

Q: "What sort of male behavior would be such that women would cringe in fear that their sexuality and indeed identity could be crushed?"

A: rape

BTW, I think this nutcracker is funny. I'm getting one for my Republican Dad for Christmas. And one for me for Tuesady.

I sent him the link. His reply: shouldn't they be brass instead of stainless steel?

"what is prompting teenagers to commit suicide?

Feminists think its drugs, the economy, the war in Iraq, or anything but feminism."

Since feminism has been around for 30-40 years as a serious social movement, and teen suicide has been on the decline for the past 15 years, I don't see how you can take yourself seriouly.