Think of it this way.

Making and selling those clothes will help those women support themselves, rather than rely on public services -- or return to their husbands.

Economic self-sufficiency is a powerful thing. How do you keep them down on the farm once they've had their own checking account?

I don't see how you can generalize like that.

But if you're still suffering from regrets over making use of a medical procedure you're trying to deny to other women, may I suggest -- and I mean this in all seriousness -- therapy?

Unless, of course, you find sentimental and political attitudinizing more constructive than restoring yourself to a sound foundation of self-esteem.

I think making fun of these women is a bad idea.

First, I do think that economic self-sufficiency might be useful in more ways than getting them off the welfare rolls.

Second, I think making fun of them is the sort of thing that could be spun by the usual suspects into an elitist liberal conspiracy against good country people (and if you've read Flannery O'Connor's story by that title, you'll know how sarcastic I'm being).

Third, and most important. I think those of them who have never known anything else are defending the only way of life they know. I think the others are brainwashed/suffering Stockholm Syndrome. And making fun of people in that condition makes me feel slightly nauseated.

Don't do it. It's like throwing rocks at puppies.

I can only hope that, separated from their abusers, these women will learn the difference between "their" (or earned) money and money that is "bestowed" on them.

I am hoping for subtle changes.

I'm rarely this optimistic, but when I bet on money, I'm seldom disappointed.

I am an expert in:

English and American literature and language, especially Arthurian scholarship.

Explaining the arcana of hedge funds, asset allocation, and other financial subjects in ways that are accurate, compliant, and nonthreatening to readers.

Mastering an urban-survival course similar to Outward Bound, with competences in job-searching, networking, affordable housing and creating a comfortable lifestyle on a budget.

Writing fiction and nonfiction, especially SF and fantasy.

Being a superb audience for the arts, especially opera.

Understanding internet communities after 20 years online.

Shopping: if you want it, I -will- find it.

Hunting trolls and flaming them.

Being modest. (If you believe THAT one...)

Thanks for the opportunity...

I checked out the website.

For children's clothes, those garments (and Garments) are rather steeply priced. I'm not talking kiddy-couture prices, but I am comparing them with some of the other "modest clothing" websites I've looked at.

WHY have I looked at them? Because, for me, clothes are sign systems, and I'm curious about what they communicate.

But $60 for a modest young girl's nightgown and robe? That may be nothing at Saks or in the upscale catalogs, but it's much more than on comparable sites.

I hate it when I don't get to be optimistic.

I think Thomas Beatie has done a brave, risky, and loving thing, and I hope he and his wife have a healthy baby.

For Bernbart and MaBelle.

Thank God for common sense.

Congratulations to the mother, the father, and the daughter. I hope the new baby is healthy and loved.

And not singled out by fools.

That's a wedding announcement?

I don't know which predominates: the smug, or the weird.

The etiquette mavens must be rolling in their graves.

The statues are well-executed, but I just think it's weird.

So what if I had big white sneaker-feet every day but the one on which I attended a Papal Audience. I had to see as much as I could of a city about which I had dreamed and studied my whole life.

I saw a little. I sensed a lot more. I kept getting brought up short: names I knew, absolutely numinous places, were stops on the subway. The stones felt like the hardest pavement I have ever felt. It was impossible to find a bad meal, and I didn't try. It's hot, it's crowded, it's beautiful, it's hard to deal with, and I would go back next week if I had time and money to do so.

I was stunned. Today's Romans and the Romani...they're still present; I sensed them, and you can see them in the faces around you.

No point pretending one is anything but what one is: they're Romans, which is to say, they're not stupid. It's pale, it wears big sneakers, it walks around looking as if it's being given a phenomenal treat; and if that's not enough, they can read body language.

They couldn't have been better hosts, either. And the tourists I ran into in the Piazza Navone were perfectly well-behaved.

I'd be scared to poison the fish.

Sure, I know what he's talking about, although not, thank God, from experience.

He's got a wife, a family, a house, his health, and a by-line at one of the most prestigious papers in the world.

A woman who'd gone through his problems would have gotten an insufficient monthly check and all the lectures they'd force her to her knees to swallow.

He's thankful that a combination of ability, determination and privilege saved him from that. It does him credit, in my opinion.

The system's assumptions -are- sexist. That's what David Carr is saying.

Could a woman have done it? Some have. But given a system whose assumptions are skewed, it's that much harder.

Were you reading a different quote, a different Kzin, or are you simply popping up here to fuss?

I don't know where you live, but where I live, we're having a heatwave, and it's almost too hot to bother.