Letters to the Editor
Chris_C
Published Letters: 105 Editor's Choice: 4
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Predictable Response
[Read the article: Strong, silent, sick?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If an inequality favors men, it's a problem men have to address, if an inequality favors women, it's a problem men are to blame for.
Was I supposed to register for the Patriarchy when I sent in my Selective Service card?
I'm still waiting for Salon to start up 'Dudesheet' or 'Fathers Who Think'.
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Alas!
[Read the article: Female circumcision? Not in Eritrea]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Had they let this continue, there might someday have been a series of questionable studies that attempt to prove a slight health benefit which would then have justified the practice.
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Twins
[Read the article: Birth certificates for stillbirth?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Friends of mine are expecting a daughter in August. The ultrasounds have revealed a twin is present, and that that twin died somewhere around 10 weeks, but hasn't been reabsorbed or ejected.
I'm all for giving grieving parents what they want or need in terms of paperwork, but I'm wary of anything that thrust this sad shadow over what will (with a bit of luck) be a joyful experience for my friends.
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IVF + Premature Births
[Read the article: Self-fertilizing females to take over the world]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Mom's not needed for the first three days after conception and we're getting better at keeping premature babies alive after the 24 week mark, with some surviving from the 21 weeks. Move those two fields a little farther together, and you don't need Mom at all.
I'm betting we see both female-only conception and male-only within our lifetimes.
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Slant
[Read the article: Hijab banned from girls' sports event]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It does seem a little suspect that the hijab has been suddenly deemed a "safety hazard." To be clear, we aren't talking about a full face veil, but a scarf that covers the girls' hair and neck. If you question whether the hijab allows for athleticism, consider award-winning Bahraini sprinter Ruqaya Al Ghasara, who wears a head scarf and full bodysuit. Or, check out this photo of some rough-and-tumble female footballers.
It does not seem a little suspect. If this group allowed the scarves in previous years and banned them now, doesn't that also suggest that they've had saftey problems with them in the past but gave them a chance before deeming them a hazard?
As for the examples of other athletes wearing form-fitting head and body gear, does Salon know if that's what the competitors were actually wearing?
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Go for the throat.
[Read the article: Take to the phones!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]As I've said more than once,we need a punchier, less eenie-meenie sounding word than "choice" to begin with; it's essential liberties and very lives, not just "options," that hang in the balance.... Ideas?
Go straight for the most inflammatory possible name, the one which you have to be sub-human to object to :
The Maternal Death Prevention Act.
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Cost
[Read the article: Would-be pilots grounded by wives!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The article skips and jumps around the main point - flying got expensive, and the vast majority of Americans can't afford expensive things anymore.
They'd have a more compelling article if they dropped the gender roles and replaced it with real-wage stagnation, the growing concentration of wealth, and the evaporation of financial security that used to be provided by reliable health care, pensions, and savings.
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Doula, pronounced 'dew-la'
[Read the article: Ricki Lake's "awesome" vagina]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What on earth is a doula? -- Anonymous
A doula is a birthing coach, usually an older woman experienced in everything that's going to happen. People who work as doulas can be nurses, or midwives as well. Their role is something akin to a patient advocate, seeing to the mother's physical and emotional comfort when the medical professionals are more concerned with her and the babies' health.
Our birthing class was taught by one. My snarky opinion from our one time through the whole deal was that a doula is a stand-in for a woman whose partner and mother are both either uninterested or not competent to hold her hand during labor. They are not to be confused with a doulie, which is a pickup truck with double tires on the rear axle for hauling heaving loads.
They say the baby has to go to the nursery now, or the mom has to rest, or the baby has to go to NICU [neonatal intensive care unit]. And the baby doesn't have to go to the nursery."
When they sent our daughter off to the NICU immediately after she was born, my wife propelled me out of the room to follow, which was *not* where I wanted to be. My top two choices at that point were 'be with my wife for the first moment of peace in 48 hours' and 'sleep in that really uncomfortable chair-thing'. 'Follow the thing was expelled' was not something I had contemplated.
One of the memories I'll keep forever of that day is of walking the little tupperware cart with the baby in it down the hall and thinking, "I didn't follow her appendix when they took that out. Why am I walking away now?"
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Let's use this hysteria
[Read the article: Is virtual rape a crime?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Can we use this hysteria to go after spam emailers? By the watered-down definition of 'rape' being used here, my email inbox is getting violated a couple of times an hour.
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His Day in Court
[Read the article: Does sex through fraud constitute rape?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]so for purposes of their decision, they ignored that the defendant had testified that the complainant had in fact invited him to her room.
Which brings up an interesting counterpoint. If *his* testimony is true and she's lying, what was her crime? As it stands, her story was taken to trial against him, when will his story be taken to trial against her?
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Same Assumptions Every Time.
[Read the article: Does acting like "one of the boys" make you more likely to be harassed?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The same assumptions with every study, men are the harassers, women are the harassed.
Anyone who would sexually harass their coworkers isn't listening, and any men reading this article are going to be (as I am) offended more than persuaded.
Salon needs a Dudesheet.
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Yeah.
[Read the article: Big trouble in rural China]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yes, medical research prior to 1990 (or so) was performed mostly on men, but it wasn't becuase mens' health was a priority, it was becuase medical experimentation on women of childbearing age was considered unethical. Experimentation on children and the elderly is also considered unethical, which left adult males as the only practical choice.
...
Salon's a terrific source of information, and provides though-provoking coverage (with a left leaning editorial view) on a large range of issues. Where Salon falls down flat is on gender issues. It's almost as if Salon doesn't believe anyone can be liberal *and* male.
Salon needs a Dudesheet. This letter area is proof positive of that.