Letters to the Editor
Christopher1988
Published Letters: 569 Editor's Choice: 40
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Not So Sure,
[Read the article: Sexing up grade school]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Fun femininity, as I remember it at that age, meant going to town on a T-shirt with some pink puff paint and my brand-new Bedazzler. There might have been the occasional raiding of Mom's makeup case, but the end goal was to laugh at the silliness of a little girl playing grown-up.
Both my nieces were, from an early age, really interested in makeup and were constantly in my mother (their grandmother) 's makeup drawer. They were definately interested in emmulating the grown up women they saw around them, which is not surprising at all. Of course, they had no clue how to put it on, and it looked silly to us, but I think they took it quite seriously.
And I should add these weren't overy "girly" girls, either. One is a rambunctious archery and karate athelete. The other likes riding horses and excells in scholarly persuits. They neither of them wanted to live as princesses, though they had (have?) a bit of that in them. I think they went through pretty normal phases, and I suspect the Barbie makeup is planned as a part of that. To be discarded in favor of bikes or computer games or whatever comes next in a girl's development.
Do I think little girls need to start wearing makeup at grammar school age? No. But I also suspect Mattel is planning something far more innocuous than "sexing up grade school," which strikes me as an overly alarmist headline.
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Err...I don't know...
[Read the article: Her sexy T-shirt says "Kitty Not Happy" -- is that OK at work?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Wearing a t-shirt to work at an office is inappropriate. A man who work a t-shirt saying "John Thomas Not Happy" would probably be in trouble (even if the slogan were underneath a drawing of two early presidents, Adams and Jefferson, frowning). The "Kitty Not Happy" shirt is unquestionably bringing sexual matter into the office, which I think every and all offices these days have policies against. That she intended this was pretty much verified when she responded "You sound sexy when you speak French." Imagine a female co-worker complaining that a male was being too sexually explicit in his apparel, and his responding with that line, and what that would cost him!
LW goes way too far with the slapping comment. But that aside, he makes a somewhat good point. The mitigating factor is, of course, that the office supervisor is not complaining and thus it's a non-issue.
I like Cary's response as an independant editorial. I agree with him, kinda sorta (the business world sucks, even though I don't think businesses should be made into democracies, or are the appropriate places to wage culture wars). But I don't think he really answered the guy's question.
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AKA Smith,
[Read the article: Her sexy T-shirt says "Kitty Not Happy" -- is that OK at work?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Jumping ahead, so maybe someone already answered your question to me. "John Thomas" is a slang term for "penis." I think it's primarily a British term, though. (I'm not British, by the way.) D.H. Lawrence's early draft of Lady Chatterley's Lover is published under the title, John Thomas and Lady Jane, which is, I think, the title an aquaintence gave the book when he or she was offended by it.
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Cosmic Mojo,
[Read the article: Her sexy T-shirt says "Kitty Not Happy" -- is that OK at work?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]it's a generation gap
Gen Xers use Kitty to mean "young sassy woman."
Look at blogs: I quickly scanned blogs written by Cyber Kitty, Smart Kitty, Blog Kitty, Syrofoam Kitty, etc.
It just means "girl". A sassy, confidant girl.
It does not mean vayaya in this culture.
In the genX culture, it means SASSY GIRL.
so you get tee shirts saying "Kitty not Happy", "Drama Queen","I Brake for Shoe Sales", etc. IT's just part of the Sassy Drama Queen Gen X culture.
get over it LW
-- Cosmic Mojo
I'm Gen X and I took it to mean her vagina, specifically because when the LW said it was a double entendre, the girl didn't say "Get a grip" or even just roll her eyes. She played up the sexual implications of her shirt by saying he was sexy when he spoke French. Yes, "kitty" often means what you say it does. But she seems to have intended the meaning that LW found.
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JP Noel rocks, by the way.
[Read the article: Her sexy T-shirt says "Kitty Not Happy" -- is that OK at work?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Best response I've read.
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You're welcome, AKA Smith
[Read the article: Her sexy T-shirt says "Kitty Not Happy" -- is that OK at work?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]By the way, the "John Thomas" reference isn't in Lady Chatterley, or even the early version I referred to. It was just he showed the book to someone, and that person got offended and commented, "You should call it John Thomas and Lady Jane." At least, I think that was how it went. Not sure if Lawrence actually considered using it afterwards, or if that was an editorial choice when it was posthumously published. I know another title Lawrence considered was Tenderness.
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Finally!
[Read the article: Rabbit Bites: Oh the horror!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Missed those bunnies. This wasn't a great one, but I was happy to see them, and Chou begging her shrink for drugs was great.
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Of course,
[Read the article: How to give a great man-to-man hug]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]the lessons on kissing passionately and man-to-man hugging teach nothing (the latter is a little more instructive than the former), but they are amusing. It's funny how that sort of traditional humor plays better with a British accent. I wonder if a similar thing holds true for the British when they hear old fashioned jokes in an American accent?