Letters posted here are associated with the following Salon Premium Member:

Marianna Trench

Published Letters: 338
Editor's Choice: 37

Wednesday, January 11, 2006 12:40 PM

Relevance

I generally don't pay a whole lot of attention to celebrity news, but the apparent reason behind this famous divorce struck a chord with me, a childfree woman who has seen many couples of my acquaintance in conflict over when, and if, to have children. People don't seem to understand that this is an area in which there is little or no compromise. If you're thinking about getting married, make sure you're both on the same page. It will save you a lot of trouble down the line. Some folks do change their minds and become eager to parent, but you just can't count on that, and it's morally reprehensible to try. Even if they give in to keep the peace, they could end up being distant and uninvolved, and who would want a child to have one parent who wasn't really engaged with them? Let's face it, folks: some people--and there are more of them than you would like to believe--really would rather have a career than a child--and it has nothing to do with economics or lack of maturity.

Jennifer Aniston generally isn't on my radar most of the time, but I had to respect her for not giving in to that pressure. She should be held up as an example of a woman who didn't give in to cultural pressure. If she does decide to have children in the future, it will, hopefully, be in her own sweet time, in a relationship in which she can imagine sharing parenting. And if she really doesn't want to--and doesn't give in to the pressure to show up on the cover of Good Housekeeping with a little expensively-dressed and egregiously-named accessory--I may just start watching her movies simply because she's a kindred spirit. Katharine Hepburn had a mind of her own, too.

Thursday, January 12, 2006 08:11 PM

Of course, if Condoleeza Rice had married and reproduced...

we wouldn't be subjected to her whiny apologetics for the administration, or HER INCOMPETENCE IN THE DAYS BEFORE 9-11.

Sigh...I miss Madeleine Albright, a woman with a spine and a brain.

Thursday, January 12, 2006 08:18 PM

dinner whores and the men who date them...

deserve each other. And most are, in the end, probably perfectly happy with the transaction. One gets a swanky night out; the other gets an armful of eye candy.

If you're whining about this situation, you probably wouldn't be able to afford a dinner whore anyway.

Friday, January 13, 2006 04:24 PM

What will the anti-choice do...

when they're up the spout, themselves?

Roe v. Wade ceased to affect me permanently the day my husband got his lab tests back indicating that he was shooting blanks. While I'm still deeply concerned for those women and girls who didn't demand an end to abortion rights and who will bear the brunt of a reversal at the hands of the Supreme Court, there's one group for whom I will shed no tears nor lose any sleep. That would be those anti-choice protesters who, while they shrieked for Roe v. Wade to be overturned, waved pictures of bloody fetuses, made their children carry signs saying I'm Glad My Mommy Didn't Abort Me, and engaged in all kinds of hysterical and embarrassing theatrics outside clinics, were surreptitiously taking advantages of the services those clinics had to offer. Read these stories (http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/articles/anti-tales.shtml) and pick your jaw up off the floor.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006 08:38 AM

William McKinley

was one of the most corrupt, incompetent presidents the U.S. has ever endured. No wonder Fox thinks defacing his statue is a scandal.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006 08:50 AM

what really grates on me...

is the way Stahl worded that question. I could see asking how her own parenting experience informed her television role--not a stellar question, but a reasonable one--but to ask her if "being a mommy" (not a mother, mind you, but a MOMMY) is the "best experience of her life" is a deeply condescending and insulting question to ask any professional. Can you imagine asking Paul Newman or Clint Eastwood that question? (Does Clint Eastwood even HAVE children? I don't even know!)

Oh, but the look on her face when Huffman bit her head off was priceless. I've never seen Huffman in anything--don't watch TV, haven't seen her movie--but in me she's got a new fan.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006 08:55 AM

uh, yeah...about that homophobia thing...

I wouldn't want my husband ogling other men, either...

Wednesday, January 18, 2006 09:07 AM

thank you, cosmicmojo

Finally, on the last page, SOMEONE brings up the power issue.

It's not about people widely separated by age having sex, regardless of which gender the older one is. It's about the fact that these are CHILDREN, and the adults are authority figures, people they're supposed to be able to trust to look after their interests, and people who hold the future of those children in their hands. Regardless of what you may read in the Penthouse forum, sexual awakening is NOT in the same category as Algebra II.

That said, why is it more titillating, or scandalous, to hear about a female teacher seducing a male student? It's as creepy as a male teacher seducing a female student, or a male student, or whatever. No more, no less.

Thursday, January 19, 2006 10:10 AM

My husband is a big fan of Kathleen Turner

...precisely because she always plays a grownup. He also thinks that Diana Rigg is sexier now than when she was in "The Avengers." I think he'll be sorry to hear that Turner won't be doing any more American films. I hope she shows up on the European screen at some point in the near future.

Oh, by the way: he's 35 and is utterly bored by most younger actresses.

Friday, January 20, 2006 09:15 AM

Maybe it's Bin Laden, not the tape, that we should be looking at...

He's the administration's Emmanuel Goldstein. Enemy of the people, a complete invention of the Powers That Be that provides a lightning rod for collective hatred...and, consequently, in his mouth all the most reasonable oppositional arguments suddenly sound demonic. Oh, Bin Laden sure is a useful tool, and has been since that horrible day four Septembers ago. The U. S. originally created him, after all, and now the government may be keeping him alive for useful purposes. Maybe his escape from Tora Bora wasn't entirely due to incompetence.

Most Active Letters Threads

438

The Washington establishment suffers a serious defeat

Approval of the Paul/Grayson bill to audit the Fed is both rare and important in several ways
415

The administration guts its own argument for 9/11 trials

If some detainees get military commissions or indefinite detention, how can 9/11 trials be justified?
271

Rule-of-law extremism engulfs primitive Eastern Europe

Why would the new President of Lithuania demand investigations of CIA black sites in her country?
226

A letter to readers

On my current condition: Definitely treatable, definitely uncertain
179

More GOP lies about healthcare reform

Republicans who know better falsely claim that the panel recommending fewer mammograms is a Dem plan for rationing

View all »

Letters Help

Currently in Salon