Had an AWESOME response to a letter from a reader. The reader wanted to know why the clothing, liquor, and other toys that they featured in the mag were so darn expensive? How about a fashion spread with stuff that the average guy could afford? Playboy wrote back that they featured that stuff for the same reason they featured smoking hot naked models... BECAUSE IT'S A FANTASY! Just as the Average Joe has no chance of affording a $350k Ferrari, he doesn't have a chance with the centerfold either, but it's nice to fantasize.

Sign me up! Equal opportunities for all!

I have zero libido and I LOVE it! I'm totally in control of myself at all times and I have so much more free time to do stuff I really want to do. So, while I applaud the researchers for turning their attention to something that apparently bothers some women (or perhaps more realistically the men they are involved with?!), I am not interested.

Kind of interesting that the story that follows is about doctors being able to refuse abortions and sterilization though.

That's what really got me. I'm with Toni Michael and CeliainSF on this one. My GYN refuses to sterilize me and won't refer me to someone who will. So I'm stuck calling doctors that accept my insurance and asking if they'll do it. No one will. WTF?! If I accidentally get pregnant, I'm not having it... don't they want to prevent abortions?!

I am a woman who is actually good at math, despite a mother who showed lilttle interest and a father who is to this day completely intimidated by anything other than basic math.

My parents were visiting me when I was in grad school and my father espied my calculus book. "How are you ever going to pass that class?!", he exclaimed.

Somehow, despite the overwhelming "support", I managed to ace the course!

I'm not saying it's a good idea or a bad idea. I am offering an observation.

I have been a section 8 landlord for many many years. I own 4 properties that I rent to section 8 voucher holders. 2 of those properties are rented out to elderly widows. The other 2 are rented out to single mothers. One has 4 kids on her voucher, ranging in age from 14 to 2. She's 26, so do the math on that 14 year old. The other one has 5 kids on her voucher, but every time I go over there, there are literally swarms of kids.

Where are the fathers? Why does the taxpayer have to prop these women up? They have zero incentive to get married, because then they would lose their benefits; however, there is always a man around. He gets a free place to crash in exchange for providing cash for things like a plasma TV, a nice car, meals out, etc.

A prior tenant had custody of her nephew. Her 2 daughters were grown, and she told me that she needed to keep her voucher because she's never paid for rent and doesn't ever plan on it.

The system is broken. For the moment, since I am benefitting from this broken system, I'm not too upset about it. But it IS broken and the taxpayer should be mad. Is forcing these women to have their tubes tied the answer? Probably not, but there has to be some solution.

Not only do they have no incentive to get married, they have no incentive to stop having kids! Once the kids are grown, the gravy train stops.

Best. Idea. EVER!

Schmoker, I don't believe that compelling these women to marry the men who have impregnated them will solve any problems. My point was just that the fathers of these children have no responsibility, and the system in fact encourages the men to be irresponsible and the women to not demand responsibility from them.

Also, to Laurel's point - many low income women WANT to have children. It's not that the pregnancies were unplanned because of lack access to birth control. For many women, children are a source of unconditional love that they don't get at home. Children are their sense of self-worth.

So, to that end, yes, education is the key. If low income women have other options, breeding without forethought becomes less attractive.

But those changes can take a LONG time - firmly entrenched mores have to be overcome. So in the meantime, what's the solution?

He made me feel safe.

I have felt so alienated over the Palin frenzy. The thought of McCain and Palin in the White House literally makes me sick.

But last night, listening to Joe, I felt, just for a moment, that everything would be alright.

I have been on the Pill more or less continuosly for the past 15 years. I will never give it up, even if my doctor relents and ties my tubes already. Those Pill free years were marked by crushing prementstrual depression, horrific breakouts, bloating, cramps, constipation, "leaks" at wildly inappropriate and embarassing times. No thanks! I'll take control! Through a combination of the Pill and a very heavy running schedule, I have managed to completely elminate my period (even during the placebo pills).

I don't even use the Pill for birth control. I get laid so rarely, I just stick to condoms and kill two birds with one stone (disease prevention AND birth control).

Does anyone else find it amusing that the health researcher's name is Linda BACON? All I could think about while reading the article was bacon.

I have zero libido and I'm fine with it. In fact, I feel a somewhat smug superiority that I have total control over myself. To me, sex is embarassing, sloppy and denigrating... like being the one person at the buffet that can't stop eating! I have SO MUCH MORE free time to do other stuff! It's great. But, according to the "norm", I am dysfunctional.