Letters to the Editor
melthough
Published Letters: 1264 Editor's Choice: 102
-
@Tyler_Mason
[Read the article: Battle over embryos]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Plan B works by preventing ovulation or fertilization. Failing that, it can also prevent implantation in some cases. http://www.go2planb.com/ForConsumers/AboutPlanB/HowItWorks.aspx
The Pill can do that too; that's why anti-choice people are against it - at least ostensibly. Of course, they seldom address the fact that at least 10% of fertilized eggs naturally fail to implant.... Where do all those little 'souls' end up, anyway? Unless you believe in reincarnation, it sounds like rather a waste of human life.
People used to think the souls of babies were in the semen (hence the Christian prohibition against spilling 'seed' upon the ground - which in the Jewish text was the wrong thing for Onan to do for entirely different reasons). Understandings change.
I know the people you are talking about - those very intense, wonderful social justice folks who are also against the death penalty and war. I am related to several. I used to be one, as a super-Catholic teenager. But the people the posters are talking about are not these well-meaning folks who really want to find wombs for all the frozen embryos in fertility clinics. They are talking about hypocritical politicians who use the rhetoric of respecting human life to win over real Christians in order to finance and advance their hateful, destructive agenda. They respect nothing except power. That's why they like the idea of God so much.
-
Broken links
[Read the article: The word "rape" banned from courtroom]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The links to the low-fat yogurt article didn't work for me. Can you re-post, please?
-
If you're tired of reading about rape
[Read the article: Thailand recognizes marital rape]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]perhaps you should read a different blog. Or just read the topics you enjoy reading about - that's what the headlines or for, to help you pick. This blog isn't to everyone's taste. When the writers discuss lipstick, people start shrieking about how there are all these real women's issues in the world and who cares about lipstick. When they talk about rape, people are mad that this blog is such a downer, talking about real women's issues all the time.... I don't get it. Start your own blog if you don't like this one. Then you can feel firsthand what it's like to have the public nitpicking about your topics, your politics, your journalistic skills, your responsiveness to readers, and what a stupid bitch you are, 24/7, ad nauseum, without any of the sensitivity we normally afford people when we are in a real conversation with other humans. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?
-
@watch_this_space
[Read the article: Thailand recognizes marital rape]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You are assuming that people are posting "their best" thoughts in good faith. Keep reading, and you will get thoroughly sick of the trolls too. Critically thought-out criticism is one thing. The constant barrage of proclaiming every single Broadsheet post trash starts to get under your skin after a while. I'm merely suggesting that those posters who think Broadsheet is trash could find better uses for their time. They don't need to love it, but they obviously have no respect for it at all and only come here to pick on people. If they really would "give it their best" instead of randomly calling names and posting about their pet anti-feminist topics when it's not even relevant, we would all be better off.
-
The thing that worries me about this
[Read the article: Domestic violence vs. deportation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]is the language " if the officer seeking such information has probable cause to believe that the individual is not lawfully present in the United States." Because for many people, the fact that someone has a dark tan or an accent constitutes "probable cause." What would legitimately give you "probable cause" to think someone is "not lawfully present" in the U.S.? That she didn't have a Green Card tattooed on her forehead?
While I can see the inherent 'justice' of this law on principle - i.e., if it comes to a police officer's attention that someone is doing something illegal, they are generally obliged to do something about it - in practice, it is terribly unjust. This is like imprisoning addicts instead of rich kingpins. When are we going to start holding employers of illegal immigrants responsible and start forcing them to help solve the immigration problem? No, not gonna happen, because the rich and powerful benefit too much from having a labor force with no rights. So we play good cop/bad cop with the workers' lives. It is just sick.
-
@brightstar
[Read the article: Domestic violence vs. deportation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I fully support a Violence Against Men act. There's not nearly enough violence against men - especially perpetrated by women - so I think the government should really get out there and promote that more. Great point!
Just kidding. But really, dear. If you actually read some feminist theory you would probably agree with it. The fundamental principle is that gender restrictions make it harder for BOTH men AND women to realize wholeness. A lot of other things come up in discussions of this - particularly the many ways in which women are institutionally more weakened than men are by cultural and legal gender restrictions - and maybe there is too much bitching about how women aren't getting what they need because men are taking it for themselves. Not the best use of feminist energy, if you are too single-minded about it. But aren't you just counter-bitching about the same thing? Why not do some serious feminist research instead of just reading this surface-scratching news blog? Then come back and argue against the superficiality from your knowledge of fundamental feminist principles.
Well, no, I guess grousing is just easier. Not productive, but definitely easier.