Letters to the Editor
melthough
Published Letters: 1264 Editor's Choice: 102
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@Parson jim
[Read the article: What's so funny about abusive girlfriends?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You say that "Where domestic violence is concerned, women are a legally privileged class. People make fun of female-instigated violence, whether against boys or men, because they are uncomfortable about it, and it is taboo in our society."
And I agree with you. The part that bothers me is that you keep blaming feminism for this phenomenon, when it is actually a relic of a strict patriarchal system in which women and children were in the same category of privilege/ownership. (Remember women and children first?) Taking advantage of that system to get what you want is not feminism.
If feminism were causing female-instigated violence, then women like me, in happily egalitarian relationships, would be the ones hitting/hating/killing our husbands.
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So, I think what I see looking through these posts is...
[Read the article: What's so funny about abusive girlfriends?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]1. The self-described feminists (NOW in CA aside, since I still haven't seen a link to that factoid) see domestic violence and verbal abuse of men by women as WRONG.
2. The Usual Suspects (and a few new feminazi bitch-haters or whatever the kids are calling themselves these days) think women are scum and ought to be hit back.
Now we know why Broadsheet doesn't cover this topic that much, P. Jim. I mean, I'm glad they are, but it certainly isn't solving the dysfunctional comments-section problem.
And please post a link to NOW's statement about shelters for men. I don't want to support them if they are really against such shelters, but I prefer to read their opinion on the matter for myself. Thanks.
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"That's up to you and your loved ones."
[Read the article: Pick your pretty poison]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]OMG, I snarfed my coffee.
I have not worn makeup or perfume or shaved my body since high school, but giving up ALL toiletries seems a little excessive, even to me. I use Dr. Bronner's soap and some fancy organic shampoo because it's the only one I could find without lavendar oil (which makes me sneeze, as do the solvents used to add artificial fragrances).
Not everyone cares what's in their stuff, but there are a LOT of people have reactions to chemicals and don't know it and can't stop reacting to everything without buying their stuff at an expensive health food store. I think people should make their own hygiene choices based on what they like and can use without getting ill - and I think it would be great if the labeling were a little more controlled. However, considering how such 'controls' often make us feel safe when we're not, maybe it's best to proceed with caution anyway. Most people with weird sensitivities (and there are more and more of us, what with the weirder stuff people are putting in our food and other products) already know to do this. I wish more people with tight budgets had the luxury of paying attention, though, to the sneaky ingredients in both toiletries and food. The poor often just have to endure being ill all the time. It's like we live in a feudal society or something. It makes me sick.
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I too am getting annoyed
[Read the article: Who needs a Prius anyway?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]by articles that compare the mid-size Prius to subcompact cars. It looks small from the outside, but as many people say to us when our family of five starts to climb out, "Oh my God, it's like a clown car!" There is a LOT of space in that thing. Our last car was a 4-speed Civic hatchback. It was an awesome car, got 50 mpg on many highway trips, but it was much smaller than our Prius. We bike and walk frequently but we also drive a few times a week, and we average 48 mpg despite cold Vermont weather and lots of mountains. I don't know how these people who are getting less than 40 are managing that (running the AC constantly?). But if you want to compare Prius numbers to the numbers of other cars, you have to actually do a real-life study with groups of people who have similar driving habits driving different cars. You know, like, um, SCIENCE. If our Prius is not cool, that's something I definitely want to know, and I went into it with an open mind. But I am totally unconvinced by this article. I was looking forward to this series, but I hope future articles will involve more than a cursory internet search by the journalist in question. More scientific science writing, please.
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Anonymous, you don't have to be an exhibitionist about it.
[Read the article: Is there such a thing as a healthy tan? ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Scroll down on the main page for Broadsheet's tip line.
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Chemicals and pills vs. sunshine
[Read the article: Is there such a thing as a healthy tan? ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am skeptical. People have been basking in the sun for millions of years and using sunblock and Vitamin D pills for less than a hundred. Sure, a few people have also probably been dying of sun cancer for millions of years. But personally, I'll take the risk of my skin overreacting to sunlight so I can produce my own Vitamin D over the risk of replacing my native systemic self-protections with chemical ones that someone is trying to sell me.
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What they taught us in Catholic high school
[Read the article: Plan B, RU-486 -- same difference, right?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]is that even the regular old birth control pill can keep an embryo from implanting if there is a failure and ovulation occurs. I don't even know if that's true, but we were taught that this made it an abortofacient - so as far as the Pope is concerned, there is only one kind of Pill here, and no matter how many names it has, it's still an abortion. I agree that Reuters reporting about this without actually trying to define the medical terms is pretty ridiculous, though. Is Reuters Catholic? (And does the Pope shit in the woods?)
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NFP prevents implantation?
[Read the article: Plan B, RU-486 -- same difference, right?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What on earth are you talking about, Pyrian?