Letters to the Editor
melthough
Published Letters: 1264 Editor's Choice: 102
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@Mr. Jones
[Read the article: Tonka trucks are made for boys!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't think you're expected to buy your kids toys they don't want. I had a friend who got her little boy a Barbie, and he bent it at the waist and aimed it at his mom and said, "BANG! BANG!"
But this heavily gendered marketing is SO 20th century. When I was a little girl, I was desperate for one of those electric car tracks that could make cars go up walls and upside-down. They even had girls in the commercial! But you're right - it's more complicated than token actresses. I asked for the toy for Xmas and my mom said cars were for boys. I never had a single toy car or truck.
My daughter loves playing with her baby doll AND her tractor. One of my sons is a total truck-and-train freak. My other son alternates between nurturing his animals and playing war games with them. I buy them toys I think they will like (which shakes out to some pretty girly stuff for my girl, very boy-y stuff for one boy, and gender-neutral-to-girly for the other boy), and I let them play as they please, as long as they don't hurt each other.
Yeah, boys are 'built different', but I don't think we need marketing campaigns - a major voice of authority if you're a kid - to point that out TO OUR CHILDREN. All my kids loooooove to get muddy, sticky, gooey, and sandy. And ALL of them are expected to help keep the house in reasonable order by cleaning up their own messes. Even the ones who stand up to pee. We get enough gender enforcement in life without help from Hasbro. And I am glad for the seven-millionth time that we don't have a TV.
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I appreciate the link, Pyrian
[Read the article: Plan B, RU-486 -- same difference, right?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]but the fact that the 'rhythm method' (are we talking about that or NFP - because they are two different things) might rely on embryonic death is interesting, but inconsequential. The issue is that an IUD causes embryonic death every time (we hope) because of human technology, whereas if an embryo dies because an ovum is too young or a sperm too old, that is God's choice.
Now, as a good little atheist, I see the whole thing as ridiculous. However, I don't think we can logically say NFP *causes* embryonic death anymore than just having sex causes it. This article is a potentially interesting way to point out the absurdity of Catholics' hair-splitting - but there are plenty of Catholics who already think NFP is wrong because you should let God plan your family anyway. So arguments like this aren't going to convince Catholics to use IUDs; they're only going to convince them that even natural family planning is wrong. Medical ethics my patoot!
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Mr. Jones again
[Read the article: Tonka trucks are made for boys!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I know what you mean about having little say in the matter. One of my sons would wear dresses every day if he could stand the pressure, but he can't. He used to ask for Barbies routinely (and it wasn't so he could pretend they were guns), and he still plays with his favorite doll, but that has to be a secret. I wish it didn't. :( I don't want a gender-neutral world, but I want a world that is safe for the border-crossers - which most human beings are, in one way or another.
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@Pyrian again
[Read the article: Plan B, RU-486 -- same difference, right?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree that keeping the naturally high embryo death rate (which is at MINIMUM 60%) in the discussion of 'life begins at conception' is really important. Even after I stopped being Catholic, I was uncomfortable with being pro-choice for a while, until I read enough to realize that 60-80% of embryos are getting bled out without implanting. While this fact still doesn't convince a hard-core Catholic that abortion is OK, it does change the nature of the discussion - kind of like the shift that took place when people finally realized that the baby was not already fully formed in the semen. The Church still doesn't think masturbation is OK, but at least they admit that spilling your seed upon the ground doesn't murder babies!
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Heckuva job, Colt
[Read the article: Cleric: Your sexy outfit is killing me!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The dark horse approaches from the shadows to add to the conversation ...
more bitter, resentful idiocy.
That was awfully helpful of you.
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Why HRC is my heroine even though I don't want to vote for her
[Read the article: Women at work and other stylistic concerns]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Assert yourself, but don't be emasculating; suppress your emotions, but don't act like a coldhearted witch; be nurturing, but not overly feminine; be respected or liked, but not both."
She's actually doing a pretty good job at this, and that's why she's in the running. I want to vote for John Edwards because I like his policies and I don't like hers (or what I presume are hers - sometimes hard to tell). I respect her - but don't like her! See what I mean?
It's annoying that the NYT ghettoizes the stories about women like this, but presumably they do it because they know most women read that section. Or, perhaps this story is actually INTERESTING (unlike most style pieces, IMHO) and therefore gets smart women with money to click through to clothing/makeup/weight loss ads they wouldn't see in the biz section.
But personally, I have lost ALL respect for the NYT - beginning with the plagiarism problems in the early 00s and ending with Judith Miller. What a pathetic excuse for a newspaper.
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For a minute there
[Read the article: Feminists want "vagina" all to themselves?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I was TOTALLY sure you were quoting some anonymous bozo from the comments section!
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Josh Marshall and Ezra Klein
[Read the article: Salon and Current TV]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]have started doing these too, and I find the home-video ambiance slightly painful. They just don't look like newscasters. Usually I would consider that a compliment, but there are just certain basics that aren't working for me here - like constant eye contact with the camera. I don't need slick, overproduced TV news - there's a big reason I don't have a TV at all and avoid TV on YouTube as much as possible - but I would like to feel like the anchor is as smart and grounded as their writing suggests they are, and instead they look shifty and nervous. Maybe somebody should start offering basic video newscasting workshops at Yearly Kos.