I don't get why everybody says hyphenating is such a pain. My husband and I both kept our birth names, but we did hyphenate our children's names. It can be slightly annoying to spell them over the phone, but that's a problem we've both always had anyway. Unless your name is Smith or Jones, you probably have too. Luckily, we live in a culture where we almost never have to spell anything over the phone anymore. Hooray for the Internets!

I know people who have both changed to unhyphenated and hyphenated last names, people who took the other's name as a middle name, people who both changed to the man's name, people who both changed to the woman's name, AND people who changed nothing at all (but then you have to decide how to name your children, as we did).

I don't look down on women who change their names, but it really is a pain to change all the legal stuff. If you don't have flexible work hours or don't want to spend your honeymoon standing in lines, keep your name. In particular, the idea of changing my social security records after years of working gave me the creeps. Whatever you do, don't base your decision on what other people (either traditionalists OR feminists) want or expect; that's no way to live. You should do what feels right to you. That's REAL feminism anyway.

"Empirical evidence" was your own term; why put it in those accusatory quotation marks?

Anyway, I *said* I was interested in it if you had it. Apparently you do not.

Personally, I'm more interested in maltreatment of the poor in medical settings than I am in this ICU issue. I seriously doubt that anyone is plotting to kill off sick old ladies; and Lloyd's article implies nothing of the kind. In fact, her article explicitly suggests that there are cultural reasons *outside* the hospital for the disparity under discussion.

Unfortunately, for the poor this is not the case. They are discriminated against routinely by medical systems and practitioners. It is appalling.

This is what the second wave of feminism - and "the personal is political" - was all about, privateice. I hope your husband and kids can take care of the house, even if they can't take care of you.

Do you think what happened in that study happened because of gender politics? I'm more inclined to think it's just another case of individuals falling victim to standarization and statistics. Statistically, women are not expected to have heart disease - even though plenty of women always have had it; it's just not a typical female ailment. Science has done wonderful things for us, but it too easy for everyone - doctors included - to fall into the statistics trap that makes it difficult to see individual experience for what it is. What do you think?

I'm excited about this new section. And even more excited that Tim Grieve can go back to more of his great analyses of Washington rather than the campaigns.

As always, your first-hand knowledge of the Arab world is enlightening.

the nursing mothers who got similar treatment on airplanes didn't get deals with Playboy. Maybe because nursing isn't actually ... sexy? Who'd've thunk it.

I am old enough to remember seeing the MTV meet-and-greet between college students and another presidential candidate coincidentally named Clinton. The question then was "Boxers or briefs?" I was thoroughly disgusted.

Since then I have mellowed out a bit, but TV has gotten unbelievably worse. So I'm still just as disgusted when I catch snippets like this. I haven't had a TV for more than 15 years, and that MTV moment was one of the turning points. I don't know if the diamonds-or-pearls question is sexist, but it's stupid, and it was stupid of CNN to let someone ask it. Just like it was for MTV all those many, many years ago.

That question is so dumb it's almost as bad as "Human rights or national security?"

The word 'bitch' usually says more about the person who says it than it does about the person at whom they're directing the slur. I think the huge deal people (including, regrettably, Tim Grieve over at War Room) are making of this incident is a gigantic national equivalent of the nervous titter in junior high health class the first time the teacher says 'penis'.

Hillary has heard it all before. The main thing this enormous titter does is keep her name in the news. Like she needed it.

Any chance we can talk about John Edwards and why poverty is a women's issue? No, the headlines were already taken by some old biddy who used a naughty word. What a ridiculous country.

I did watch the ad, but I don't get the joke. Can you explain the basics for me? I don't think Huckabee is kidding when he says he will protect the 2nd amendment, right? And that really was Chuck Norris? I've seen several funny ads via Salon this season (Richardson's job interview, Edwards' use of the song "Hair"), so I don't think I'm comically bankrupt. I just don't get how this one is funny. Norris and Huckabee come off like awkward co-hosts of a late-night movie (e.g. Big Chuck and Little John if you're my age and from Ohio) instead of a comfortable straight-man/funny-man team. What am I missing?

I'm not sure, but I think _Allie_ was joking when she 'corrected' one sexist term with another one - perhaps to make fun of the fact that instead of talking about this woman as a candidate we're talking about her as ... as woman. Sigh.