Letters posted here are associated with the following Salon Premium Member:

melthough

Published Letters: 1346
Editor's Choice: 103

Monday, November 6, 2006 03:22 AM

WTF?

Yeah, that's a really misleading assumption, that most rapists are men....

Jesus, where do these people come from?

LeCastor, I agree that pornography, in principle, could be part of a nutritious sexual breakfast, and I actually think it's good that the Internet has given everyone access to his or her favorite flavor. But mainstream porn in practice is worse than the worst TV. Just cookie-cutter crap that people know will sell because getting off is so damned easy when somebody thinks up a fantasy for you and you don't have to use your imagination.

Anyway, I'm not for banning porn - but 1) I think mainstream porn is even less pro-woman than most other mainstream media and 2) I think the study cited in Salon via Slate is purely fantastical bullshit.

I also think that Lafsky's "innocence" joke fell very, very flat (I am the mother of two innocent boys, ages 5 and 4, so I know they do exist, because I know you can be a sexual creature AND innocent at the same time, and I plan to teach them that you have to be careful about who you allow to think up your stories for you). And if I wanted to read Slate, I wouldn't have joined Salon, which is tons better. I also thought the piece on whatever that polyandrous marsupial was has no relevance to human sexuality, and if I want to read about celebrities' butts, I'll go to The Fix (another thing I don't waste my time on). So I hope Melissa Lafsky's guest writing either raises its standards a tad or ends soon.

Monday, November 6, 2006 06:50 AM

iconoclast,

I expect most people got the joke.

Maybe those who didn't were just afraid that they would be tested at the polls for their ability to understand irony. :)

Monday, November 6, 2006 07:49 AM

The analogy to junk food

is dead on. Porn does leave remnants in the body, though (insofar as the brain is part of the body). Just another mind-altering drug. I can't wait to see the porn version of Supersize Me!

Ew. Well, maybe I can....

Tuesday, November 7, 2006 04:39 PM

I took an exit poll today

It was on paper, just like my ballot.

Tuesday, November 7, 2006 05:02 PM

Also, Ken...

I live in Vermont, and not even close to the one town that might be considered a "metropolitan" area.

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 07:05 AM

What a weird assumption

What on earth are you thinking, mintosh? Do you really think that only right-wingers have large families?

Thank goodness SOME of us liberals have lots of children.

I think it's bizarre that the article even mentioned it. What exactly was the point? How many children do each of the male winners have, hmm?

Sheesh!

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 07:49 AM

Actually, I was kind of hoping

Democrats would keep to the moral highground. Am I alone? Hearing the b-word from Bush's lips again makes me want to vomit, but let's please, please, PLEASE not practice the bullying Repugnican tactics that they've been practicing on us in Congressional committees. That is not just - no matter who's doing it. The idea here was, in part, to restore democracy. I hope the Democrats live up to their name.

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 10:06 AM
Original article: Rumsfeld resigns

We're holding our breath

at my house, waiting for the appointment of Liebermann as Secretary of Defense. I'm sure it won't take long for that to happen. Then CT's governor can appoint a senator who is a Republican in name as well as deed.

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 12:57 PM

Do women have that much trouble getting aroused?

I don't think I understand the point of the wrist patch. Maybe it's applicable for perimenopause and beyond? That would be cool. But I am not getting the scents (sorry - dumb joke) that perimenopausal and menopausal women are the targeted sniffers here. For gals who can't seem to get it up, so to speak, for their hubbies, how about some good old-fashioned nipple and clitoral stimulation from said hubbies? (And good old-fashioned household power-sharing is proven to work as well.) I must be missing something.

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 01:05 PM

Female Sexual Arousal Disorder

That's what I was missing. The new Frigidity. Possibly "millions of women" have it. Well, maybe. In my house it's called utter physical exhaustion. My husband has it sometimes too.

In any case, there probably are some women out there who would like to be more aroused more often - wouldn't something like this help a lot of people stay on their Prozac? Great! - but I would hardly call this "scientific sex research." It is just an example of someone trying to make money on perfume.

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 02:17 PM
Original article: Most. Women. Leaders. Ever!

I remember Howard Dean

when he was making his case as head of the DNC talking about women in leadership positions at all levels of the Party. I am SO glad they are following through. I'll be crying into my champagne - out of relief, and because things are still very, very scary for girls and women and anyone else who is not 100% enfranchised by the Good Ol' Boys.

Thursday, November 9, 2006 03:33 AM
Original article: Curtains for Pelosi?

Picking out is NOT measuring

I see the point about the phrase "measuring for drapes" being used about male politicians, but there is a very clear difference between measuring for drapes and hiring an interior decorator to help you pick them out.

But I don't mind Pelosi joking about using her "mother of five" voice either. First of all, just let the woman be who she is! And don't we remember in the 80s when they told us that our household mangerial skills were real and we should exploit that experience to help us get our jobs back after we left housewifery screaming and tearing out our hair? Although I don't think it's necessarily great advice to try to sell that line to a boss, it is alarmingly true how much managing a workplace is like parenting.

This must be even more true when you're working with the sheltered, whiny, self-important overgrown adolescents that an unfortunate number of congresspeople are.

Most Active Letters Threads

530

Do Obama officials know what his Afghanistan plan is?

What explains the completely contradictory statements from key aides on a central plank of the war strategy?
169

I live in a van down by Duke University

How do I afford grad school without going into debt? A '94 Econoline, bulk food and creative civil disobedience
128

Is my kids making me not smart?

Stay-at-home fatherhood dulls my intellect to a nub. Excuse me while I ponder the subtext of "Hippos Go Berserk"
126

Trig, the anti-abortion straw baby

Sarah Palin's son is being used to demonize pro-choicers
113

I survived Glenn Beck's Christmas spectacular

The preposterous showman brings his holiday book, and waterworks, to the stage and screen. Lights! Camera! Jesus!

View all »

Letters Help

Currently in Salon