Letters to the Editor
melthough
Published Letters: 1264 Editor's Choice: 102
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WTF?
[Read the article: Three cheers for Internet porn]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]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.
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iconoclast,
[Read the article: Pew poll: GOP cuts Dems' lead]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]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. :)
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The analogy to junk food
[Read the article: Three cheers for Internet porn]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]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....
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I took an exit poll today
[Read the article: Exit polls: An interpretation and a caveat]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It was on paper, just like my ballot.
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Also, Ken...
[Read the article: Exit polls: An interpretation and a caveat]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I live in Vermont, and not even close to the one town that might be considered a "metropolitan" area.
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What a weird assumption
[Read the article: "The Democrats are ready to lead"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]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!
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Actually, I was kind of hoping
[Read the article: An olive branch or a stick in the eye?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]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.
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We're holding our breath
[Read the article: Rumsfeld resigns]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]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.
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Do women have that much trouble getting aroused?
[Read the article: Female arousal and male contraception]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]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.
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Female Sexual Arousal Disorder
[Read the article: Female arousal and male contraception]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]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.
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I remember Howard Dean
[Read the article: Most. Women. Leaders. Ever!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]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.
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Picking out is NOT measuring
[Read the article: Curtains for Pelosi?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]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.