Letters to the Editor
Brulette
Published Letters: 36 Editor's Choice: 6
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NOT ALL BREEDERS ARE BAD.
[Read the article: Feminist blog goes to the dogs]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Not all breeders are "backyard" breeders. Responsible breeders do exist. Essentially what makes a responsible breeder is one who doesn't do it for the money, but instead for the love a particular breed and dogs in general. There is nothing wrong with wanting a purebred dog. I adopted my dog, but I do not judge those who choose to purchase a dog from a responsible breeder.
As for the issue of why so many dogs are being euthanized, the focus should be on preventing unintended litters of pups from filling shelters. Focus on condemning people for buying purebred dogs should be tempered with a realization of the importance of advocating readily available spay and neuter programs.
Additionally- the uninformed snobbery in this entry as well as those conversation snippets sighted here is depressingly pointless! It is less about dogs than about parading a fashionable brand of political correctness, i.e. "look at me, I'm so in the know because I condemn ALL breeders!"
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Superior tone here?
[Read the article: The shoe love that has no name]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I love reading Broadsheet, but it's entries like this that cause me to hang my head in shame for being a feminist or a woman of the ilk that reads feminist blogs, etc. Why? Because the sarcastic tone of this entry smacks of superiority. I suppose women who love shoes can't also be feminists, right? To me, however, I envision a world where many different types of women can come together to advocate for issues important to women. I am so very tired of the separatist, exclusionary attitudes of uppity feminists who use feminism as just another form of intellectual snobbery. Such an attitude not only accomplishes nothing for women as a whole, but it's counter-productive.
The insinuation here is that women should be ashamed of talking about their love for something that has a negative stereotypical connotation (i.e. shoes), as if it proves to the world that women are exactly as shallow, materialistic and unserious as "men" have suspected all along. I say screw that. As women we need to own whoever we are and whatever our likes and dislikes are, no matter how trite or disappointingly common they might be in the context of traditionally femininity. You don't see men apologizing for their obsessions with sport cars, video games and other toys.
The gals on Sex in the City may not be "path breakers"- they were just individual female character fabrications. However, I think that whatever harm was done by the touting of rampant materialism on Sex in the City was nullified by the depiction of a group of friends with realistically varying values (the Samantha to Charlotte spectrum) that presented how women with a lot of differences can not only be friends but be confronted with the same kinds of female-specific issues.
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Here's a thought: don't get married . . . just yet.
[Read the article: I resent my fiancé because he is rich]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Dear Resentful:
You obviously don't know this man if you had no idea about his background. Why marry? Wait. Get to know each other a little. Wait and see if those money issues are ugly. They will certainly be a painful reality if you plan on having a big wedding. Money will definitely be an issue there.
I know what it is to feel what you're feeling. I didn't grow up as poor, but in low economic class where neither parent went to high school and they always struggled to get by and could never buy a house and sometimes couldn't afford the rent and so we moved and moved and moved . . . like you I fought hard to go to a good school, get a good job and build a secure future for myself so that I wouldn't have to worry about having a roof over my head.
The intricacies of your experiences growing up poor will never be entirely understood by your fiancé. There are a multitude of things that correspond to being poor. For example, during college I really would have loved to do a semester abroad, or, not worry about going to work in addition to my heavy course load (thank god for work study programs, now probably gone due to Bush and Co) or not have to start work the day after I graduated, but instead, take a break like so many of my friends were . . . friends that just didn't get why I had to go right to work- it didn't even enter their minds that I had to work because I would be homeless without the paycheck!
I remember the resentment I felt when my boyfriend, now husband, didn't have to work through college, didn't have to pay student loans after graduation and how he received big checks from his folks at Christmas, birthdays, etc. I've wondered countless times how it must feel not to worry how I'm going to care for my aging parents that have no home to call their own, no assets, no savings and no health insurance. I've always known that part of the reason I needed to work hard is to take care of them.
Oi . . . I digress here, but I'll say it again: wait a little while. It doesn't mean it won't work out, but you need to feel this out first before making the commitment of a lifetime!