I can't stand it either, any more than I can stand it when a woman defines herself by her husband. Tell me about yourself... "I'm married, and my husband's a lawyer..." AAARRRGGHHH!

Being a mom is a wonderful thing. But whenever I hear a woman identify herself SOLELY by her relationship to someone else, it saddens me. You see it all the time in the simplest of ways... women whose message board screen names are "momoftwins" or "jakesmommy." Like that's it. That's who and what you are, there's nothing else about you that matters.

What about YOU, moms and wives? Is there anything else to you? Are you no longer a woman with a mind and a personality and interests that extend beyond having given birth, or gotten married? I'll bet you are. So next time someone asks you about you, why not tell them about YOU FIRST, and about the other people in your life afterwards? They asked about you... they didn't ask "who do you belong to?"

Can we PLEASE retire the "impossibly high body image standard" crap that's trotted out every single time a female is criticized for disgusting, embarrassing behavior that is 100% by choice and has NOTHING to do her pants size?

God, I'm a FEMINIST and I'm sick of hearing it!! "Body image" does NOT have any bearing on this subject, and it's a really lame strategy to employ in this case. Britney is being treated badly because she's acting badly. Heath is being treated badly because he's... DEAD and thus cannot defend himself. Not because of anything he did wrong.

When Heath Ledger was alive, he was known for:

--Being a phenomenal talent

--Turning down well-paying work if it didn't challenge and inspire him as an artist

--Being a devoted and loving parent

--Eschewing the public eye and choosing a quiet life

--Being humble, and kind to all who came into contact with him

Now, try to apply ANY of those to Britney Spears, and then look at the sleazy attempts being made to turn Heath Ledger into, well... HER. Then tell me she's being treated "worse" than him... and 'cuz she's a giiiiiiirl (waaahhhh). Please, let's stop bringing gender and waist measurements into everything. You're doing women no favors by reducing every situation to that.

I don't even know what my point was anymore. I'm too pissed to make sense. But I hope something I said... did.

Thanks (although I'm sure many will disagree). One thing, though... "women follow female pop stars; men follow athletes": um, nuh-uh. I wouldn't know 99% of female pop stars if they came to my door. However, put the 25th guy on, say, the Minnesota Twins' roster in front of me and you've got another story entirely. :-)

Didn't we go through this exact same thing with Howard Dean? How is this news?

You made a fairly sweeping generalization, and truthfully it's not only my personal experience. It depends on what circles you run in, I guess... I have many male friends who love celebrity gossip/female pop stars, but only one female friend who does. Nearly all my female friends prefer sports to gossip. (And no, Brightstar, we're not all man-hating lesbians...)

I was only saying that there's way more to this whole thing than "women like female popstars, men like sports." That doesn't even begin to cover it. I wasn't insulting you, only saying "I really don't think that's it. It's just a stereotype that doesn't wash in real life." That's what (I think) I was getting at. (And I was also trying to lighten the mood after my rage-induced post.) Sorry if I offended you, I honestly didn't mean anything bad.

The bottom line is being male or female DOESN'T come into it. When a celebrity is either moronic or dead, that's when the vultures hover. The coverage doesn't "cater" to one gender or the other, and the interest in the coverage isn't along gender lines either.

When Britney finally kicks the bucket, will anyone be shocked? Will women defend her and men revile her? Will any outlandish "revelations" about her after her death have anyone--male or female--saying "that can't be true! Not Britney!"? Let's just say that there's a good reason news organizations already have her obit ready to go.

Think they had Heath Ledger's?

I spent a few years idealizing Obama... I was one of those Dems excitedly awaiting "our future president" as he took the podium to give the keynote speech in '04.

But as I've "gotten to know him" lately, I've seen him very differently. I see a petty, dishonest, manipulative and mean-spirited person who--like the Republicans--is happy to swift-boat anyone who gets in his way.

I also see someone who talks a good game, but has nothing concrete to back it up... basically style over substance.

I see someone who is trying to suggest to casual observers (most of whom only start paying attention at election time) that he voted against the war, when he did not in fact even have the opportunity to do so.

I see a divisive person who is subtly encouraging his supporters to either take themselves out of the process or vote Republican as "revenge" if he doesn't win the nomination.

I see a candidate peddling hollow promises, vague platitudes and pretty prose in place of detailed plans and policies.

I see a dishonest man, not above deliberately advancing false characterizations of both his opponent's record and his own.

I do not like what I see.