The rigid view that last names need to be one word that fits in a certain amount of spaces and is passed down through the father is untenable. Many cultures have different suffixes for boys and girl- son/ dottir in Iceland, vich/ ova in Russia (my apologies if I got these wrong). I understand sone cultures mix both family names for children, as some Americans are doing. Some immigrants come to this country with two or more last names which get mangled by the SSA, the DMV and schools. What's the huge logistical difficulty with adding space where a person writes his or her name? I've read that there was confusion about the 9/11 hijacker's idetntity because their several first middle and last names were omitted randomly by INS people/ state department people.

So the crime rate has fallen, but the world is worse because it is "more feminized".

Another mother of sons who has become a misogynist.

Mormons use the old "not enough men" excuse, when really their polygamy was just religiously sanctioned horn-doggery. I don't think, I know that that is what's going on here.

The problem with polygamy is that it's never about laid back hippies all loving each other, it's always about middle aged men wanting to screw 14 year olds.

If a group of Chechenyan women starts clamoring for legal polygamy, I'll eat my hat, but notice it's a man magnanimously asking for it. What does he have to worry about? There are enough women, after all. I'm sure his wife has other thoughts.

My father keeps saying that if abortion is illegal, the GOP will die, because everyone really needs legal abortion even if they won't know that until it's gone. Silever lining? Yes, but it's one fricking big cloud.

Mister Not Complaining:

Would you complain if your much older sex mentor had made you a father at 15? How jealous would your friends have been then? Or were you, at 15, responsible enough not to leave the bc up to her? Probably, the only reason you were't a father 16 years ago is that she didn't want you to be one.

.. to realize that scorning pink and girl things is an insidious form of misogyny. As if it only has value if boys endorse it. My daughter plays soccer in pink shinguards, and I no pretend I don't like figure skating, which I find amazing.

Also, if it makes you feel any better, MS had the world's most unflattering cover picture with Charlize Theron last issue.

The Princess Principle, if you will. Admitting that there is no divine reason why a woman is too ty unworthy to rule, or join the Augusta club for that matter, is a huge step and I hope you won't begrudge women a little joy from such a thing.

As long as you're looking to be a sports fan.

The theaters were full, and it was a good movie.

Since when have pro-choicers NOT advocated better birth control and reduced need for abortions? To suggest that it has done otherwise is utterly false. In fact, the great irony is that while pro-lifers have been invading people's lives and thumping bibles for the past few decades, pro-choicers have actually reduced unwanted pregnancies and thereby abortions. It isn't the pro-choicers who need to meet anyone halfway on this. I daresay most of us would love a compromise of late-term abortions only in medical emergencies and plentiful, varied types of birth control to make this whole polemic go away as much as possible. When are pro-life leaders going to be honest with themselves and othersa and admit that there is middle ground? Probably never, because as we all know, their motives aren't really reduced abortions, they are punishing women.

There are several ways to appreciate this article, but one point that is overlooked is the persvasiveness of baby product marketing that gullible parents of all income levels fall prey to.

Think about how pointless a changing table is, for example. Or how much more hygenic it is to put the dirty diaper in a used plastic grocery bag and throw it in the trash can outdoors than use an expensive diaper pail that just makes your whole house smell like poo. Even middle class Americans have been bamboozled into buying baby items they don't need.

Another family that made a new name: the Villaraigosas of Los Angeles. That is, the mayor and his family.

I am absolutely in favor of this, since it solves all of the most common objections: no unity, confusion, etc. The only objection left is that it is unpatriarchal. And if a man finds it too much to ask to alter his name, well then at least you know what kind of a man you're dealing with.

When my daughter was very small, she assumed that everything was female, like her. Cartoon characters, babies, toys. I don't know when it stopped, but now, at the age of 6, male is the default gender, like it for the rest of the world. I find that very sad.

People love to talk about "market forces" and how boys just can't be expected to stoop to reading about girls. I've even seen booklists that include more female writers blamed for boys' poor performance in school. I think this is a cop-out, insulting to boys and dismissive of girls. The abscence of female characters on film and TV is sexism, pure and simple. It just never occured to the Sesame Street creators to have female puppets thirty years ago. And anyone who has watched two 6 year olds fight over who gets to be Hermione knows how unfair it is. Thankfully, things are changing. I fully support Gina Davis- maybe she can get through George Lucas' thick skull.