Letters to the Editor
FemmeJr
Published Letters: 61 Editor's Choice: 8
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@ParsonJim
[Read the article: Single mothers are ruining society!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yeah, women can be infantile and selfish... but so can men. For every man who refuses to support or father the child he helped create, there's a woman who lied about being on the Pill as a tactic to secure a committed relationship. For every guy who tries to force a woman to get an abortion, there's a woman who does everything she can to prevent a decent man from seeing his child.
Regardless of your opinion on the legal system, men and women have found ways to manipulate, hurt and screw each other over since the dawn of human existence... so stop trying to reassign blame, because that's hardly the point.
Way before the dawn of feminism, women were always the "sexual gatekeepers," the ones on whom both the responsibility and/or the shame of pregnancy fell upon.
This Slate article is not about whether single parenthood damages society, it's about single motherhood, which just falls right into line with the same old ideology that if a kid is screwed it has to be the mother's fault... and that applies to single as well as partnered mothers. This way of thinking is offensive, unfair and just as nonsensical as your blanket assertion that the reason men don't stick around is because of "anti-male hate."
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Before the women vs. men argument gets out of hand...
[Read the article: Work sucks? Blame her!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]What we have here is a human rights issue, not only a feminist issue.
Work conditions in this country are deplorable, before, during and after feminism. Americans have always worked the most of hours of any first-world nation. We night enjoy greater wealth than many other nations, but our quality of life sucks. Even the Japanese, who work longer hours and more days per week, still average about 6-8 weeks of vacation per year, while American can only look forward to about 2 (if they're even willing to take it!) Aside from vacation, Americans also have less medical and maternity leave available, fewer health benefits, etc. etc.
This is not the fault of men or women exclusively. Nay, this is the fault of all citizens who have refused to fight for workers rights, who have succumbed the faulty belief in "trickle-down economics," and have allowed themselves to become rampant consumers are their jobs (both skilled and unskilled) are shipped overseas.
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Where's Women's Studies? Right Here!
[Read the article: Is women's studies dead?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"British and American societies are no longer patriarchal and oppressive 'male hegemonies'" while claiming in the next paragraph that perhaps, on the other hand, the real problem is that "young women have shied away from studying feminist theory because they would rather opt for degrees that more obviously lead to jobs."
I have to say that I completely disagree with the first part of the quote... I wish that gender equality was a non-issue, but the word "feminist," much like the word "liberal," has been so maligned by the opposition that no one knows what these words actually mean.
But I think the second part of the quote sounds fairly accurate... and I say that's a good a thing! I'm glad that the days of college as merely a hunting ground for husbands are gone and that women are able to pursue majors that correspond with their career choices.
I enjoyed a few of the Women's Studies courses I took, which were great settings for intellectual discourse and presented varying theories. But unless I planned on pursuing my career in academia (and women's studies in particular) there was simply no reason for me to major in it.
There's still plenty of discussion to be had on the topic of gender equality and I don't think its going the way of the dodo bird. Just look at Broadsheet! As infuriated as I get with a majority of the posts -- particularly the ones fervently alleging that society is "anti-male" -- I'm glad that this topic still has the ability to stir such passions. If it didn't, we'd know that feminism (and women's studies, too) was truly dead.
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Durian, you are officially my favorite person (of the day).
[Read the article: This is what a feminist looks like. This, too. Also this]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Only in a world with feminism can we find men who live in blissful egalitarian relationships with women and still have a sense of humor.
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It's not T&A. It's tapping into women's insecurities.
[Read the article: Exploiting women to protect animals?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't think "Sex Sells" is the tactic PETA's using at all. I read "Skinny Bitch," and the message I got from it was that if you eat meat or animal by products you're basically nothing more than a disgusting, slothful waste of bio-matter, whereas Vegans are chic, lithe and gorgeous. Quite a big change from the stereotype of vegans as smelly, crusty, hippies!
The tactic is really no different than any other used to sell products, services, lifestyles, books, etc. to women: Tap into they're insecurities about body image and then promise an "ultimate solution." As I read in a Salon review on Skinny Bitch, the narration of Skinny Bitch essentially reads like the voice inside the mind of an anorexic, which is always calling the woman "lazy" and "fat pig."
What's really sad is that this might be the most successful tactic to date! It's a shame that a simple message of respect and kindness toward all living things just isn't bankable.
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Much-Needed Non-Latex Condoms
[Read the article: Planned Parenthood's condoms for women]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I know quite a few women (myself included) who are allergic to latex. I also have the double misfortune of being allergic to spermicide.
Polyurethane condoms-- the only kind I can use -- are much more expensive than latex condoms. A perscription for the Pill, even without health insurance, is probably cheaper than having to regularly buy polyurethane condoms. Because of this, I'm sure that there are many women who might opt to go condom-free.
I think Planned Parenthood should institute a program to provide free or low-cost polyurethane condoms. They haven't been on the market as long and they tend to lose shape during sex, but they're definitely a better option than getting STDs or an allergic reaction.
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Anything by Mitch Albom... ugh
[Read the article: What is your literary deal breaker?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If there's any book that would be a deal breaker with me, it would have to be "Tuesdays with Morrie." That's almost as bad a guy who voted for Bush.