This letter is associated with the following article:
Letters
Monday, February 6, 2006 12:00 AM

Hooray, Celexa took my sex drive away!

And now my wife can't manipulate me.

Read other letters about this article

  • Monday, February 6, 2006 08:08 PM

    Deadbeat is deadbeat, it's not about sex

    All people should wait, and I know women with deadbeat ex's.

    The stat on the Parental Alienation Syndrome is not considered credible, because most states don't legally recognize it (the one that claims women turn children against men). You can't measure without a uniform standard, and PAS is so linked to male abusers (most of the PAS claimants hev at least one verified abuse case against the woman- the kids don't want to go near the guy because of that, and abuse of the mother is not relevant in most child custody cases if the child is not hit) that I would not even touch that with a 10 foot pole. And I had a crazy in-law who did try to alienate the child- I simply understand that PAS is not a relevant marker statistic for that behavior. A significant number of men and women bad mouth the exes, and we know that from far more credible studies (the ones that back mediation). So few women pay child support that the stats get distorted- in such a small population, it only take a few to distort. For instance, in a small population city, it only takes 1 or 2 deabeat males with large awards to up the percentage past 30 or 40%, while if you look at a bigger population those two guys are offset by larger numbers of "good" dads. On the other hand, most men don't abuse either (iffy study with a small population, and used problematic language as one marker), and that study claiming almost every female college student is sexually harrassed is bunk (their definition is too wide, and contains things not commonly considered sexual harrassment).

    Most stats have to be carefully set in their environment to have meaning. Stats lie all of the time, and the same study can be used in different ways. The 50% of marriages end in divorce number is a good example. At any given time, there are X numbers of marriages (say 100), with some couples never divorcing-usually 60+, some couples divorcing fast (less than 5% within 2 years) and some couples having multiple divorces (the 15%+/- of the first cohort make up more than 62% of divorces for that cohort in the given year, due to repeats, while the rest simply stay married or have 1 divorce.). Most divorces in a given year are from remarriages, not first time marriages. So most divorces are repeat offenders, and most first marriages do NOT end in divorce. The 50% number is based on the total number at given time versus the divorces, even though the marriages are not all in the same cohorts.) You have the same problem with crime stats treating recidivists crimes as if each was from a new criminal.

Most Active Letters Threads

436

The crazy, irrational beliefs of Muslims

Tom Friedman explains the real problem: stupid Muslims think the U.S. is about war and aggression.
426

A key British official reminds us of the forgotten anthrax attack

A vast array of establishment and expert sources do not believe this episode was really resolved.
210

Is Obama's civil liberties record understandable?

Was it unreasonable to expect him to adhere to his commitments regarding the Constitution?
111

How dare you criticize wasteful defense spending!

So you think it's only terrorist-appeasing lefties who are down on Pentagon profligacy? Think again
64

Facebook, the mean girls and me

At 34 years old, I finally feel like a popular seventh-grader. How sad is that?

View all »

Letters Help

Currently in Salon