While Salon certainly serves a myriad of readers of all ages and stations in life, and should certainly continue to do so, as a 23 year old reader, I'm getting weary of the sudden emphasis on articles about marriage and babies. None of them have been powerful or engaging, just a bunch of narrissistic and very spoiled suburban women feeling the need to lament the sudden changes they have to make after childbirth. I hardly believe that reclaiming one's libido warrants the same attention that, say, the recent elections in the Middle East, do.

Hell, even Oprah freying James is more entertaining than Ms. Williams' posturing as a recovering sex-kitten. Personally, I've never trusted people who need to brag about their prowess, that always makes me think they're compensating for something.

Fluff like this doesn't belong on the front page. Tuck it away in Life, or Families Who Think. Between this tripe and Ayelet Waldman's neurotic ramblings about her offspring (who else needed a good long shower after that last squicky piece about her son?) I am seriously soured on the prospect of ever being a mom.

Please, Salon, remember that not all of your readers are ready for the mini-van yet!

Anyone, and I mean anyone, who can write in anything like a humorous tone, about the sometimes grisly reality of post-partum life, from hemorrhoids (white-knuckling pain for some, folks) to painful sex, to episiotomies, to raw nipples... well, that person deserves some kind of a medal. And if said person can also describe the process of accepting, again with humor, the loss of what was once such an important part of her life... well, she should get to make a speech when she accepts the medal.

And the readers on Salon (for some of whom my patience grows thin), who think such writing is mere whining... they need some more real-life experience, or at least a few more trips around the block, so they can experience being on the receiving end of some humor & compassion themselves.

And, unfortunately, this article would probably not have been any better-received if posted on Broadsheet, since that's where so many men go to lodge their own complaints about women and their issues.

Substandard medical care? One can only assume that "Sparky" is a man without any firsthand experience of the world of ob/gyn. Frankly, I found it refreshing that there was no mention of a c-section.

Ironic, isn't it, that this article follows the news story earlier this week about (penetrating) sex being so good for relaxation, especially before public speaking?

I'm a mom. This story made me chuckle. I think the author had a lot of courage writing this, in part because she can expect an avalanche of letters from the usual suspects with these messages:

-- "I hate breeders and their mini-vans and their strollers and their snotty kids!! Why must Salon FORCE us to read about them and their travails?"

-- "Stay-at-home mothers are scum. Working mothers are scum. They should all be in jail or somewhere out of my sight, along with their spawn, which are nothing but an annoying hobby, after all."

-- "I'm a pert young thing; why do I have to read about parenthood? It's soooo boring, and it's just such a drag to spend my time reading these articles and then writing letters saying how boring they are."

-- "I despise all women. How come they don't love me?"

I agree with what Pony and several others have said. Many of the comments (letters) lately, as well as discussions on Table Talk, have led me to the conclusion recently that Salon hasn't changed as much as the complaints suggest. Maybe its reader base is what has changed. Or maybe the cranky, humor-impaired voices are just getting louder. Every article about sex seems to bring on a torrent of these humorless complaints. On Table Talk, the Real Dolls piece is still coming up. It's just sex, people. You can't catch anything over the Internet, really.

Salon isn't where I expected to find a community of the humorless and puritanical. Frankly, if the "new" direction (which isn't all that new - Salon has always run sex stories) drives them away, all the better. I can get preachy, self-righteous, mean-spirited rants from the 700 Club.

I thought the piece was funny and well-written. Although I'm a parent, I'm not a former sex goddess and didn't feel any strong identification with the writer but I still enjoyed spending a couple of pages sharing her perspective and her sharp writing. That's the marker of a good personal essay.

A lot of people misunderstand that 6-week ok to return to sexual activity. The doc isn't promising that it's going to feel good or "work," or suggesting that a new mom ought to want it or that a new dad ought to get it — nothing like that. The doc is just saying, "The risk of infection from sexual penetration is pretty much past." That happens for many women well before 6 weeks, but we still have that ubiquitous six-week appointment.

A lot of docs are careful to say, "It's safe to return to sexual activity when you feel like you're ready. That varies considerably among women. Do you have any questions?"

It's not like new fathers have much clue about how to go about it either, or that most of us are likely to demand sex regardless of how our partners feel. It's just uncharted territory, and no matter how many books you read and experts you consult, it's still uncharted *personal* territory.

Irony is watching people whine about how they hate "whiners." LOL! I really enjoyed this article and actually laughed out loud a few times. I don't have children yet, however I do consider myself quite sexually gifted, and I can totally see myself in the authors shoes. Thanks for a funny article about what lies ahead! Hopefully I'll greet it with humor and patience instead of despair!

Please don't listen to the people who just "cannot stand" another article about sex; really, if I wanted Salon to be like the mainstream press which only writes about sex to point fingers at it, I'd just go read the mainstream press!