I'm sorry that you were inconvenienced, but I have a story to share that has nothing to do with feminism run amok, and has everything to do with children's safety.

My kids were at a summer camp at our local park. They were playing soccer. I, and some other parents were watching them play off to the sidelines.

Parked in the lot was a man no one had seen before. He did not look like a parent, had an eccentric appearance (a lopsided toupee, had a small mangy dog, and was driving a very large van). He was also playing air guitar and trying to get their attention and laugh.

The parents grew suspicious. Someone called the police, who arrived promptly. They had no grounds to arrest the man, but did ask him some questions. They found a camera inside. He said he'd been taking pictures of the kids.

Also loaded in his van were piles of brand-new sporting equipment and toys just for kids. The police told us that and the funny "act" was "bait" to lure kids to him. The police told him to leave the area, which he did. I later saw him hanging around a local shopping center in the parking lot. He saw me staring at him, and he left.

Were the parents paranoid in that instance to call? I don't think so.

I don't see how any of this has anything to do with feminism.

I LOVE that Weird calls out the author for being a bad writer and backs it up with this nonsensical rant of mixed metaphors and non-sqeuitors.

"Bricks make strong houses, but they are terrible sentences. Salon must be paying you by the word or labyrinthian excess--but I doubt you make your living writing. Between this clunky mess, the woman with dreadlocks who slaps her kid or the "Snakes on a plane" writer calling Lloyd Bentsen Lloyd Benson, I must complain that Salon reads like a Learning Annex school paper."

Talk about a clunky mess!

I am presuming you forgot to mention the beating with rubber hoses and being forced to register as a sex offender.

I mean, why else would some one be upset by being questioned?

Maybe I'm being off base here, but I think that's why we hire security guards, to sort of watch people and see what they do. And if a middle aged guy is hanging out in the children’s section of a library, I think it might be appropriate to ask him why.

Now if you say, "Oh, I'm doing research, as I am a children's book author." and they still insist on beating you with a rubber hose and having you register for life as a sex offender I guess I understand your weeping.

People often have legitimate reasons for behaving suspiciously and upon being asked about these reasons, as in your case, the authorities in question usually accept the answer provided.

Yes it's perfectly reasonable for an adult to hang out at chuckie cheese taking candid snaps of kids, and to linger in the children’s section of the public library. But it is perfectly reasonable, when someone seems out of place, to ask them why they are there. It isn’t a violation of privacy, and it isn't a violation of rights; it's just being observant and doing your job.

When you took pictures was it just of the kids in your party, or were you taking pictures of other kids at Chuckie Cheese? Do you think that maybe a parent of one of these other kids might have thought it odd that some pervert with a telephoto lens was taking pictures of their kid? Do you think that maybe a kid in the children’s section might be made nervous by some strange old man wandering through the stacks of books?

Much like the author you seem to feel that any inconvenience or suspicion is as affront to your person hood. Get over yourself, if no charges are filed, if no action is taken, then your rights have not been violated.

Had I been doing anything untoward I would have understood my reaction would have been different, yet I was with the party, not some wierdo hanging out with no business being there. I was an invited guest mainly because of my photography (we don’t have kids of our own).

Sure, anybody acting suspicious should be confronted but the fact of the matter is that feminism has branded ALL MALES as dangerous. Does that mean every male with a camera needs to be confronted, questioned and investigated? So, because I am a male I shouldn’t be taking pictures of children? That’s gonna hurt my business due to the fact that about 48% of my business is children oriented. Do I have to turn people away because it’s just too dangerous to be a male photog anymore? Maybe I should just sit in my house and not go anywhere because I’m obviously too dangerous to be around anyone because I have a penis.

Feminism…Males BAD, Women Good.

9/11/01 empowered every low-level rent-a-goon on this planet to lord their particular flavor of "right" over everyone possible. Squeeze your tits at the airport? Gotta PROTECT THE CHILDREN. Shredding the Bill Of Rights? PROTECT THE CHILDREN. Janet Jackson's boob televised for 1/125th of a second..? THE CHILDREN!

With a tin star and God on their side there's no limit to how well-protected a certain segment of our society wants your children to be.

I've heard that the best course of action when some Child Stealing Agency turns up on your doorstep is to pack up and leave the state permanently. The day some government employee shows up to kidnap my children... well, let's not consider that right now, eh..?

"Well, we destroyed eighty familes but found one guy with a JPG of an underage teenager on his hard drive, so JUSTICE WAS SERVED AND JESUS IS HAPPY!"

We could use protection from government. Thank God we don't get all the government we pay for.