Wait, so Jezebel can shill a $80 canvas toiletry bag or a $125 necklace made from red string and 0.00001 ounces of silver, but this is scammy?

Good observation. It's not because the heroes in question had tiny penises in "real" life. It's because art chose to emphasize certain parts of the body (overall proportion, muscularity, symmetry etc) and de-emphasize others (sexual organs). The penis was considered somewhat animalistic, so it had to be shown in…

"I'm not afraid to tell the world who I am. I'm Michael Sam: I'm a college graduate. I'm African American, and I'm gay," Sam said. "I'm comfortable in my skin."

This was beautifully written. Thank you for putting into words what many of us couldn't.

A-fucking-men, from the people who have been addicted a month, the people who have been addicted a lifetime, a million times YES!

Thank you. I thought I was the only one reading that essay and thinking "you don't understand. He was me. I was him." I'm not trying to align myself with a famous person or steal his tragedy for myself. I have plenty of my own, thanks. But when I count the many ppl I've lost to this disease some were intimate loved…

Wow. Thank you. You beautifully and thoughtfully articulated much of what irked me about this essay. You write like someone who knows the inside of the rooms and I am heartened by your empathy and perspective. Thanks for saying what I was feeling but couldn't find words for.

I like, value and respect what you wrote, but I feel the need to point out the distinction in Mark's essay - that the stories published were worth publishing, but shouldn't have needed the "hook" of Philip Seymour Hoffman, or the projection of what he must have been thinking or feeling based on what the authors'…

YES

I found your comment tremendously poignant in ways I had only dreamed of articulating. I had moments of "yes" to Mark's article—largely about the scores of ignored and desperate addicts of a different socio-economic/privileged stratosphere than Mr. Hoffman—but the idea that those in recovery shouldn't look to his…

Beautifully said. From one addict to another.... Yes!

It is. And I'm sure each person and each family fumbles their way through it differently. In my own experience, I have to say that anger and hurt really haven't been major emotions for me. It's been more that I know my alcoholic mom and prescription-pill addict friend are in tremendous pain, and I hurt for them.

I really like Mark's essay, but your comment brought tears to my eyes. You are right. We process the loss of a fellow addict in our own ways and sharing stories of our own mortality and weakness is such an important part of that. Thank you.

From the perspective of someone who has not struggled with addiction (but loves people who have), your stories are also really helpful to the non-addicts out there. I don't know what it's like, and I can never say, "I understand what you're going through." But what I can do is listen to what addicts share about their…

I have read every piece I could find on PSH's passing (and will continue to do so) and have found absolutely nothing offensive in what people like Carr or Mnookin have written bringing in some of their own experiences. Addiction is so complex and there is so much that is still not understood that all we can do is…

You don't understand fat acceptance. Fat acceptance is about accepting that people are valuable despite the state of their body at any given point in life. It's not accepting that their body is somehow healthy despite any ongoing problems. It's not about accepting that fat = healthy, or that fat should be a new…

I think that the author makes a good point but I don't begrudge Carr and the MIT-guy their perspectives. Addiction and recovery are all-consuming endeavors in a person's life. For both authors, infusing their pieces with personal experiences buys them just a little more insurance against their own relapse and tragedy.…

Not to make this about me, but...from my perspective, addiction isn't always pain, or horrible dull ache, or a lot of those things (though it can be). Quite simply, addiction is the feeling that your drug of choice is the answer. Answer to what? Well, that changes. Answer to boredom. Answer to stress. Answer to…

http://entertainment.time.com/2014/02/05/aar…

I think these essays relating oneself to Hoffman through the mental illness of addiction are attempts to bring awareness to this disease. I myself am in recovery, and although I did not know Hoffman or his own personal struggle with substance abuse I can't help but empathize with him. Rather than blaming ego or hubris…