It adds nothing to a conversation that you want to have. Which is fine: I accept that people who choose to make it a central part of their identity, or who feel compelled to accept it as part of their identity, are generally not interested in interrogating it, in the same way that people who derive their identity from…

Yes, very true.

Rather say, different genetic predispositions tend to be, in some cases, unevenly distributed between the socially constructed groups we label races, and I'll agree wholeheartedly.

OHIP! I lived in Ontario a good part of my childhood.

Thank you!

I've tried explaining that race is a social construct here, too. Given how comfortable most people here with gender as a social construct, you'd think it would be better received, but IME, no. Part of it is, I believe, that when you define your identity around race, you need to believe it's more than just…

Yeah, I was wondering about this. Is it because there is less, well, cross-polination between ethnic groups? Because it doesn't seem impossible that there could be variations in immunity by ethnicity/heredity. I guess the major implication is, if it's the former, then the passage of time will presumably make the…

Oh, agreed, absolutely.

Well, there's obviously a degree of permanence and medical risk to a nose job that is not present with getting your brows waxed or putting on bronzer. I'm a teensy bit uncomfortable with a 16 year making the decision for those reasons, as I would be with a 16 year old getting a tattoo. But no, there is no…

My understanding is that that's why some surgeons require a psych consult before procedures; not so much "you can't have this done is you're not sane/you must be nuts to want this" but "do you expect a smaller nose/larger breasts/less cellulite? or do you expect an end to depression, a better marriage, more popularity…

There are lots of households where there is always a TV on in the kitchen and/or living room. So 90 minutes before school, 4-5 in the evening, and the usual "Educational" (babysitting) video at school ... I can see it.

I think he's doing it as part of his shtick. The error he might be making is assuming his fans will stick with him and it will generate publicity, when in reality his fans might get bored and the media might find him too tiresome to comment on.

For me, it's not that I second-guess it, it's that the crucial thing isn't the reality of how her nose looked (I assume ... never seen pictures of her pre-nose job, but the things we find awful and huge about our own appearances are often not even noticed by others) but how she felt about it ... which she says…

Try reading for comprehension and get back to me. I'm happy to discuss the substance of my comments here, but only with people who aren't too lazy to at least try to grasp it. I'm basically saying the opposite of that.

I really was not intending to be a "grammar Nazi" who derails the point because of a spelling error. And I think you get what I was trying to say, which is that not treating something by a POC, or about something like this, professionally is a backhanded way of discounting them/the argument, while still covering your…

I am being the opposite of condescending: I am expecting this writing to be polished and held to the same standard as anything else semi-professionally published on a commercial website. I suspect that what Jezebel did is condescending, which is assume that giving the POC a space was all they had to do, and it didn't…

Again, not at all. I've worked as a journalist, and as an editor. Everybody needs to be edited. Everybody. I don't see the problems with this writer's piece above as a sign that she is a less-than-great writer, because all writers need to be edited. The editing on this site is patchy; this is not the first piece that…

I can understand that. I'm thinking, though, she's 115, and what she was trying to say is "if I were 30 lbs thinner or 30 lbs fatter, it wouldn't matter." Or similar. It's a very stream-of-consciousness, first person thing. If it were something more dispassionate, like a counsellor saying "you should love your body…

I realize she's a POC. I think it is a tremendously important piece. In an earlier life I worked as a journalist and editor, so I'm well aware that all authors need to be edited. My objection here is that the editors at Jezebel failed this piece and this author by not polishing her work, the way they should polish…

I'm aware of that.