I have sort of the opposite problem- I can't get it through my doctor's head that I'm not trying to lose weight, that I exercise because I enjoy it, that I'm not dieting or counting calories or anything. I'm a size 4, and yet she either can't believe that this is just the natural size of my body at this point in my…

This. If I'd been a bored 12 year old with a bored 9 year sister, my parents would have just made me entertain the 9 year old.

If they were younger I'd totally agree, but at 9 and 12, they ought to be able to amuse themselves without tearing up the house. The 9 year probably needs a little more structure, but should still be able to pick up after herself.

True and untrue might be bad words to apply to math, but they're pretty damn relevant when it comes to shitty science reporting.

Sorry, I think I misunderstood your first comment! I thought you were disagreeing because you didn't realize it was a parody. I completely agree with you on the stupidity of "Teach the Controversy".

It's specifically an anti-creationism site, though I'm sure the Flat-Earthers and moon landing doubters would also find it offensive. It's meant to point out how crazy it would be if we extended the creationist "Teach the Controversy" logic to other unscientific beliefs.

The refutation is that, if intelligent design is strictly a scientific theory, then it must be defended or discarded on purely scientific merits. And it doesn't have much in the way of scientific merit. Virtually everyone who actually studies the subject agrees that evolution is the best explanation for the data. We…

Love this comment! Have you seen the "Teach the Controversy" tee shirts?

Or it may be one of those "twice as good to get half the the credit" situations, where white men can stay in the field even if they're mediocre, but the pressures on women and POC are so high that only the very best/most devoted make it through.

I don't know what the right housing situation is for you, so I'm not going to touch that. But please, don't make any permanent decisions right away. The first few weeks of dorm life are not representative of the everyday dorm experience. Right now, everyone is feeling scared and alone. Some of them are dealing with…

Maybe a pair of sleeping headphones?

Maybe? You can use lemon juice to make your hair lighter or to brighten up white laundry, so it has some bleaching power. But it helps to use lemon juice and sunlight, which doesn't seem as practical in this context.

I had the same thing happen, except it was a book about chimpanzees and I was 8. Someone had told me about p-i-v in first grade, and it seemed too outlandish to be true. But a few years later I found a book about chimpanzees, which had a bunch of diagrams (included cross sections and multiple viewpoints!) showing how…

I've got nothing... Those are all great messages, and if I was still online dating the only reason I wouldn't respond to those was if you had a really awful profile.

For vibrators, I find the small, roundish ones that sit in your hand are the most convenient for couples. Something like this http://www.lelo.com/index.php?coll… , which won't accidentally poke your partner or get in the way/get dropped.

I love the look on the baby's face. Kid isn't entirely sure about this whole "ocean" thing, but knows it can't be too bad as long as Daddy is there.

Just knowing about test prep is huge. My parents couldn't afford a private tutor and were pretty hands-off with my college admissions, but I still got at least a 200 point boost from the fact that one day, six months before I had to take the SATs, my mom brought home a big SAT prep book and a set of storebought…

It's great that you talk to your students about educational disparities. I am forever grateful to the professor who brought the topic up in my freshman sociology class. It wasn't a long conversation, but as a middle-class kid from a town with a lot of wealthy families, it put a lot of stuff into perspective for me.

This law isn't for the vast majority of people. It is meant to help the very small minority of people who are born in a body that is not clearly male or female. This is rare, but it happens because every human being contains the raw material to form either a male or a female- you start out, as a fetus, with a bunch of…

Yes, there are many cases where a baby is obviously intersex at birth. There are also intersex individuals whose condition isn't obvious until puberty or later, and they need their own legal protections, but allowing a third option on a birth certificate is a good first step.