@sfikus: Didn't the Beach boys write a song about that?

Umm... I would be unsurprised if this article was describing an effect of close pair bonding and mistaking it for a cause...

My grandmother was always my role model for the ideal woman: smart, independent financially and emotionally, unafraid to tell other people she thought they were wrong, up on politics, history, and art, and stylish without being trendy.

@helen.skor: I had that exact same reaction. Whooo, 40 whole people you've fucked! You stud you! I grow faint in the presence of your manhood. Someone fetch the smelling salts!

@o-line: See, I thought that part made more sense than the rest of it, actually. My mother was a very picky eater as a teen, and her father told her she'd eat what she was given or nothing at all.

@Nerdy-nerd-nerd: Yeah, the passive-aggressive "an un-named volunteer recently..." letter with enough details that anyone who hadn't already heard about it could figure out who was involved. Classic!

@SteggysaurusRex: Don't worry, this isn't a vagina-having issue. If a PCV gets into trouble of any sort, PC Staff always approaches the situation as, "What could you, hapless and irresponsible (and most likely drunk) PCV have done differently? Idiot." PC Staff's idea of volunteer safety was going from our home to our…

@rellaa: I know of several instances of PCVs alleging sexual assault or rape at the hands of host country nationals or other PCVs. PC Staff response is always to evac the PCV making the allegations ASAP, so they don't run afoul of the local police, judicial system or media. As a result, such allegations are seldom or…

Oh man, I haven't bought makeup since 2005, but I will buy that! One little quibble tho: Batgirl uses a utility belt; Wonder Woman has her lasso of truth and bullet-blocking bracelets.

Yeah, I don't buy into this at all. If I were to cheat, I'd totally do it at home. Course, I can't "cheat" because I'm in an open relationship, so is that why I don't care?

@Morning Gloria: And H.P. Lovecraft.

@BullyTerrier: See this, THIS RIGHT HERE!, is part of the problem. I am almost exactly that, I'm Ms. National Average Female. And I eat virtually no fast food of any kind, and when I over-eat it tends to be a second helping of salad or rice. I walk everywhere and hit the gym 2-3 times a week.

I always wear my hair at the "above average" setting, mainly because the other options are completely beyond me in terms of practical execution.

Heretofore I had considered the ERA redundant, because *silly me* I thought that the "persons" mentioned in the 14th amendments applied to me, despite my significant lady-handicap. Thanks for disabusing me of that notion, Antonin!

@ShinyThings: My statistics come from the Kyrgyz Alliance for Reproductive Health, the Naryn Women's Conference, and my own personal experiences while working in Kyrgyzstan from 06-08. I should have specified, "of Kyrgyz marriages," but I have seen the practice employed by low-status families of other ethnicities as…

@ShinyThings: I was, admittedly, using a liberal estimate. Of all Kyrgyz marriages, I know most use some form of kidnapping. Of those, I know that about 1/3 are the most extreme form, in that the woman doesn't know her abductor or is barely acquainted with him. I also know that this form was on the upswing while I was…

"He can't use the excuse that he's not used to female heads of state — Kyrgyzstan has a female president"

@skahammer: Okay, I'll play your game. I take our concept of consent to be based on the idea that every human has (or should have) agency and decision-making rights regarding their own body and what happens to it. My body needs medical treatment you say? Well Doctor, you're gonna have to check with that body's brain…

@LilaFowler: My first thought looking at this picture was, "How sad, she used to have a unique style, and now she's just another of the thousands of perfectbodyblondehairCAgirl clones."

@Rare Affinity: Calls to mind a scene from a Dostoyevsky novel (I think), wherein the wastrel dandy friend of the protagonist is describing his irritation at having to slip out the back of his flat to avoid the creditors hanging about the front. Living well beyond your means on credit and hoping to fake it till you…