France.

Jezzies, I've been having a weird day. I've just been... anxious, I guess. Super tense, and my stomach has been weird, and I've been somewhere between jittery and shaky most of the day. And I don't know if it's because I have a different generic version of Wellbutrin right now or because I drank last night and I…

This was roughly my first thought. My fourth-grade teacher tried to teach us about bullying and working through conflicts, and the only thing I distinctly remember was having to do role-play scenarios and thinking how I was never going to use "when you do x I feel y" because it was just so awkward and unnatural.

Starring this because I had the same question. I'm happy that this happened, just a little puzzled—can't client-based businesses (like photographers) refuse clients for non-bigoted reasons like "I don't like the bride's attitude" or "The groom looks eerily like my ex-husband"?

I actually like her as mindless pop, but when you can really hear her voice? Meh. No thanks.

I wish this were a little less... well, Disney Channel, but I can't hate Ashley Tisdale. I always get the impression that she's doing everything tongue-in-cheek, fully aware that it's slightly ridiculous.

Making it an issue of one "side" vs. the other is overly simplistic. While I'd say you're correct that only one side benefits, both sides do contribute to it and both sides are harmed.

Oh, definitely. While the original author may have been correct when she pointed out some examples of thin-shaming, she did so in a totally fat-shamey way that I can't even pretend to defend.

You too!

I can't help but wonder, though, if many of the comments you're referring to are a symptom of the crappy, body-policing world we inhabit.

Honestly, I'm not really addressing Lindy at all. Lindy recognizes that this hurts everyone, and she's actively fighting against it. Yes, her post came off as a little self-congratulatory, but all of it was true, and I don't know that there's much wrong with saying to.

I know they're not the same, and I attempted to avoid this discussion when I said "wealthy and upper-class" instead of just "wealthy"; even if they may not be treated like a Vanderbilt, they'll still have class privilege. And no, white privilege and thin privilege are not exactly the same. That doesn't mean that thin…

Can we stop treating this as a zero-sum game? (Addressing some of the responses I'm seeing, not Lindy.) I say this about patriarchy all the time, and I'll say it about weight policing and beauty standards:

So if someone is born poor but becomes wealthy and upper-class later in life, they don't have class privilege as an adult?

Yep, or I should just stop reading Jez today because some of the comments elsewhere have made me bitter and now I read all ambiguous comments as having been written by assholes. My bad.

How does feminism make this okay? Feminism has made it so that women can vote, get a divorce, and enter the sciences with half an expectation that they'll be taken seriously (among other things). Feminism has not made it so that we can be creepy (and it shouldn't).

That's because goldens are the most amazingly chill dogs. The one I had growing up puts up with cats, small dogs, and toddlers with no problem.

Except for when it's not. Read through some of the other comments here—there are plenty of women who struggled without time off, or who struggled even with it. And even if it is "all mental", it's still a problem. A person who is having serious mental problems does need time off, especially new parents. Raising a…

Best of luck to you. It's not fair that it should even be in question that you get that time off.

Yes. In some countries, paternity leave is actually required for full maternity leave to be given. The government mandates a certain amount of paid maternity leave no matter what, but if the father also takes paid time off, both parents are given more time (which can be taken simultaneously or not). This encourages…