Hopefully that is what is going here! There is definitely enough good about this to get me to see the film despite my misgivings about the fights (and the accent!).

Thank you for the additional background! I appreciate that infantilization is a big issue in Canada/the US, and probably in Japan also for all I know (ie not much), and that it's worth talking about. But even though we should talk and think critically about beauty standards, we can't say anything meaningful without…

I don't think that all schools have a single hierarchical system of popularity, or, if they do, that it needs to relate to specific activities.

The only logical explanation that I can see is that she was there as a private individual (e.g. it's her nieces's class, she volunteers with a neighborhood association, etc.), not as "Sasha Grey, ex porn actress", and that one or more of the parents recognized her from seeing photographs of the event?

Poppy-wearing is only common in British Commonwealth countries. I'm in Canada, and most exchange students that I meet, whether American, Argentinian or Chinese, are unfamiliar with the practice. There is also a huge class dimension to the insularity you bemoan - not everyone *can* travel, and it's often only through…

Why would you discuss poppies in the context of a course/book on the history of the first world war though? They are an important part of the commemorative practices in some parts of the world, but not in others, but as such they are only one (minor) example among many of the ways in which people tried to adapt and…

(In response to your reply to Cluisanna)

A great explanation. Even though individual people might shave for other reasons (more power to them), there is an expectation that all women should shave (or "at least"/"only" trim), regardless of personal preference. It's pervasive, and it's anchored in the idea that unaltered women's bodies are disgusting.

That is true. But I don't think that it's what is going on in this article. Zaslow's criticism doesn't take reported intentions as evidence - it assumes intention on the basis of the premise that the trait is actually a juvenile one (I disagree), and that it is that characteristic rather than some other characteristic…

I have trouble seeing how the poem isn't, in part at least, advocating for a continuation of the war. The dead tell the living to "Take up our quarrel with the foe" and talk about passing on the torch. This sort of rhetoric, invoking the countless deaths that had already happened to reject calls for peace negotiations…

Hi! Not to shame you back behind your pillow because I totally do indulge in bouts of hibernation myself, but... As someone really shy who never really dared to do things by myself, and who did a similar programs a few years back, I have to rant about how awesome it is that you get to risk doing things alone in a…

I agree completely. The rest of the story that they tell seems interesting - a creepy tweak on the original versions. There are some beautiful shots: the contrast between the forest and the palace in particular has a lot of potential. I think that Stewart is a good actress, even in Twilight (Bella comes off as bland…

I think that PSAs do have a big effect, but often only in the longer term. I recently got into a conversation with a group of friends from my home-town about the anti drinking-and-driving ads that were on when we were children, and we all remembered them vividly, and have all grown up to be paranoid about doing it by…

I don't see what delayed baby teeth/small mouths have with being young - I'm in my late twenties and I have a few peers with the same tooth shape naturally (though most have straight+even ones, the product of braces). My own teeth got that way gradually over the last decade because my mouth is too small now that I…

Definitely had that issue here - my family are pretty demonstrative (holding hands or arms when walking, etc. - clear signs of affection, but nothing that could possibly be misconstrued as sexual), and I definitely have had people assume that I was dating my father. It really bugs me that our society is so skewed that…

Yup. I never attracted much interest, but it's gone done to nothing now that I'm getting close to thirty. I don't want to be flirted with all the time, but I would like to have some sort of romantic or sexual life again.

Perhaps?

Well I'm going to get working on that, Ladycakeboss. Diligently.

I don't find her age at all implausible. She does look older than the majority of 17 year olds, but so do some teenagers (I was definitely one of them - I hit puberty early and by 15 had no more baby-fat in my face, and people regularly assumed that I was in my 20s; it wasn't fun). Add to that the makeup's effect on…

Studies like this are usually very explicit about the actual behaviours they are curious about (because of the very problem that you highlight - too many people would balk at calling what they experienced sexual harrassement, even though it totally is).