Yay reassurance! From your replies on this thread it sounds like you have your heart & head in the right place. I'm also writing a Thing that touches directly & heavily on race (1800s Americas...hello genocide and slavery!), so I absolutely have to note the race of ALL of my characters and I have a lot of the same…

First let me admit that I am a W, but not a WOC, so take my musings with whatever amount of salt you require. :)

However, it would have kept his brother (who failed to qualify for US citizenship because of a domestic violence dispute) from buying a gun legally. If he's going to acquire one in another way, no one can stop him. But if he legally purchased the weapon that killed Sean Collier, we can and should change that.

It's one thing to opine; it's another thing to opine and then say, "Thoughts?" The best growing I have ever done on the subject of race has been to voice my opinion and then listen to the responses, evaluate if/when I went wrong, and make corrections. Sometimes it wasn't until I said something out loud that someone…

Way too liberal. Earth can't just go prancing around the Sun - look how little land she's wearing.

For real. I have so much trouble explaining this, even to well-meaning friends. When they hear, "I don't want a relationship," they hear a silent, "(but it'd be nice to have one if it comes along.)"

One the one hand, yay knowledge! On the other hand, now instead of wanting one dress I cannot afford, I want five (http://www.maximesimoens.com/#/collection/, numbers 2, 17, 37, 38, and 39).

Agreed. Thanks so much, you're doing a phenomenal job.

If you look closely at the video of the blast, it looks to me like he was struck by something from the blast - there's a small little thing that goes spinning off right at him. That plus the percussive air from the blast might just have knocked him down. Hopefully he's all right.

Concur. Anyone know the designer?

Holy shit. Rosie the Riveter paper dolls, a Frida Kahlo coloring book, a Katniss training jersey...and now I've discovered the science section. How did I ever live without a Space Module Tent and is it acceptable for me to put one on my Christmas wishlist as an adult?

Correction. Your school is *selectively* enforcing its own handbook. The boys shared a naked picture of a girl without her consent. It was wrong. They should be punished. A lot of people are less outraged that SHE was punished; we're outraged that she ALONE was punished.

Does PVI teach the Scarlet Letter? It would be sad if an English teacher could get through a discussion of that book and still support the administration with a straight face.

Do schools still teach the Scarlet Letter? Because I think they need to revisit a few key ideas about shame and shunning and female sexuality and double standards. Maybe instead of writing a long scathing letter, I'll just cut out a big red A and mail it to them. Although in their case it should be a giant H for…

If the scene was intended to make people vomit, then it failed. Lindy says in her write-up that the audience cheered. I repeat: The movie showed a sexy young woman being raped by a tree and the audience cheered. I repeat: In the same year that a bunch of teenagers laughed at real-life images of a girl being penetrated…

Bless you.

No, certainly not. I'm just saying that we don't need to coo and fawn over them for baby steps. They're not actual babies, after all - they've been doing this shit for two thousand years. At a certain point they need to admit that the time for baby steps has come and gone, buy a damn Rascal, and start keeping up with…

It's great to talk about these really thorny issues with someone on the opposite side and yet still maintain a basic level of respect and curiosity. I'm enjoying it immensely and learning a lot.

According to the NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/world/europe/francis-to-meet-argentine-leader-after-frosty-ties.html?_r=0:

I don't body slam strangers, therefore I expect strangers not to body slam me. What's unequal about that?