Thank you! I was shaking while writing it. just word vomit. I'm just so upset. I just cross-posted this with a few tweaks on facebook (I RARELY post political things, other than sharing a link or two, and I almost never update my status with serious matter). and ended it with "I don't give a fuck anymore. defriend me…

It's horrifying isn't it? and my circle is just a drop in the bucket. Thank you for the recommendation... I should tweak this up and little and definitely send it. I feel like sometimes it is screaming at a wall, trying to fight against this tide.

When I saw someone arguing pro-life I just wondered if they would turn down my child if I asked them, if I really, honestly, didn't want an abortion but it was the only way I could make it, if they would take that child. I started thinking of the costs and know they wouldn't.

I'm actually incredibly heartbroken right now. I grew up in Waco and left for New York at 18. My mom still lives there. My best friends live all over Texas. Women. Men who have women they love. Women and men I've known from childhood.

The best part is that now I'm an adult-type person, they feel no need to sanitize the trash-talk. A couple of years ago the uncle who owes me money was saying shit like "don't let your tits get in the way" and I responded with "well, yours are bigger than mine, so heed your own advice."

My family had the same fucking horseshoes rule. I have always been a feminist, even as a little girl (even though I didn't know the word!), and I demanded to know why boys got to play horseshoes when they weren't better than girls.

In my hometown it is played either by blue collar old Italian men or drunk hipsters, depending on what court you're on. If you are in Brooklyn and want to try it, Union Hall in Park Slope has two courts indoors.

I hear you. My Nono Gigi refused to teach me to play bocce... and it pains me to know that he would agree with his paisani .... He also once asked why I would go to law school instead of learning how to cook. Apparently, my grandfathers had massively questionable mores.

I just wanta throw this out here - my family/neighborhood/American city is extremely Italian, and I've never heard of this "tradionally women can't play bocce" thing before. All the stories in the comments are throwing me for a loop.

Maayyyybe try reading the article and not the synopsis?

You incredibly disingenuous shit, seemingly incapable of reading the story: the dispute is wholly internal in regards to whether they will allow women into their club, but the insane defensiveness of the members has left them open to public ridicule.

There is nothing wrong with ridiculing shit birds, especially when…

It's not a male only club. From the article:

One of the guys is quoted as saying "Give me one court and leave me alone." Meaning, he wants one of the courts to be reserved for his male-only club.

It's not a male only establishment, it's a public park. Dip shit.

Marine Park is a public park. If they want a male-only bocce court they can build it on their own land.

We never played horseshoes. Just bocce. This is the only part of the horse my people know what to do with...

Hmmm...and women don't have the strength, stamina or the ability to strategize. MmmmHmmm. So a bunch of men just want to play with their balls, all by themselves. It's so strange that in most cases, straight men are always demanding women play with their balls.

We had that issue in our family, but it was horseshoes. One of the uncles was all "sweetie, you're a girl and horseshoes are heavy!"

My aunt's ex-husband built a bocce court in their backyard, too. Sometimes we made them let us play but mostly it was a No Girls Allowed zone. But they also sort of used it to exclude men they didn't consider their equals, too. My dad could've played if he asked, but they would never have extended an invitation.…

I'm 30 years old and I am still not invited to play bocce with the men in my family. Ever. In fact I have been specifically told I'm not allowed.