Does anyone know what is the verdict on calcium supplements? Because I've heard everything from you should take them to you shouldn't and I can't even remember the reasons. If no one drinks milk does that mean most people aren't getting enough calcium, and is this leading to problems? Or has the importance of calcium…

Interesting, thanks!

Call me jaded but I basically avoid any book that is ridiculously popular and praised in the mainstream adult book market. (As opposed to the genre fiction market, for which I have a different set of rules.) When there are enough people saying a book "changed their life" I can't help thinking their worldview must have…

I am still waiting for that magic moment when I develop a taste for classics. Maybe it will come when I'm past 30? I've read a few but most of those I've actually liked are ones that I'm pretty sure were considered children's books when they were written, or in some cases still are (Little Women, Watership Down, A…

Really? I have never heard of this, why don't people like her? (I also haven't read it, only seen the movie.)

That is interesting. I find in reading old literature that even in print, the difference in beauty ideals is clear. I remember Amy in Little Women wanted her nose to have an "aristocratic point". No one I know seems particularly concerned about having a pointy nose, or about having features that look 'aristocratic'.…

Also, this:

I agree. Assertiveness can easily cross the line into treating others with condescension, regardless of gender. It may be the Canadian in me but I reeeeally don't respond well to "bossy" personalities. Maybe some people look for that in their leaders but I would prefer a leader who is able to display warmth and…

That was my thought, too...I know there has been talk about Star Wars, but there are no upcoming projects on her IMDB page. I get that she only recently came out of acting school and was probably as surprised by all this sudden attention as anyone, but shouldn't she have at least one or two things definitively lined…

Yeees. Honestly I never realized I spoke differently from Americans until I lived there and people kept pointing it out.

As a former 19 year old, I recall my close friend dating a guy in his late 20s at the time. I never thought it was "gross" nor did my friend. In retrospect I now know the guy had some issues, but I still don't find the situation gross, just slightly misguided. As for guys who are in it purely to get laid, well, as…

Yep. It's not that female characters are automatically boring and useless, it's that people just aren't used to seeing well-developed female characters.

Movies where women only talk about men actually did worse overseas – they made only $1.06.

I don't know if one kind is worse than the other, but the scale can be different. I was unpopular, and the bullying I got was mainly small, consistent things, like people making comments as they passed me or whatever. My sister was really, really popular. When she got bullied it was generally over a specific incident…

I went to a small private one and it was the same. By high school all anyone cared about was diving into their own niche interests, or getting the best marks to get into the best college. By 16 I gave up on my more cliquey friends and found one girl to enjoy the remainder of school with who is still my BFF to this…

Eh. Pants are overrated.

To me it's not so much that she's well adjusted (many teen celebs appear to be that, at least at first) but that she just seems to know a lot about things no teenager knew ten years ago when I was one. Maybe the internet has changed things? I duno. At her age I was also still in the phase of Feminism is old fashioned…

Ach, this. I have one of these in my family. Nothing is her fault. It's like she is a passive cipher and things only happen TO her.

I know what you mean so much. My mom is basically the best model of aging I could ever have hoped for. She won't dye her grey hairs, she has always said she "earned" them. It also helps that she has had an amazing career and life and is kind of a badass. I think the people for whom aging is the hardest are probably…

The thing is, while basically all my good friends are female and always have been, I actually completely get where LW1 is coming from. When women get together in groups, it IS very common for the 'stereotypical women' topics to come up simply because when the group is big enough there won't be many non-stereotypical…