At this point, shouldn't we just assume that pretty much everything made by large companies is produced under unethical conditions somewhere along the line? Our produce is harvested by exploited migrant workers. Our electronics are assembled in sweatshops, using minerals that fuel conflict in the Congo, and will…

I don't hate her, either. I didn't really like the version of Pride and Prejudice she was in, but I thought she was pretty good in Atonement.

I think the book definitely highlighted the unfairness women faced at the time, but I got the feeling Tolstoy still approved of the system. Levin was supposed to be his stand-in, right? And Kitty was supposed to represent the ideal woman? Tolstoy may have had some sympathy for Anna, but he still seemed to…

I LOVE Hark A Vagrant. That strip is perfection.

I just looked up Aaron Johnson because I didn't know who he was, and he was born in 1990. 1990! He's a baby!

I didn't necessarily like her, but I did think she was a really interesting character who I had a fair amount of sympathy for.

I second smithk654, Wide Sargasso Sea is a wonderful companion to Jane Eyre (though it's quite sad and not remotely romantic).

Eva Green would make such a fantastic Anna.

I enjoyed Anna Karenina, and I know it's a product of its times, but good gravy did Tolstoy's view of women annoy me. Passionate, interesting Anna was (spoiler!) punished with misery and death, while dumb, insipid Kitty (presented as the feminine ideal) got to live happily ever after? Ugh.

Also relevant. Boys are expected to play sports or else they're sissies, and girls are supposed to be skinny, but not strong.

Calvin's experiences trying to play baseball at school pretty much explain why I hated organized sports as a kid.

Totally. I was a fairly active kid (biking, swimming, horseback riding), but awful at team sports. The funny thing was, when I wasn't around other kids and the pressure was off (like when I was just playing catch with my family), I was had ok skills, but they all disappeared once I got to PE class or recess.

Ugh, that is awful. I do think that kind of behavior starts early- boys soak up the message that girls' looks and appeal to the opposite sex is their most important characteristic, and harshly judging women's attractiveness is part of being a manly man.

Studies like this deal with broad-scale trends, so anecdotes that are counter to the findings don't mean you shouldn't "buy" the study. If there is a causal relationship between antibacterials and allergies, that doesn't mean that everyone exposed to a lot of antibacterials will get allergies (or that everyone not…

unpinking

She does kind of subvert the putting-phallic-things-in-your-mouth thing with this, though.

Thank you for sharing! I'd also add that I think we need to empower fathers to "save" their daughters, too.

Wait a second, so this half drunk guy sits next to you who is some semi-celeb (who I have never heard of) and that makes you an instant victim because he is male and you are female?

I don't know about that particular theory, but lot of the research on the supposed differences between male and female brains is pretty sketchy. I recommend this book: [www.amazon.com]

Does it really spoil anything to know that two main characters will appear in the finale?