You don't see what my response "everyone in society has a right to evaluate it" has to do with your statement "it's not something that you get a say in"? Seems pretty clear to me.

They fired him and hired another guy. Does that make him more interesting?

"Also, it's always a plus when YA novels dare to reveal that first friendship isn't always forever"

Iggie's House was probably my favorite, though I liked Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge a lot.

As a kid, it was in the school library, but the title made me think it was a religious book, so I skipped it. It's obvious from all the articles over the years what an important and terrific book it is. I wonder how my ten-year-old male self would have responded.

Uh, no. If something is happening in society, everyone in society has a right to evaluate it. And pretending something is wrong at all times in all places is generally to engage in cliched behavior. Not to mention stereotypical thinking about gender.

Doubt it. Even so, she'd be relying on cliched tropes about male/female behavior and deciding on the basis of one instructor's prejudicial assessment that her daughter is experiencing the onset of puberty.

Are there any? I think Blume wrote humorously about boys' issues because boys were too trapped in heavy-thinking responsibilities and needed irreverence, and wrote seriously about girls' issues because girls tended to be condescended to and treated as if their problems were irrelevant. I think this is a sign of how…

Because "race" is a clear descriptive for those differences. Why wouldn't it be?

Well, then go fuck yourself.

I disagree.

I think that's a compliment? I read about this kid who collects all A's, writes poems, is expected to have received another glowing letter about outstanding achievement, and is either reading an adult-level book or writing a lengthy piece of fiction. And the father seems totally uninvolved and the mother unrelenting.…

Blume is amazing, and Are You There God, It's Me Margaret has been an important book in many young girls' lives. What a great step forward in her down to earth, commonsense approach to a natural process from me. Blume removed "the curse" and replaced it with pride in maturation.

I didn't misuse the term. I insult when insulted—want to be addressed respectfully, address me respectfully. You don't determine when I am "behaving."

Other than your last paragraph, I completely agree with you. As for the last paragraph—some actors/actresses feel demeaned by sexualization, some empowered, just as in other areas of entertainment. As Madonna about whether she feels demeaned.

I don't think it was "invented for social reasons" though I'd be willing to look at an argument for that position. People clearly look differently, have different skin tones, facial features, hair color that relates in broad ways to specific climates. It's an visible fact.

You shouldn't. I've got the highest positive rating possible on Rate Your Professor—a site most students go to to trash their teachers. I get superb student evaluations at the school the end of every semester. My students think very highly of me, as demostrated by concrete data, not some obscure "feeling" on my part.

If I said "all," it was indeed an over-reach. But "vast majority" strikes me as accurate. Geoff Johns has written a lot about this.

Fair enough.

Totally agree.