I think it is a miracle drug, or at least it could be. And I am not a scientist or doctor. The only way I can describe it is that I was still able to see clearly and think about what people had done to me in the past — there was no fantasy or hallucinating, but I was able to feel compassion and understanding for…

Aw, thanks. :)

MDMA taken for fun in college had the very unexpected side effect of helping me process and resolve the aftereffects of years of child abuse and sexual assault in my teens. It took the anger, grief, and sorrow that had always been there under the surface, and let me work through it to a place of compassion and peace…

Gosh, I don't know why the conversation below makes it sound as if you were referring to commenters rather than humanity at large.

No, silly. I am saying that while both flags are about more than killing Jews and enslaving blacks to SOME people, the fact that they are both irrevocably associated with genocide to millions of currently living people makes the choice to display them a heavily loaded one.

So they are all basically good people whose hobby just happens to be spending hours and hours of their collective time and energy "trolling" web sites with hateful misogynist comments? Fascinating.

Sorry, I've seen WAY too much real sexism and misogyny in the real world to imagine that most people really are genuinely enlightened and practicing the ideals of gender equality, and are just lightheartedly and ironically saying spiteful ignorant things on comment boards for a brief giggle. Heck, I've seen the real…

Well, I think it IS a sexist thing, and not just a preference thing, and not least because our preferences are shaped in no small part by the media around us. Double standards for behavior are a real thing. He's aggressive; she's a pushy bitch. He's forceful; she's shrill. He's a player; she's a slut. He's…

Well, since neither of us knows exactly what her comment is referring to, I guess we'll have to leave it at that, though it does seem obvious to me that men do get a lot more slack cut for them to be obnoxious and unruly. Think of Rosie O'Donnell and Roseanne and how much hatred they generated for being loud and fat.…

You're conflating some stuff here. The only complaint from Leigh that I am aware of is what is quoted here: "#1reasonwhy because my male colleagues are allowed to occasionally be obnoxious, silly, immature, annoying, drunk. i'm not." If her experience is anything like other women's, she's probably referring to A…

Okay, I'll grant she might have been extremely annoying, and it is unfortunate that she is like that.

This is a very interesting question, and it is one that is on my mind a lot since I have two young daughters. I have seen firsthand how self-perpetuating the sex segregation in and how much of an accidental factor that can be that ends up having major, major consequences down the line. For example, Mr. X runs the…

Wow, you have just totally proved her point beyond a shadow of a doubt. How many drunk and obnoxious podcasts by men have you heard? Probably a lot, and they don't particularly stand out in your mind. She was drunk and obnoxious on a podcast — AND YOU REMEMBER IT VIVIDLY. Why? Could it be in part because she WAS…

I wish that were true.

I noticed a big difference in how much I got harassed in my teens that depended on how WEALTHY I looked. When I went out looking unkempt in my ripped jeans and army jacket and had kind of a hippie vibe, I got harassed as hell. When I went out in Izod shirts and wore Raybans with the logo (forgive me, it was the…

Nice!! Freedom of speech does not equal freedom from consequences of speaking.

Some interesting takes on this at http://isawyournanny.blogspot.com/

Yes! And in a way it _IS_ okay, but in so many, many other ways it ISN'T. It's like everyone is pushing you down road A, and you don't even know what is on roads B through Z because you don't KNOW anyone who has taken those roads, and so many people around HAVE taken road A, and who do you think you are looking down…

I'm sorry that happened to you. My parents were wealthy, but deeply, deeply messed up and abusive. Forward to the next generation and hope we do better by them!

I have to agree. I have two kids, and I'd love to have a third, but I just don't think I could support it, let alone help it through college.