Realization that you yourself are part of the equation, followed by gratefulness that the other person tolerates you, followed by acceptance that we are all just imperfect people trying to survive? My experience, anyway.

Noooo! Insist on a day or two a week just for you! It’s realky okay!

I’m excited for you! At lng last, togetherness!

DC! I’m in Northern Virginia. WE ARE OFFICIALLY GOING TO BE NEIGHBORS

I hear you. Family of 4 in a 1000 sf space. I carved out a corner of the LR as my personal writing/goddess/ meditation space. It’s awesome.

Ha ha ha ha ha you are fucking AWESOME

LOL! YES. Love my husband, love my kids, we have fantastic times together - and I still harbor not-so-secret fantasies about a little place just for me.

No. Not necessarily. Never lived with my spouse until we were marrid. Been together for 31 years. Married for 23.

What a beautifully-written, thoughtful piece. I was 31 before I had my very own apartment. I loved it. It was the only time in my life I didn’t have to share a bathroom, something I didn’t realize until I read this!

It’s not in the name of feminism, nor is it purported to be. It’s in the name of prejudice.

They would never leave the good ol’ USA to visit a foreign country. That just invites sin and temptation.

Absolutely. My kids wore swim shirts their entire tiny lives. Older (now adult) son got the first sunburn of his life a few weeks ago, and was completely confused about how to deal with it. Similar Scotch-Irish genes.

“Told off”? Or “arrested”? Not the same thing.

I think the religion these women are born into oppresses them and that is hardly the women’s fault. All of us women experience internalized misogyny of one sort or another. It’s part and parcel of living in patriarchy.

No. They’re adding another level of suffering to an already-oppressed group. That serves nobody.

Of course. I agree with you that religion is make-believe. I also think religion was invented primarily as a way to police women’s behavior.

Yes! We mustn’t dirty the ocean with street dirt and dust!

I do not like the tenets of Islamor Christianity or Judaism or Jainism or even good-ol’ secularism that dictate women’s inferiority and require that women cover themselves up so as not to incite men’s uncontrollable lust. Yes. That attitude makes me ragey.

So it’s his mother’s fault. Right. That’s fair. Best not to ever say anything! It’s all HER fault the Brasilian cops are corrupt assholes.

Cheyenne is the capital of Wyoming. Not the “capitol” of Wyoming. “Capitol” is used only to describe an actual capitol building.