Yep, satire, but too damn close to the source material! Ya know, this is one of the areas where the women of Gen X have to shake our heads in dismay at the younger set. We embraced trimming the bush back from its late 60s-early 70s glory days. Shave the bikini line so you don’t get tufts peeking out around the edges…

Yep, satire, but too damn close to the source material! Ya know, this is one of the areas where the women of Gen X have to shake our heads in dismay at the younger set. We embraced trimming the bush back from its late 60s-early 70s glory days. Shave the bikini line so you don’t get tufts peeking out around the edges…

Fuck, I’m a middle aged white person, and I could never watch this shit.

It’s pretty easy to slide down the slippery slope into “men’s rights” misogyny because there are crumbs of truth there. Teeny crumbs in a gigantic shitcake, but crumbs nonetheless.

Thanks for this series. I struggle between my strong conviction that anecdotes do not equal data and acknowledging that by putting human faces to the numbers we can understand them better. However, I hope to see fewer activists in future installments; I’d rather hear fresh insights from someone who hasn’t already…

As a busty woman, will I have to buy the off-road version?

I’m neither vegetarian nor much of an activist, but I have to take the opportunity to encourage you to say no to eating octopus. They’re awfully intelligent for something we choose to treat as food.

I’m neither vegetarian nor much of an activist, but I have to take the opportunity to encourage you to say no to eating octopus. They’re awfully intelligent for something we choose to treat as food.

Yes, but... One of the problems now is getting the consultants and auditors to be aware of current, proven methodology for password security. Someone I know is fighting this battle right now. His company is undergoing a security audit in which, to earn a passing grade, he is being pressured to take their password…

Yes, but... One of the problems now is getting the consultants and auditors to be aware of current, proven methodology for password security. Someone I know is fighting this battle right now. His company is undergoing a security audit in which, to earn a passing grade, he is being pressured to take their password…

Recently I read my 1975 kindergarten report cards, which said I was curling in a ball, rocking, and pulling my own hair when I got upset. We know what the likely diagnosis would be for a kid who did that nowadays. Then, I just got smacked and told, “Stop acting like an idiot!” I developed my own coping mechanisms over…

It’s pretty much the only way to bathe my pittie. She hates getting wet, so when I sat outside the tub washing her, it was something happening to her, done by me. Now that I just bring her in the shower, it’s something we do together, and she gets lots of extra belly rubs and scratches while she’s covered with…

I think part of the problem is that people like you and me, and our parents, still remember how we were independent and free and unprotected, and we survived. It’s still in our recent cultural memory. The safety improvements of the past 40 years also came with increased laws and regulations that chafed the right wing…

I’m going to take a minute to address this possible troll. Emotional and verbal abuse are real, and perpetrated by women as well as men. I’m sure most of us have known a couple where one partner was always belittling, patronizing, mocking, or infantilizing the other. Those relationships never end well. Personally, I…

I read the original very differently than “look on the bright side” and more about resilience in the face of adversity. Resilience isn’t the same as twisting the event into some sort of good fortune, but rather relying on your own strength. In Aurelius, the “bright side” is the awareness that you are competent to…

Battle metaphors and being pushed to be cheerful: those sum up 90% of the illness-related conversations I had with people when I had cancer, and they were all bullshit. Thanks for offering some options to the well-intentioned. I’d also suggest reading Susan Sontag’s Illness as Metaphor and Bright-sided: How Positive…

I love Australia.

Some words of encouragement but also warning. I signed up for a 5-class package at a local place that does pole classes. The first class was fun: the other women were supportive and friendly, with a wide variety of body types. The music was great. I’m pretty strong and flexible and found that keeping up with the pace…

As someone who has been begging her husband to downsize from our 2200 sq ft home in a small city, I still ache for a tiny house. On trips to IKEA I settle into their little apartment mockups and threaten that I won’t leave. I just want less to clean and lower utility bills, and since our kid emptied the nest a few…

I was 40 at the time and that bit of cruelty was surprising only because she pulled it out in public; usually she saves her most biting commentary for one-on-one. It was nowhere near the most hurtful thing she’s ever said or done. In fact, I was rather glad that my gracious and kind sister-in-law heard it, so she…