I never said that beautiful wealthy people have no demons. Life can suck no matter where you are, and everyone's personal anguish is very real and frightening - to them. But I think it would be more useful if, as long as we are interested in quantifying human suffering, we focus on the more immediate horrors. The OP…

Some problems are more immediate than others. "I don't know if anyone likes me for me, and feel lacking in intimate relationships" is a painful, lonely problem to have. But it is simply not on par with "I can't find work that will allow me to both shelter AND feed my children", or "Medical bills are about to render me…

Groaning? She didn't die right away? Oh jebus, this story gets more and more horrifying....

Thank you for that awesome explanation! I learned so much. I wish my teachers in high school had explained these concepts so clearly, I had an interest in Bio but the dense, dry, context-free discourse was too intimidating for me to pursue it in Uni.

Because men do not have mitochondria in their gametes. Gametes are more receptive to manipulation because they are structured to be all about change and transformation. Attempting to extract an organelle from a run of the mill, respiring somatic cell, putting it in a gamete and having it survive the transfer is…

No, it isn't. Some men have a vagina and/or a uterus, and some girls have penises, and some boys and girls have ambiguous genitals. It will be a huge blow to sexism and transphobia, and a victory for anti-oppression movements, when we stop tying gender identity to physical characteristics. Thinking about gender in…

Just wanted to say that I completely understand what you are saying. I felt the same way - still do, some days. I lucked out by being pansexual, turning my back on a heteronormative life, and finding a beautiful Australian woman to marry me. Sometimes it really hurts - even though I wouldn't have a man even if I…

Oh my Madge, are you talking about Peterborough? I was born there, graduated from PCVS and moved to Montreal as soon as I could. Ptbo is uber-white and classically "small-town racist". Even the liberal enclave created by the hippy University can't dent the ironclad racist mentality. Looking back on my formative years,…

Power and responsibility must always be present in equal measure. Anything else is oppression. Those with more power, especially unearned power like the kind conferred by privilege, are responsible for the way they use it. Welcome to intersectional feminism.

Nailed it. Women like the OC's sister have a responsibility to name and acknowledge their privilege and attempt to dismantle it.

I wonder if it's more or less surprising to President Banda than her own sister's embezzeling.

She doesn't live primarily in England anymore, either. Her homebase is NYC now.

FWIW, shopping around for a dentist pays off. There is no "standard billing" in dentistry, so prices can vary wildly. I can appreciate accessibility issues and I know that not everyone lives in an area with lots of dentists, but if there is more than one in your area, call around.

This is what "rape culture" means. Films, television shows, advertisements of every kind, book covers and podcasts and magazine articles send the message that women exist to serve and please men, that the only relationships men should cultivate are ones where they are dominant, and that they are entitled to the…

I have a client named "Twinkle" at my work. I work for a pharmaceutical supply company and she is a pharmacist working in British Columbia. Respectability is possible, with a name like Twinkle.

Reading your comment, something occurred to me, which is that the societal message of "confidence is everything" feeds this miserable mentality. I have seen people succeed at life just by believing their own legend and letting their invisible privilege do the heavy lifting. If you have the confidence but lack the…

FWIW, Actor Jay Mohr says that Klonopin really helps him. He said that it was a huge relief to hear from a doctor that his panic attacks were not a broken part of his personality that he was responsible for modifying, but a chemical problem that had a chemical solution. He takes it every day and is extremely satisfied…

I don't think it's unreasonable to take into account that she has a vested interest in ridding herself of any agency.

I know what you say is true in a small percentage of cases, but I stand by my statement that it's a symbolic or literal attempt to take women's autonomy away from them in regards to their sexuality and sexual pleasure. I would add that the fact that women are complicit in inflicting it on one another doesn't make it…

SRS is nothing like mutilation, and the fact that you equate them is offensive to trans* people. Mutilation is done against someone's will, it is a violation of their autonomy, and when it is done to women, it is often a literal or symbolic attempt at controlling their sexuality. SRS is a voluntary procedure…