Yeah, I'm still routinely mocked for using SPF 55 and above (and floppy hats) on the beach and when I'll be outdoors in the summer, even by people who don't noticeably go out of their way to tan. Whatever, media.

I've never believed all the shit I hear about college professors because I grew up surrounded by them (my dad and his colleagues and friends), and they've been some of the most truly delightful, humble, generous, wonderful, unassuming people I've ever known. But now that I think back on all the muttered complaints…

I get it. It's hard when you have different expectations from each other. Have you tried bringing it up with her, kindly and without accusation, so that she knows it's important to you? She may not realize you feel like you're being left hanging. I certainly tend to expect the other person will be on the same page as…

Personally I'd rather the dude ignore me, especially after just one date, than tell me he wasn't attracted to me.

Personally, I typically don't remain in constant communication with people who live far away, no matter how much I love them. I call my grandma once a week and my dad every couple of weeks, and my closest, most beloved long-distance friends get far more sporadic emails and Skype conversations. I hope they know I do…

You can also click "continue" below to read the article. So it's still there, just with a sort of warning you have to click past. "Journalism." Sigh.

It's a lot more complicated than "judging all men." She picked this man, and she found out that he was wildly untrustworthy. Many people might feel, after that, like they're unlikely to pick a winner. I sure wouldn't trust my picker after an experience like that, at least for years.

You've made your feelings on that clear, and I've made it clear that I will not agree with you. I have at no point said many of the things you claim, such as that I don't care about animals dying or that animals are the same as things or that they are the same as inanimate objects. I was making an analogy, not…

But you do care, because you find the comparison with "doll parents" insulting. You are making a judgment that their feelings for their dolls are dumb and invalid. Just be honest about what you're saying. You can keep saying what I said was shitty but I disagree that it's shitty to draw a distinction between pets and…

Okay. That's a line you've personally drawn. I think it's shitty to compare people's kids to your animals, frankly. We differ on this issue. Again, I have a pet, and I love her dearly. I take care of her health, I value her companionship, and I would be deeply upset if she died. She is also not a child, which…

WHAT? When did I say I don't care about my pets dying? You can care about things dying that aren't your children, that doesn't make them your children. Not having a child doesn't make other things you have your children.

Plants are living things. Are plants like children?

Not sure if you're serious, but ... I was joking about wanting to take my doll to restaurants? That was just an analogy to demonstrate why I don't think it's valid to equate pets with children just because some people don't have actual children?

Um... I certainly would hope so. This is actually the flip side of the same problem I'm concerned about, which is people equating the relationship they have with a lifelong dependent animal and a human they are raising into a future independent adult. I totally agree that kids are not pets and should not be treated…

As a former frequenter of the American Girl Doll restaurant (I was 12, okay), that is also my favorite part. WHY DON'T OTHER VENUES RESPECT MY DOLL'S PLACE IN MY LIFE.

As I said to another commenter, this isn't the point. The point is that "the closest thing you'll ever have to a child" isn't automatically "your child." A doll is not a pet. A pet is not a child.

Um, no, but the point is you can't just say "X is the closest thing I'll ever have to a child" and automatically get to equate it with a child. The closest thing you ever have to a child is not the same thing as "your child." I am not equating pets and dolls. I am also suggesting people not equate pets and children.

And for some people, dolls are the closest thing to children they will ever have, but dolls are not at all like children and we wouldn't think much of people insisting that their dolls be treated like children. I love my cat and take good care of her, but can't imagine that having a child would be or will be anything…

There are a lot of reasons besides "moral objections." For one, there's a big difference between making a free choice to go home with someone for your own pleasure and being in a professional situation where you have to be intimate with someone you're not necessarily attracted to or comfortable having touch you. Not…

I tend to feel neutrally about it. I don't like the idea that owners think pets are disposable (my kitty certainly isn't), but when I plan for kids they will come first. The modern tendency to put kids and pets on the same level kind of annoys me. If I have reason to think my pet will be dangerous or a significant…