It was refreshing to read this exchange. EmC, you had thoughtful and polite input, and Lydkat, you had thoughtful and polite responses without getting defensive and nobody was snotty or looked for an affront where there was none. I don't think I've ever seen that on the internet before! Honestly, this thread moved…

Yick to what Filipovic wrote. My name is not my identity. I am more than my name. I did change my name when I got married, because I liked his last name better. I did not use my maiden name as a middle name. It's honestly not important to me. What is important is the middle name I was given, and it's my paternal…

I have a German friend whose sister took a while to get a birth certificate. It wasn't because her names weren't approved names. It was because their mother wanted them to have the girls to have the same middle name. I think my friend said it took six months, but her mother jumped through all the hoops and her…

Ha! I totally didn't notice that until your comment. Also, cool name.

I have the best sex of my life with my current boyfriend, and have never experienced climax. Ever, even with myself. Being with him is still mind-blowing because of how close we are during the act. I've never felt closer to anyone, and he is helping me learn how to listen to my body so I can give up that control…

Ah, my apologies! But there are women who would do such a thing!

I have had curly hair my whole life, and I hated it for most of my life. As a child, my Irish grandmother would tell me to eat my broccoli because it'd make my hair curl. Now, I liked broccoli just fine and didn't need any sort of reason to eat my veggies, but until I was old enough to realize that was just an old…

No. http://www.amazon.com/Pet-Sematary-Stephen-King/dp/B001O80Y0I/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358603585&sr=1-2&keywords=pet+sematary

Love Jayne.

I'm a native New Englander living in the midwest for the time being. I speak much faster than my coworkers do, and they're baffled by my vocabulary. I often explain that there's a difference between being rude and not being friendly and I firmly believe we get a bad rap. It wasn't until about a month or so ago that…

A long damned time. I'm unfamiliar with Kuster, but Shea-Porter, Shaheen, and Hassan are all women who were around back when I lived there nearly a decade ago. Shaheen was governor about twenty years ago, and I was young then, but when I grew older, I considered it a bit of a turning point of NH politics. Ayotte is…

As a sexual assault activist, I'm interested in your paper as well. I was ignorant of this treatment during WWII until reading this just now. (Which makes me feel like a shitty activist.)

I've known my whole life I didn't want children. Even as far back as high school, I felt motherhood wouldn't be for me. Married at 24 to someone else who didn't want children. So much pressure from EVERYONE to have kids, though! How on earth was it anyones' business but ours? SO rude for people to ask us when we…