I think it has a lot more to do with Protestant roots than anything. The British and Germans are this way with all emotions too, even more than Americans, though their associations with masculinity are different because Americans have a frontier survivor mythology on top of it. But you dip down into Spain or France,…

Yup. I’m a woman who grew up in the US, but even still, my control of emotions is considered really cold when I’m with family in India. I can’t cut loose and celebrate, am made very uncomfortable by embraces and expressions of affection, and I absolutely do not cry in front of people. In fact, I’m so unaccustomed to…

I’m a little confused by your statement. Are you suggesting that this article is wrong? Why wouldn’t you know who he said it to when the article says he said it to Williams during their coverage of the primary. This is one journalist talking to another journalist while they are working. Unless you mean the article is…

I don’t know if you could not notice. It's much more painful than a period. Though everyone is different.

Mine just filled up a bunch of pads. Very clotty, very painful, but there were no discernible body parts- just chunky blood.

Well, she's got a history of drug problems and homelessness, so I'd suspect mental illness, either as a contribution to her problems or perhaps a result of them. It makes sense that hospitals and the fetus-burial place would turn her away if she were erratic and had a ziplock bag of blood and was talking about…

Yes same here. I was maybe 6 weeks though. 6-8. It was just like an extremely heavy period, though terribly painful. I have no idea what remains I could have tried to bury. Though it sounds like there are some mental problems in this case, so perhaps she had a bag of clotty blood in her purse?

Nope. It's gross to say that at work to a colleague in that context, mic or not. He's not at a bar afterhours. He's not at home with a mag. He's not at a fashion show. Etc. It's alarming how many people think this is somehow OK.

For some reason, Bernie's REPEATEDLY creepy comments about women have been entirely ignored. I support his larger social agenda and am refreshed by the fact that he is not tied to the military-industrial complex in the same way as other candidates, but there is a lot of dirt sitting in his past that is going to be…

Exactly. It's stunning and disappointing to read all these responses here. It's so fucking acceptable to put women down that we aren't even focusing on the real problem here.

Look, surely you can see how men’s totally inappropriate and misogynistic behavior has resulted in people discussing the varying degree to which women are acting appropriately or not. Melania simply walked past him, fully clothed in professional attire, at a political event where he is a journalist. Why can’t we focus…

I hate that meme. It’s been in my FB newsfeed too. And the people who post it appear to be totally serious about it without any ability at all to reflect on the fact that Bernie’s cranky old white grandpa persona actually does have emotional resonance with many of his followers. His followers have said misogynistic…

Discussing Melania and the larger context and motivation behind trophy wives and the ethics of modeling and how she would affect women’s issues if she were first lady- all of that is a valid discussion, I agree.

That discussion is also completely irrelevant to the fact that Chris Matthews behaved inappropriately.…

There are two issues here. First is what you think about Melania. There is nothing wrong with criticizing her- though I hope you’d be up for a thoughtful discussion about it if you were a public figure or journalist doing so. I emotionally agree with all your points, so I know what you mean. Second, however, is the…

Nonsense. This way of thinking is part of the problem. Melania has been a model. I think she’s also a trophy wife, though I don’t know for sure, and I can’t imagine that having her as first lady would do anything for women’s rights in the US. None of this has anything to do with the fact that it is entirely…

You know what bothers me about both the Trump response AND Brian Williams’ response? Neither call Matthews out on his shit. Trump responds by defending Melania. As far as I can tell, Melania did not do anything other than walk through a room, so I don’t see why she needs defense. Trump should have responded by calling…

These laws have managed to shut down clinics all across the country. 60 clinics closed because of these laws last year alone. The average wait for an abortion is now 9 days because of the few clinics, and this is before you take into account that these laws now have a wait period of their own (you can’t consult and…

What good news is there for women's rights in the US? All I see is repeatedly backwardness, and not just this one law. It happens every fucking week.

I'm SO SICK of this crap. Where is the organized outrage? I can't get away from the bathroom issue. Granted, I think it's a good thing for people to be able to pee in whatever bathroom they want, but I don't think it's even nearly so important as a government that is slowly but steadily taking over the reproductive…

Corporations will only respond to outrage when the outrage is either very vocal (like in this case) or has the majority of people behind it. See, for example, the fact that NO ONE is banning or boycotting states for shutting down abortion clinics, restricting access to birth control, passing legislation that…