King has a history of sexual fantasies dressed up as something else in his stories though. The Shining and The Stand have this sort of thing in them too. And if it weren’t about the fantasy aspect (from the pov of the boys), why all the “oh wow, your big dick makes me cum”? There’s no reason for that shit.

No I would never think of King as a pedophile. The problem is that he is actually a talented writer (even though not at all someone I like- he does have a particular skill set) and so things will work on a few levels. I agree it just doesn’t fit, but I think that’s because he is at a conflict here that you have…

No. He throws it in as an adolescent fantasy. Speculative fiction from that generation is full of this sort of shit because male authors, who were nerdy boys, generally assume that their readers will be other nerdy boys. If it were just a clumsy metaphor about bonding, it wouldn’t include the girl being all “wow your…

It’s also incredibly stupid. She’s 11ish right? Sex with six partners in a row would be difficult for even an experienced woman. For a child, it would be painful. And he has her surprised by the big dick size and having an orgasm with him, etc. Of course it was consensual, she did it for them, that’s the role a gal…

I dunno. I hear it a lot so I don’t think you are uncommon. “Lady” is the female version of “gentleman” which is ridiculously formal. Of course, lady and gentleman used mean members of the aristocracy. I think that meaning is basically lost, but it still sounds formal. To me, “lady” sounds like what women are supposed…

Yeah that’s true. Name changes from maiden to married happen easily as well, and people mostly don’t seem to have too much trouble with it.

You’re right about the unknown default though. Now that you mention it, I think I totally do that without thinking about it, but then since it’s an unknown it feels different. It’s not the matter of the gender being unknown but rather about the person being unknown. Like, if that had happened at an all-girl get…

I say stuff like that too, “the girl at Starbucks”- I think actually that’s totally normal and acceptable in casual conversation with friends. I would not say that to the woman working there herself as then my speech is more formal. I would also never say something like that at work about a coworker or around a…

oops

Because he’s an asshole? And look, I’m not going to sit here and troubleshoot his photos. Obviously there is a shop vac and they are sucking up water and then knocking down damaged areas to let the inside dry out which is what you do when you have a little water and not a lot and you want to fix it before it gets bad…

Thanks, but the reason I did it easily here was that I was referring to multiple people (hence, plural them). When it is hard is when you are talking to/about one person.

Yes agree, and because there is a precedent for it with the formal plural usage to mean a “royal” singular.

I think the problem with 1 is that you aren’t considering that the water was still rising. And if the flooding was happening like that, it might be a structural problem. It’s foolish to bring a bunch of people to compromised building, especially when there were other safe dry places to go nearby- it’s not like the…

I’m not being a sucker. I’m from just down the road and it’s been well known my entire life by anyone with half a brain that these people are charlatans- Joel and his daddy before him. But this article specifically did not post the pictures of the flooding of their church. It’s a good story to say they are just being…

Yeah I can see how that would be hard. One of my good friends died a few years ago and it took a few weeks before those of us who were very close to her started to use the correct verbs (past tense). It was easier with my grandma when she died. Within hours I was using the correct verbs. I think the difference is that…

I think it can be both. It’s like when WalMart calls its employees partners. Yes, a person without benefits making minimum wage is a partner to the richest people in the world. But at least it’s a gender-neutral word.

If we can appreciate the slow historical advances, at least we are having a conversation about whether or not it’s ok to call female coworkers “guys” rather than if it’s ok to call your secretary ‘honey’ and slap her ass as she brings you coffee. Though some of those Silicone Valley stories were not too far removed…

lol When I said “Guys and Gals” what I was thinking of was that this is how they announced things like the rodeo or hay rides or carnivals. “Step right up, guys and gals, see how many targets you can shoot!” That sort of thing. So when you said something about a 50s movie, I thought, “wow- and it’s not about cowboys?”…

Ze makes more sense to me and makes writing clearer. But yes, we will not train people to use a brand new pronoun overnight and as Esperanto has taught us, it’s unlikely to catch on if it’s not adopted organically. So I think “they” as a singular will start to be used more and more and perhaps could end up naturally…

This is a repost because I’m in the greys: