I was about 20 and this was my first boyfriend (late bloomer). He was 27 or 28 at the time, I think. We were at a wedding of what in retrospect was not a close friend of his. We had been dating for maybe a month, and I was shitfaced (hey, OPEN BAR!), and he said something like "we should do this!" and I said…

This is fascinating, but why does the headline only refer to mothers when most of the examples are parents conspiring together to harm their childen for profit? Isn't that what the author is talking about at the end? Not putting women on a pedestal?

Yeah, but to be fair, so is Freedom.

I love this piece!

Mine too! Fellow old here.

They're the same people who talk about their SAT scores long after they've graduated from high school.

I think there are a lot of problems with the American way of eating that are not exclusive to working class people, though. I grew up upper-middle class in the Midwest, my parents are well-educated, and we ate so much garbage growing up. Both my parents worked, neither liked to cook, and they relied on a lot of…

Lugu lake is actually really clean, for China at least. I didn't get sick! (Shrug)

This actually isn't that gross, because it's delicious, but I lived on and off in China for several years and my Chinese is OK, but things still get lost on me (I'm not Chinese at all). My best, dearest Chinese friend ordered tian ji (田鸡）which literally means "field chicken". I was chowing down on the tian ji…

You're welcome!

I just finished this book, about another Japanese serial rapist: http://www.amazon.com/People-Who-Eat…

I don't disagree with what you are saying, but I think you are underestimating women, because we actually really do spend a lot of time protecting ourselves in these situations. Women are pretty used to protecting themselves the best ways they know how, whether they are comfortable with weapons are not. So when a…

I was a victim of harassment by an ex. I am not comfortable owning or even holding a gun (I was shaky enough just typing my comment downthread). At the time, I wouldn't have had enough money to procure one or the time to properly train myself to use it with any effectiveness. I was stalked by someone I know, and I…

Co-signed!

Thanks, I'm OK where I am right now, but I don't know how much of an issue it would be if I had to find a job right now. :/

YES, exactly. We're expected to change our behavior, even when it's to our own professional detriment. Fuck that.

I think the ambiguity of it freaked me out more than if I had something concrete that he DID that I could tell law enforcement. I never knew how much was just to solicit a response.

Sorry its happening to you too! (HUG) But yeah, be careful! I had a LinkedIn account when it was first a thing, and he found it right away, so I no longer use it. I worry that having NO professional online presence will lessen future opportunities in my field.

I went though this with an ex several years ago, which I shared a while ago under an old Jez handle. What's infuriating is how people hide behind the ambiguity of the internet to harass an intimidate. In the case of my ex, who was always something of a wannabe writer, I got many threats masked in "writerly"…