Your comment made me sad. Most normal families I know speak to each other frequently, and when they see each other, they're very affectionate.

What are you talking about? Different cultures have different kissing styles, and my parents (very chastely) kissed me on the lips when I was a teeny-tiny girl, until we moved to Paris and learned the double cheek kiss. As to cuddling, what parents don't cuddle their kids? Is there a certain age at which cuddling is…

Great piece, Anna, but you left out one very important detail. 'Raina Punjabi' is clearly primarily a stand-in for Anita Sarkeesian who has infuriated self-proclaimed 'gamers' with her series of YouTube videos that explore tropes about women in gaming.

While I absolutely understand your objections, I have a problem with people saying what writers can and can't write about. If we can all only write about our own race/gender/ethnicity/ability then we all end up in silos and communication ends, as do efforts to understand anyone outside of one's given silo.

Just to add, here's a link:

Did you watch Season 4? Because she had a pretty important role there too.

Thanks for the warning. Guessing some asshole mail thief is very pissed off.

My recollection is that she was disqualified for having tweeted (or otherwise posted on social media) that she'd won the cycle prior to the airing of the season finale. And that that was expressly forbidden in the contract she'd signed. (No idea where I read that, but it was the explanation—or an explanation—at the…

Why? It would seem that she knows that these are the hashtags that point towards the video; if you want that audience to know the truth then you have to use the same hashtags.

I'm confused—are you saying that apologies were extended to the actress but not the actors? Perhaps I haven't followed closely enough. My feeling is that this video was horrible to all actors—male and female—as well as to anyone watching it.

Yeah, but that would be hard! And the guys would be nearly as cute!

Me too. Well, not after the first guy...but when the second and then the third also wanted to take her home? Absolutely.

Don't know how you can say that; it seems that the actors knew nothing about the video's intention. Back in my acting days I played, well, a prostitute, a rape victim, an un-wed mother, and any number of other possible stereotypes. If I'd been called to portray a fake-drunk girl I probably would have taken that job…

Apparently he knew that the Star article was about to be published and therefore went to his bosses to hastily attempt to do some preemptive damage control. His bringing in his own sex tapes as a last ditch effort at that damage control was probably a mix of desperation and ego.

According to this website, the age of consent in Michigan is 16.
Therefore there would be no statutory rape in this account.

Not defending her actions, but I find it interesting that her age and the aggravating circumstances were not mentioned in this post. She was also 14. And the girl in question had accused her mother of sexual abuse. The accusation was proved to be unfounded.

I didn't say that anyone had to read the whole book. You don't. But if you don't finish it, don't review it. That applies to bloggers as well as to NYT critics.

I appreciate your comment. Until yesterday I was blissfully unaware of the vote-brigading that some GoodReads reviewers engage in. And, I was appalled to learn that this particular reviewer had only read one third of the book when she posted her very negative review and then went on to attack other reviewers who…

My feelings exactly. To me it felt like it was written by people who researched social media references rather than truly 'got' them.

Agreed. Attention to minor details differentiates excellent product design from merely good product design.