For the ONE MILLIONTH TIME. I am not in support of this BILL. You can read any of the dozens of replies I wrote explaining that on this very thread. I was just saying in general, that ensuring we actually have equal parental rights for men and women (which was NOT the case in my personal experience) is important. …

I'm just curious, like genuinely curious re: kinja functionality - can you see or did you read any of the TONS of the replies I made to comments exactly like yours?

I'm so glad to hear a lot of people say things have changed tremendously. I feel much better about the state of things in our courts after hearing from so many people. I will say though, every time I read articles like this there are a TON of very dismissive, extremely sexist comments, so I hope that continues to…

Glad to hear it! :) There's something especially satisfying about building a healthy, happy life after a painful childhood. Congrats to you and your brother.

Ugh. :( That's terrible.

To my knowledge I have replied to nearly every single commenter to explain a.) that I was talking about garnering sympathy for the wider issue, no this specific bill and b.) that if things have changed since my experience that's awesome and I'm glad to hear it! In fact, in one response I said something along the…

Cool response, bro. This is the last time I'm going to reply to anyone making this point because I've done it a million times now. I was sharing a personal anecdote to make the case that the issue as a whole (NOT, I repeat, NOT this bill) deserves some thoughtful consideration. I've read some truly gross comments…

I was trying to offer a perspective on the issue at large and encourage people not to be so dismissive of male custody rights, etc. When you see a comment on this same article with something like 25 likes, that asserts that a big group of father parental rights advocates are just people who don't want to pay child…

Lol, yeah, I'm a classic over apologizer. It's like a compulsion for me. But I also know people like myself scan awfully quickly while reading comments at work! ;) So no harm in reiteration. :)

Yes! I wonder about the same thing! The last thing in the world I'd like to do is align with any of the MRA crazies (who really would like to see feminism dismantled and women's rights not exist anymore) but I also would love to ensure men are treated with equal consideration in arenas that are relatively new for…

No worries. For what it's worth, I find the MRA movement to be completely insane and non helpful. I think I was reacting more to super dismissive comments I've read on articles like this (including a comment on this very article about how men don't like to pay child support if they're not fucking the mother of their…

I totally get that. I should've made it more clear that my perspective wasn't about this specific piece of legislation. I've read a few articles about this issue and the general tone (especially in comments) has been really dismissive and acting as if it's solely about jerk men trying to get out of child support. …

Yeah, it was in the 1980's. (I'm an old.) If things have changed so completely since then that's a wonderful thing and I'm happy to hear it. I guess my point overall was that custody is a really important thing for men and women, and to the children of people of both sexes. Since I had a very painful experience…

Yeah, I wasn't arguing any of that, I'm just saying I have sympathy for this issue and people should consider it a real thing, instead of something to dismiss like the rest of the nutso MRA platform. Sorry if I didn't make that more clear.

Sorry, this is the one men's rights issue I actually have a huge amount of sympathy for. My dad got completely screwed over with custody and child support. My mom was mentally unstable (she is bipolar and had documented suicide attempts, for example) but the judge gave her full custody because "small children should…

I hear you. I feel like most of the stuff I read on my favorite sites is like, hey you stupid saps who decided to procreate, here are a million reasons you're going to be miserable! I think, particularly on a site for women, we should be supportive of both options, right?

Thank you so much for sharing this. I really, really wish we could have more cross cultural communication like this, on the internet and in person, where the emotional landscape of an issue is shared in such an illuminating way, from a personal perspective. Just honest and thoughtful and clearly illuminating your…

This is exactly why I've never gone to Coachella. Thanks, Callie! I've never been able to really pinpoint it until now.

Why photoshop every single photo when your face can become permanently memorable with a face tattoo? Plus, added bonus of intimidating people, making your parents feel like failures, etc.!

I so need to make the switch, because I've read that olive oil (which I've cooked with forEVER) actually is best cold and isn't good to cook with. But every time I've cooked with coconut oil instead I swear I can taste the coconutty flavor. Did you have that problem at first? Do you get used to it? I don't mind…