You sound like me, Esther. I loved Anne of Green Gables so much as a child that I forced my parents and my Canadian aunt and uncle to take me to Prince Edward Island one summer. I had a BLAST. I still have the special box set my parents bought me there as a birthday present.

Spanking is not effective, and it’s actually been studied.

I do think people need to mind their own business when they see someone else spank their own child though. You can tell the difference between a smack for a smart-mouth and an abusive ass-beating.

When children run severe risk of physically harming themselves or others in lasting and permanent ways and fail to respond to other forms of correction. Unlike being run over by a vehicle or falling out of a window, spanking, not to be confused with hitting, doesn’t offer any long-run harm worse than a skinned knee.

I’m not exactly pro-spanking, but it makes me laugh that it’s so demonized. I heard parents say shit that’s a whole lot more damaging than spanking. Including from my own mother. I’d rather have them use restrained spanking than humiliate or berate a child.

This really struck a chord with me - it reminded me of my own family story. My father is originally from India and raised Muslim (but hasn’t practiced in nearly 40 years). Even coming from a family that was very Westernized and highly educated (yes, even the women), he had a very difficult time when he married my mom,…

It didn’t fully hit me that harassment... I mean “compliments” had nothing to do with me (but everything to do with power) until some guy hit on me all day at a seminar as I was 7 months pregnant. My belly (with wedding band) wasn’t a deterrent. A ring won’t do shit.

I bet Satan is way more chill about kinky sex, too.

Women aren’t held “at gunpoint, against their will” in emotionally abusive relationships, so do you absolve those husbands/boyfriends as well?

The only Confederate flag that mattered. I never get tired of that joke.

Shit happens when you forget to call.

Wearing a sleeveless top or dress or wearing shorts when the weather is warm is not the same thing as capitulating to the fashion industry selling us sex. Not everything is about men’s boners. Forcing modesty on girls doesn’t empower them. But you’re right that it protects boys. Not from girl’s slutty vixeny ways…

I’ve heard so many stories about girls with large breasts, or girls who developed early, retreating into huge hoodies, oversized t-shirts, and poor posture because other people somehow couldn’t restrain themselves from commenting on her body. It’s sickening. What is a girl supposed to do? Cut them off? Bind her chest…

I am still scarred by the mental image of my mom grabbing my shoulders and yanking them back so that I “stand up straight.” My chest is significantly larger than my mom and older sister, as is my ass. I feel like both jut out “cartoonishly” when I stand up straight.

All of this makes me so sad.

The standing up straight thing is very real. My boobs are huge, and if I stand up straight, it looks like I’m thrusting them out. After being accused of showing off one too many times, it’s easier to slouch.