Ugh, I know I shouldn't take this stuff too seriously, but gender essentialism really gets me down. Why are women not allowed to be complex individuals who have interests that cross the gender divide? I myself love to bake (it's my main hobby), love flowers and perfume, am pretty domestic, and prefer wearing dresses…

Respectfully, the Duggars supported Bill Gothard for years while the Recovering Grace allegations were published online. There was no excuse for them to not know about the allegations of his sketchy and abusive behaviour except willful ignorance. They were associating themselves with him at the same time as multiple…

Also, doesn't the combination of the phrases "a wife's relation to her husband" and "popping up all over" seem distinctly....erectile? Oh, fundamentalists and their poor choices of metaphors.

nicely played!

You got it. You never really need submission unless it's a shortcut past the rational, egalitarian problem-solving strategies the everyday secular person uses in their marriage. And when it's used, it's being used to quash the woman's opinions and desires. What other reason is there to actually use submission except…

no worries, I totally got what you meant and really did appreciate the info about Pitocin. Also, my PubMed search on membrane sweeps turned up absolutely nothing that would implicate this practice in any complications, just for the record. I haven't even heard the detailed version of the birth story yet to know if…

Thanks very much for your perspective as a physician. I just re-googled what I searched for and the relevant bit is here: "A membrane sweep increases the likelihood that labour will start within 48 hours. It has a higher chance of working if your cervix is already softening and preparing for labour." It's written by a…

Replying to myself to note that after some quick, responsible PubMedding, I found that there is absolutely no additional risk associated with membrane sweeping for low-risk pregnancies after 39 weeks. On average, days before labour started were reduced from 5 to 2 after sweeping. In fact, one study even showed…

Wow, that information is fascinating and enlightening, if a little alarming. Thanks for the direct response; I appreciate it. I'm only going off secondhand information here, but I don't know if my sister-in-law had Pitocin or not. What I do know is that she had a membrane sweep at her 40 week appointment, which,…

Oh, and I'd like to acknowledge that I'm basically agreeing with the sentiment of your original comment, and simply providing an anecdotal story of the 1% of the time where things DO go sideways. You did say that you would not consider a home birth because of your own risk factors. I've gone from thinking, "maybe I'd…

I would have totally agreed with you on being not very horrified by the risk associated with home birth, until last week...when my sister-in-law, after a complication-free pregnancy spent in perfect health, had her baby via emergency c-section after the baby's heart rate started to drop during labour. I know,…

Be still, my heart! I gave up Triscuits years ago when I figured out I had serious fiber sensitivity problems. I miss them like crazy. Just thinking about triscuits is making me drool. Brown rice would be amazing, if not exactly the same as the wheaty goodness I remember.

I totally agree with you - I'm turned off by the drill sergeant attitude myself. I try to push myself to the point where I feel like I'm pushing my limits, yet not going to be sick, almost every time I work out. If I had someone yelling at me to do even more, I'd probably just puke my guts out.

I do second-position squat-jumps with arm swings all the time in my HIT sessions, and my knees are also touchy from years of folk- dancing on concrete floors as a kid. As long as I concentrate on soft landings as much as getting height on the jumps, I'm good. The arm movements really help with the smoothness of the…

Totally agree. His whole spiel was really circular. He made an ignorant mistake unintentionally. He got called out on it. Instead of focusing on his own mistake, he got angry, and directed his anger at Janet. How dare she say his account of her gender experience was incorrect? Didn't she know he had good intentions?…

I love how Dad starts out with a German accent, but the grown-up daughters speak with American accents. And the "Native Americans" speak English with cartoonish "Indian" accents, naturally!

Yes, you are right - it does seem extraordinarily racist. I saw some "behind the scenes" footage this morning when this hit the news, and they have a clip of an actor saying, "we really tried to show both sides of the story." This guy was a white dude playing a native American character. The lack of awareness was…

Exactly! Every time I've seen Blue, I have said to myself, "that kid has gorgeous hair." It is by no means unkempt. To my eyes, it looks well hydrated and cared for. The double standard is horrible, isn't it - I have white-girl curly hair which I almost never brush (because that makes it frizzy instead of smooth), and…

Also, it's not like everyone makes choices to eat healthily or exercise in a vacuum. I'm an academic, and while it's not financially lucrative, with a schedule as flexible as mine, it's pretty easy to go to the gym during the day a few times a week and work in the mornings and evenings instead. My partner is a…

Thanks so much! My thirty-pounds-heavier condition is the present moment, which I was not careful to specify, but thanks for the well-wishes all the same!