Thank you for replying and pointing this out (as well as being so kind about it). I recognize that the photo has been altered fairly heavily, but I also recognize that by making comments about the elbows, I may have been inadvertently being inconsiderate to people with different types of arms and joints. I will…

I do this all the time at work. Case in point, the other day my coworker sent me a Banana Republic ad of two men cuddling with the words "I just don't agree with this." I replied, "oh, I think those sweaters look really nice!"

Wren was my first real crush. I saw Footloose far too many times in the theater.

I also only recently realized that you had to pay to have a baby in the US. I still can't entirely comprehend it, to be honest. We are so fucking fortunate.

This makes me think of a recent study a friend told me about how we impose our gender expectations from birth on.

I think she's really lucky to have a mom who cares about this stuff and is thinking about it now, because how you handle those things is something she'll carry with her for the rest of her life, and it can be a source of strength for her when she has to be on her own.

Yeah, I was that kid too... it is indeed a shitty feeling to suddenly get knocked down a few notches once the gender lines get drawn in the sand.

I feel this way about my niece and sadly things are already changing. She told my sister a boy in her class said he loves her and her friend and wants to get naked and kiss them. They're in first grade. My sister let the mom and teacher know, but the mom said "Kids don't know what they're saying." My sister told her…

But then it suddenly hit me... there is such a small window in her life where she's going to feel this free as a person. That she will feel this equal to her male playmates. Maybe a few years at most? Then that separation will set in, gradually making her feel different in small ways. In sad, confusing ways.

Commenting on the paragraph about being pinned by your boyfriend. I was raped in my 20's and later took mma for a few years. It was a huge confidence booster and made me more difficult to pin. You can beat guys at grappling. Hopefully knowing how to punch hard will help me get awayif I need it again.

Awesome article. It's pretty amazing how people can reject elite level athletes and their achievements just because they're not on ESPN 24/7.

I'm a CFL fan, so this pretty much explains exactly how I feel anybody insults that league.

Agreed, and for a few reasons. 1) She is decent to watch on the sideline, based on the backdrop of a bunch of dudes. Put her next to the upper standard of "hot" women and she looks like Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. 2) Straight men under the age of 50 don't watch this show and never will* and 3)…

"He made reference to one of the last scenes, when the slightly terrifying bear mascot shed a single tear for the close of the Games. He traced a line from his eye down his cheek with his finger. 'I was like bear,' he said. I was like bear, too, at that point." Katie Baker's final dispatch from Sochi is a treasure.

as my father always said, "hey, it's 5am somewhere."

Something very satisfying in watching a bully twist in the wind.

I like how the *obvious* directive is to play host and give away your beers to the people around you. Clearly not an American campaign.

Amusing since in English, "Russian" means "drunk."