The fact that you can easily rattle off 5 or 10 themes that don't fixate creepily on a social power imbalance really underlines how ridiculous these purposely offensive ones are.

As fate would have it, I just saw Private Practice last night for the first time ever. And holy lord, "piece of crap" is the most tactful thing you could call that steaming pile.

While Steve Buscemi may very well be down on the low end of the scale as far as actors go, factor in the general population and the scale goes waaaaaaay further down from there.

It's very odd that he's positioned as being "traditionally attractive" and she's not. They're both on television so they're obviously both attractive. Why is it just a given that he's "hotter" than she is?

I was. And I'll defer to first-hand knowledge! I'm conflating a lot of this with recounts from my parents and aunts and uncles, but things may well have been a lot more civilized in big cities (and certainly in rarefied digs likes the advertising community). But "The Unwashed Masses" was apparently more than a…

Oh goodness, I didn't even think about the lingering cigarette smoke. EVERY place would smell like Aunt Mamie's house — your office, the post office, the hospital... now mix that with the hair oil odor and the body odor and the frequently-unwashed children and the lack of air conditioning most places. Agreed, I'm…

Don't worry, you're not alone. Every time I watch Mad Men I'm reminded that a "real" Don probably hadn't washed his hair that week and it was shellac'ed into place with gallons of hair oil. And that's SIGNIFICANTLY later than the time period we're talking about here!

Ugggggh, and those people are like that ~in real life~ too! I was waiting for a table at Rick Bayless's Frontera Grill last year and had to listen to the couple in front of us grumble constantly about how "they didn't think everyone waiting could fit (no shit)" and "they should really work this out better (seems to…

Good lord, I agree. Just optimize your damn mobile sites, companies!

"Even though" is there because the she is former WBC and WBC uses their interpretation of Christian faith as a justification for homophobia. So "even though" she's still identifying as Christian, she's no longer using her Christian faith as a justification for homophobia/bullying as she once was.

Completely agreed! HARMLESS being the operative word! As a sad-sack teenager I used to dye my hair ridiculous colors, wear ugly nail polish, stupid goth t-shirts, whatever else. It was a safe, reversible way of trying to establish individuality at a time when ALL kids are trying to establish their individuality. …

While fully acknowledging that the Nutella Crepe is a major contender for World's Greatest Dessert, those Nutella-for-breakfast commercials crack me up. That mother is smiling beatifically because she knows she's about to send her hypoglycemic sugar demons off to be someone ELSE's problem for 8 hours.

Same! I'm not gonna harangue someone for drinking it, but personally I can't do it. There's something especially nausea-inducing about the combination of intense sickly-sweet HFCS, low carbonation, and unnatural coloration... I'd have an easier time drinking a Yoohoo.

Preach!

I'd wager at least 50% of Catholic and Mormon laity are women. Compare that to, oh, 0% in the church leadership and I think we've located the disconnect.

Ahahahaha I totally empathize. Knowledge is power, right? So well-organized data is SUPER POWER!

Amen to that.

Yeah. Usually used in conjunction with some scathing witticism about "OBummer." Just reason number 439 to not read the comments section anywhere but here!

Well played!

Ooooooooooh lord. There really ARE people out there telling you that all babies are "God's handiwork." Richard Mourdock just had something to lose, where the rest of them don't. Check out that guy's comment on how "if we just didn't have contraception, there'd be no abortions." REALLY!?!