I am pregnant. Every piece of literature I have received has said "there is no safe level of drinking". I asked my nurse practitioner about this and her answer was basically the same—we can't prove that it is safe, so best not to. I think some some doctors definitely say "a glass of wine once a week or so won't hurt",…

Right, this is one of those things that people aren't talking about: stress has been shown to have clear, measurable effects on a fetus. But we freak out about a glass a wine a week or the occassional weed based on faulty studies. I'd like some actual, measurable and non freaked-out discussion about this topic, urg.

Jesus, people are so fucking self-righteous about things like this, sorry you are getting a bunch of people like that. Your question is a good one. The way that marijuana helps with nausea has probably been a godsend to some women—as with alcohol, obviously, getting high all day is not a good option, but I'd love to…

I can't drink while pregnant either. Not that I'm super interested in doing so, but I thought I'd have a little glass of champagne for New Years and my body was like NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE BARF!

You also don't risk a birth defect when you drink a glass of wine. So there's that.

How much did she drink? That seems to be the issue in almost every study I have ever seen, modete vs. mild vs. heavy drinking, but here in the US, the idea that any alcohol is a terrible poison that must be avoided is the line taken by most people, but it is not supported by research.

But every doctor I've ever heard says no alcohol is the only safe amount; I'm unclear what you mean by "no set limit".

I love beauty products and a lot of traditional female stuff—makeup, shaving, etc.—so I totally think it is a choice, but the choice to teach your kids that there is only one "Right" way to look is what was so problematic about my mom. It would have been nice if she had kept her own aesthetic choices but also affirmed…

Your mom sounds awesome. My mom, in contrast, wears makeup to sleep because she is so afraid of anyone seeing her natural face, bemoans women who don't "keep themselves up", and regularly informs me about how much I should be working to "keep my husband interested". I can't imagine how much more awesome life would be…

Right, I totally agree: Amy is awful, Nick is awful, and they are both awful in ways that are fascinating. At least Amy's awfulness is breathtakingly smart.

Eek, I'm not sure I agree with that reading. The character was a sociopath, plain and simple, and the Nick character doesn't come off looking much better; he's also a deeply flawed character. There's something kind of brilliant about Amy, even if she is hateful and insane. I loved how that book made me hate BOTH…

I love how much energy people will put behind shit like this, but I'm sure less than half of these people voted in the last election or spent time advocating for people who are ACTUALLY being persecuted.

It's not even treacly, though! It's seriously the most depressing movie I've ever seen. Like, Grave of the Fireflies is an upbeat movie in comparison. I'd rather watch Salo and then Martyrs. I'd rather watch Lars von Triers movies than this movie. Melancholia is less depressing than Love, Actually.

This movie is shit and I applaud every article about its shitness. Thank you.

I'd definitely recommend it. I hate hormonal & condoms, too, but there really is a whole world beyond that. For some reason, in the US, these other forms aren't really talked about much. Getting fitted for one is super easy.

There are other options!

FERTILITY AWARENESS METHOD. It takes some time to get in the habit of charting, but it's NOT the pull-out method or the rhythm method ( a common misconception) and it's quite effective, if you do it right and keep up with it. God, I hated hormonal birth control and getting off of it was the best thing I ever did.

Ah, I see who did now. Huh, not sure how I mixed that up.

I kinda love Lana Del Rey's doomed female drag; she rolls through archetypes of "women in trouble" in almost every song and video. While I guess I can see how this might seem like cultural appropriation, it seems largely like imitation of various types of doomed women, and the culture she is imitating seems like gang…

Because sex is part of human life and movies often want to show what being a human being is about? I don't really know how a movie could avoid showing sex, since it's something that is important to many people and that happens daily.