That is the price we pay for thinking about these things my friend.

Imagine the alternative being unaware of the cage we are in? For some of us that would be even more unbearable.

We must bear the unbearable because we can name it. That is the unconscionable price of consciousness

in fact a couple of new names have commented favourably here- some of them saying they follow HP but have not commented before.

I happen to have blogged on Twilight and (in passing only as I really don’t think I’m hypersensitive!) charges of sexism against it.

I strongly recommend Meyer’s novel Host which is sf rather than horror.

I’ve been avoiding making any response to questions about Islamism, partly because it’s dealt with very carefully above the line on HP. As an atheist I find the beliefs and holy books of many religions completely horrifying if I start to think too much about them. But in practice I get on well with theists from all the usual religions. If they (and I mean all of them not just muslims) can do some kind of strange double think which means that they can actually be decent human beings while believing or thinking they believe in x y and z I’m happy to go along with that. So I’d rather stick to actual *practices* – eg marrying girls off at 9 seems well worth making a fuss about as does saying a 9 year old girl who was raped can’t have an abortion.

Depite anything I may have said, my loyalty to Gene, David t, Brett and others remains unflinching.

Gene, you said you didn’t understand my point, There was a point in every sentence, some of which I’d gladly remove now.

With reference to someone up there: The one thing I have never been afraid of is losing arguments. Losing them is one of the best ways of learning.

Now I have a lot of correspondence to catch up with and a lot to do.

But you were right about the historic animosity of some femminists towards trans females and were right to point out how wrong that has been.

One of the nastiest recent examples was of Germain Greer’s typical bullying malevolence when she outed fellow Australian prof Rachel Padman when appointed to physics chair at Newnham college cambridge.

Fortunately the staff and students at the all women college rallied behind Rachel Padman and against Germaine Greer.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=100161&sectioncode=26

If a smart young woman wanted to be let out, she might concoct a different story.

None of you seem to be able or have the desire to step into the shoes of a woman, with the all the socialisation that has typically come with that (be nice, reach compromise, play nicely) :
Like this woman, talking to a woman journalist:
She seemed excited now at the thought of our capture. “They do not want to kill you, but to torture you and make lunch of your flesh. I could not do anything to help you.”

Baida was smiling again. “If I had not seen you before and talked to you, I would kill you with my own hands,” she said. “Do not be deceived by my peaceful face. I have a heart of stone.”

To stand in her shoes for a second, it occurs to me that although she was an attemped suicide bomber (they neglected to mention how they caught her, which is problematic since her vest would have been rigged for remote detonation as well as self-detonation).

To stand in her shoes for a minute, perhaps all this bloodthirsty talk is because she doesn’t want to go back to her abusive husband. Maybe she prefers prison.