Comments for The Edge of Vanilla

Comment on Skirting an issue by Aarkey

Aarkey — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:11:50 +0000

Great post, and interesting questions. I know that in my high school the dress code was pretty clear and limited – which I think is smart in general, IMO – but maybe I’m dating myself.

I did find it interesting how the homecoming skit always had the cheerleaders dressing in football pads and the football players in cheerleader skirts, but there wasn’t any where near the bending that goes on today.

Teenage boys are putting on eye liner and nail polish, and girls cut their hair short and have no problem wearing pants every day. Obviously some areas are going to be more tolerant and progressive, but local custom and tradition probably will still dominate what’s ok and what’s not ok for a long while.

But at least it’s being talked about.

And what kind of lame school doesn’t allow girls to wear stiletto heels! Poop on them!

Comment on Skirting an issue by Innocent Loverboy

Innocent Loverboy — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:14:02 +0000

Well, why not wear a skirt to school? Being a Scot, my dad wore a kilt loads when he was younger. They’re smart things, them.

Comment on Skirting an issue by maymay

maymay — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:56:21 +0000

There will always be the chic factor. I’m a little perturbed by it, but given the alternative (i.e., violence), I’d much rather be thought of as a phony than a target.

Comment on Skirting an issue by Jz

Jz — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:31:07 +0000

I do think it’s true that today’s kids are more accepting on the whole of ambiguity and difference. They just don’t care the way we used to. But I still wonder if part of this trend isn’t that as our society becomes more open and tolerant (“more” being a relative term, I grant you) that teens have to stretch farther and farther to do things that will annoy and appall adults. Jeans and T-shirts and long hair don’t do the trick anymore. They’re a norm. Grunge and goth still work but they’re becoming a standard, too. So, what to do next to raise eyebrows?

Comment on Skirting an issue by Tom Allen

Tom Allen — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:28:42 +0000

:laughs:
Ssshhh! I remember that, too, but we’re dating ourselves

Comment on Skirting an issue by mosthandysub

mosthandysub — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:51:37 +0000

…and I thought it was a big deal when we got to wear jeans to school….not to mention not having to wear ties!

Comment on The Case of the Freed Penis by susan's pet

susan's pet — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:05:37 +0000

I think that all has been said of the Mc Donald’s itiotic jury awards. But here I am, another idotic comment on the idiots involved: the so-called victim, her perpetrators, the jury, and the judge.

An eighthy-some-year old person has shown either smarts living that long, or had been extremely lucky.

I am not that old, neither that lucky, but I have never had the urge to put coffee between my thighs. It is no different from having a stack of dynamite with a glowing fuse up one’s ass. McDonald is not the the bad guy here, just as in the case of the asshole with the ill-fitting underwear. Stupidity wins on the short run. The problem is when we all have to pay for it.

I am a promoter of the “Darwin awards” given to the recently departed. This person was a prime candidate, too bad the coffee was not terminal.

Comment on La cage au coq: The Birdlock Review by dan cole

dan cole — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:08:26 +0000

I too have had problems with the locking pin
breaking and the cheap locking strap on the mini.
I also have modified the device by using a large
tie wrap and cutting it too the right length for me
by making it somewhat smaller in diameter.
I took one of the large pins from the cb2and cb3
cut it to length needed, then drilled a small hole for
the lock. The pins from the cbx series must be
stronger as you say because it has never broken

Comment on The Case of the Freed Penis by Lady Lubyanka

Lady Lubyanka — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:54:37 +0000

Oh, and for those of you who are so eager to characterise court cases as frivolous, you might find some of the less publicised facts about the McDonald's coffee case of interest.

Comment on The Case of the Freed Penis by Lady Lubyanka

Lady Lubyanka — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:37:00 +0000

I believe that we all have the same entitlement to basic rights, which also means that we cannot have double standards in which some are entitled to those basic rights and others are not. So if violence is against the law, then it is against the law for everybody without exception. I think it is absolutely right for all perpetrators of violence to be sanctioned, no matter who the perpetrators or their targets are. Everybody has absolute rights over their own bodies and I consider any unconsensual transgression of that to be an offense no matter who perpetrates it. The second we start believing that others have more rights over our bodies than we do, that is the moment when wrongnesses such as Mr Freed’s mishap with his underwear are nurtured and encouraged.

Even aside from all that, non-violence lessons can never be learnt if they are taught using violence. That method can only perpetrate the cycle forever, so it must be stopped somewhere.

And furthermore, if more of us had less shame and felt more pride and ownership over our bodies, then chances are Mr Freed would have been less likely to have ignored his problem in the hope it went away by itself, instead of confidently facing and caring for his body, checking his penis regularly, and making positive changes when something wasn’t quite right.