Melissa Clouthier - Latest Comments

Re: The Hunger Games And Children: Who Should See This Movie?

Alyssa — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:56:17 -0000

i guess the subject is strange and violent, but the books and movie are awesome. U should give it another chance

Re: About The Time Magazine Attachment Parenting Cover

Jeryl Bier — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:54:26 -0000

Did anyone even consider the effect on this boy? This picture is now out there forever. Should make his middle school/high school years just a little more awkward, something every adolescent boy needs.

Re: The Hunger Games And Children: Who Should See This Movie?

Ayanali11 — Sat, 12 May 2012 23:23:14 -0000

I think your exagerating because you hate the movie. -_-

Re: About The Time Magazine Attachment Parenting Cover

Laura Elizabeth Morales — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:35:27 -0000

Thank you for this post.

Re: About The Time Magazine Attachment Parenting Cover

MomsUnite — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:45:02 -0000

Well said. I see this battle played out on so many online mothering boards and it is sad. My experience has been that those that are "choicers" are usually the least tolerant or supportive of other women's mothering practices. I too nursed for as long as possible and, at the time, I didn't know I was doing lots of things found in the "attachment parenting" movement. I just thought I was mothering and, when necessary, I adjusted my style to fit two very different children. Unfortunately, everything has to be labelled and put in neat little boxes for many. It seems like only in the US would something like this be put on the cover in this sexualized and warped context. If it was the cover of National Geographic highlighting another country's cultural norm, it would be considered something to accept in the name of multiculturalism! In cultures outside the US the closeness of the family unit is highly valued - kids sharing rooms/beds, nursing till the "recommended WHO age of 2." In fact, many of the countries idolized for their healthcare systems for yearlong maternity leave policies are praised by the faux "choicers." Why do they think that time with the child is given and valued? Of course people can take anything to the extreme but I have found that nurtured children turn out to be quite independent and well-adjusted. However, I am always very careful when new moms ask questions and preface my answers with "well, this worked for me" or "have you tried" advice and not judge. Overall, we know mothering is hard work and we second guess ourselves all the time. Just think if all the mom's came together and supported one another....what a powerful voice that would be - cue dream sequence waves. The picture is there for all the reasons you describe and is just another arrow in the #waronmoms and #waronwomen in general.

Re: About The Time Magazine Attachment Parenting Cover

I hate idiots. — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:26:04 -0000

I also saw that headline as being a double insult. One: you're not Mom enough to handle "attachment parenting" if you don't breastfeed for 3+ years, and/or Two: look at that craycray mother - ugh, who DOES that, see I'm going to be normal and work all the time.... that sort of thing.

Re: About The Time Magazine Attachment Parenting Cover

PJRodman — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:25:39 -0000

Best commentary on this yet Melissa. Agree totally.

Re: The Hunger Games And Children: Who Should See This Movie?

Butterfly — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:55:00 -0000

im 12 & i find it gr8.
yh ovi its sad tht the capitol MAKE the distric children fight 2 the death
maybey ur daughter should tuffen up a bit coz my little cousin went 2 c it & he's 7

Re: CPAC: The Jersey Shore-ification Of Our Young People — UPDATED

Angelo R. Mozilo — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:13:35 -0000

This problem will solve itself in a few seasons (CPAC skanks)

Re: CPAC: The Jersey Shore-ification Of Our Young People — UPDATED

Elyse — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:46:40 -0000

Wow. For someone who talks a lot about respect, you sure don't seem to show any. If you're trying to follow God, you're doing it wrong. You want to know what it says in that Bible of yours? It says not to judge. It says to build people up with your words and not tear them down. It also says we are all equal, whether we "dress like sluts" or not. (Paraphrasing that last bit, of course. You won't find "slut" in the Bible, because Jesus didn't slut shame. He actually forgave a prostitute's sin.)

Honestly, I find this article to be a piece of trash that is only interested in mocking, hating, disrepecting, and shaming young girls who may not dress to your liking.

Re: The Hunger Games And Children: Who Should See This Movie?

Simranhasham26 — Tue, 08 May 2012 03:01:57 -0000

this is an awsome movie and i reccomend it to every child out there

Re: Bill Maher’s Selective Outrage Over Outrage

Wolfboy87 — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:56:04 -0000

As in, this post is retarded

Re: Pinterest Is Sexist….Against Women Says Forbes Feminist

Jebus4you — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:08:12 -0000

There's nothing wrong with all that, being a girl, looking at pretty pictures, but the lack of more "serious" topics implicitly assumes that women don't have a role or interest in that "traditionally masculine" spheres of discourse. Not providing it as an option within the platform is kind of telling of how women are being framed, and where women's interest "should", as a "norm", reside. Even if you have no interest in politics or whatever after a long day of work--totally understandable, but maybe somebody else does? After a long day of designing posters, staring at type, editing photographs, reading about politics is a nice change of pace to get out of your bubble and see what else is going on. It is for me. :)

Even though Barnes and Noble has all the female skewed topics in their magazine section that Pinterest has as options on their platform, the bookstore also has magazines with women's interests beyond traditional gender stereotypes, business, politics, and books with a whole slate of topics. The choice is there for you to wander towards. In Pinterest it is not because it isn't even there. Maybe in the "Other section" but that is full of, well, other things you have to sift through to find it. Or you have to actively create it yourself and lose the fun of exploring the site in the same way you explore it now for things of cultural and artistic value. Who knows what you can find by just seeing such topics as an option, clicking on it on a whim, seeing what pops up in casual browsing?

It's certainly cool to see a site that has unexpectedly attracted a lot of women-- it raises lots of questions about what other sites are doing wrong. But it is also good to question how Pinterest could do better, not for women's rights or anything like that per se, but as a social networking platform whose growth depends on addressing the ever-changing needs of their users.

Thanks for the post. Whether or not we agree, it definitely got me thinking.

Re: The Hunger Games And Children: Who Should See This Movie?

Dany V. — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:44:02 -0000

Stealing the child's innocence? Don't you think it's too melodramatic? I want to ask you something, have you heard of the two world wars we have had? of Anne Frank, the boy in the striped pajamas, Schindlers' list, the pianist? those were real people, real suffering, a real children killing children in order to survive and satisfy a crazy man's need for blood. Your kids will have to learn about it, read about it, talk about it... What are you going to do then? What are you going to do when one or both of them may be robbed or attacked by a random street child who would kill them in order to survive? World is a hard place to live, and who says something like it is not going to happen or maybe happening right now as I write to you? You don't, you mustn't make your kid live in a bubble, in a cloud, behind some curtains so she won't be terrified by the real world because someday when you are not around, she'll step out of the bubble, she'll fall from the cloud, she will draw aside the curtain and she won't know what to do then, she will panic, go nuts, make extreme decisions when you are not there to prevent it. so what you should do is show her the world, explain it to her but let her discover it by her own. Let her walk freely and help her when she comes back to ask you. You can't live with fear because it won't be no life at all; you must teach her to learn to live with fear and to be strong to put it away in a corner of her mind and never forget it, but never let it rule your life. I am 15. I've read the books and seen the movie. They are both great. And as a last thing don't put a band in her eyes, because you won't let her see the wonders that are also in the world.

Re: The Hunger Games And Children: Who Should See This Movie?

Anniegeorgia97 — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:59:41 -0000

really? this, to me anyway, seems highly unrealistic; i, too am fourteen years old and while it raised questions about humanity and humaneness; i would hasten to say that my innocence was not 'robbed' the book is a dystopian fiction- which, by the way, in literature means a state in which everything is 'bad'- if your child was somehow disturbed by the books/ film then maybe that had something to do with them not the rest of their generation.

Re: The Hunger Games And Children: Who Should See This Movie?

Matthew Grzywa — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:29:14 -0000

your 14 yr old daughter needs to get a little tougher for her own good it would seem. HS and the real world are not far away. Books were one of the best ways I was able to get an idea of how the real world was a tough gritty place in some places as a relatively young child reading adult level novels, starting at the age of 9 or 10. my folks couldn't have been happier that I spent time reading, even if some concepts were over my head at the time.

Re: War On Women Wisconsin Edition: Slut Shaming Is Okay When Feminists Do It

doranja — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:00:41 -0000

The National Organization of Liberal Women have always had an agenda. One that includes masculinizing women for the purpose of covering their own ugly platform.
If you'll notice, the lovely are always attacked because the left can't compete.
Ask the 80 thousand members of the National Federation of Republican Women. They will give you an entirely different story about women and their health which includes the warnings printed on the labels of those free birth control pills which the leftist women have conveniently failed to inform you about. Like Breast cancer, Cervical cancer,and Uterine cancer. These are the unintended consequences of free birth control pills. But who cares?

Re: The Hunger Games And Children: Who Should See This Movie?

Kate Rawson — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:46:58 -0000

Kattnis does not end up having a fairy tale life she always dearmed. She ends up scared for life and under the governments constant survaliance. The books are about how horrible people can be to eachother. If you think these books are about standing up for what you believe in then you are probably too young for The Hunger Games any way. I don't think anyone under 12 should be reading the books or anyone under 14 watching the movies. I'm 14 and I've read the three books and watched the movies, but some of the scenes in the movies were quite disturbing even after reading the books and my 12 year old sister watched the movies and had nitmares. Its also not just the violence, the books and movies deal with mature subject matter that younger kids won't understand.

Re: War On Women Wisconsin Edition: Slut Shaming Is Okay When Feminists Do It

cbpelto — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:15:15 -0000

TO: Pat
RE: 'Tribal'?

Its tribal. -- Pat

That's one way of putting it. However, I suspect that 'herd animal' behavior might be more appropriate.

Many women are more like 'herd' animals, following the lead of the alpha female of their group or 'set'. I've witnessed this sort of behavior often enough in various groups/clubs.

Case in point, I'm on the board of directors for a state-level gardening society. I'm the ONLY male member of the executive committee. And there are only a double-handful of men in the organization from the entire state.

I've been preaching the benefits of coming up to the 21st Century—with regard to web-presence, on-line database management of membership information, on-line planning via wikis and on-line podcast of classes—for quite some time. But the rest of the board members don't listen to ME.

Recently another lady joined the board. She says the same things I've been saying for over a year. BUT they agree with what SHE says. That's misandry at its finest, in the first place. What makes it 'herd animal' behavior is that the president agrees with it, so the rest of the board does too.

Regards,

Chuck(le)
[If my husband would ever meet a woman on the street who looked like the women in his paintings, he would fall over in a dead faint. - Mrs. Pablo Picasso]

Re: The Hunger Games And Children: Who Should See This Movie?

Elizabeth — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:59:10 -0000

Jesus christ, I'm 12 and I have read all the books and seen the movie. Maybe your daughter is extra sensitive? But when I saw the movie there were dozens of 8 year olds. They all seemed fine to me! I am advanced for my age, but I think any average child my age should be mature enough for this. You should let her out of the shadow at least a bit. Also, you say children may evaluate this on a different level because they lack of life experience, well maybe children in the US just should know more about life.

Re: War On Women Wisconsin Edition: Slut Shaming Is Okay When Feminists Do It

Pat — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:42:04 -0000

Its tribal.
They think that conservatives don't ever change their views. Not true- its just that conservatives need evidence before they change their views and don't just go for the latest idea. In the fifties conservatives would have been embarrassed by a report that their wife looked good in a bikini (remembering an inept attack on Stacy Mcain) and even more so by a woman who worked in a topless restaurant.
But that was sixty years ago. We've seen the evidence and then moved on. We know how hard it is to pay bills and we have more respect for a woman that does so by getting a job (however unpalatable) than for one who just gets help whether from the state or a husband. And we're no longer embarrassed associating with ladies who look good lightly attired. Especially if those ladies have other talents- like honesty and intelligence.

Re: War On Women Wisconsin Edition: Slut Shaming Is Okay When Feminists Do It

500_lb_Gorrila — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:20:34 -0000

Working at Hooters is a plus in my book! Does anyone think that Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, or any of the rest of the dour lefty female politicians could have ever landed a job there? especially given their personalities, let alone looks?

Re: War On Women Wisconsin Edition: Slut Shaming Is Okay When Feminists Do It

Michael Reed — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:41:10 -0000

War on women, by womYn, for womYn - media outrage??? chirp

Re: War On Women Wisconsin Edition: Slut Shaming Is Okay When Feminists Do It

Mike Lee — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:55:17 -0000

Exactly what I thought. Yeah. What a terrible thing. A smoking hottie working for Walker. Yep. That'll drive the voters away. lol. The only people who will object to this are the lefty women who would never vote for Walker in the first place. It's pretty darn funny when you think about it. Lefty women calling someone else out on being slutty. As if being a freakin' waitress at Hooters is a big deal. Oh, but if she was a black crack addict turning tricks to pay for her habit, then that would be a-ok.

Re: War On Women Wisconsin Edition: Slut Shaming Is Okay When Feminists Do It

Mike Lee — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 00:53:02 -0000

Because neither political wing has a monopoly on idiots. To be fair, I haven't seen much re: Hillary, but I did see a few people ranting about it. I called them on it just as I would if Clinton was a Republican. I don't think it's really a "woman thing", as far this one issue with Hillary is concerned. It's that they just can't get over the Clintons. They hear or read the name "Clinton", and they foam at the mouth.

Try not to make your political choices or views depend on the worst of either party or ideology.