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[britmom]

I remember going to the movies to see Pulp Fiction. In the seats behind me were families who brought little children. At one point, two of the children(maybe 4 and 5 years old) started crying and begging to go. I think someone was shooting someone's brains out on the screen. The kids kept saying, "please can we go?" Mom and Dad said no, the movie is not over and we want to see it.
They were all perfectly comfortable with their little kids sitting through that violence, language, sex, etc.

That was a place I felt children shouldn't be. I was quite disturbed by their crying on many levels.

Weren't they also breaking the law? I don't know what the classification was in the US, but in the UK it was 18 years and over. In the UK they would have almost certainly been turned away at the doors.

I don't know about the UK, but in the U.S. the movie rating system is not a matter of law, as far as I know.  The rating system itself is voluntary (a successful gambit by the film industry decades ago to avoid regulation), and the admission guidelines are enforced by the theaters, not the government.  BTW, I believe Pulp Fiction was rated R here, which means that children under 17 (not 18) aren't admitted without a parent. 

When I was young, the only movies kids (under 18) just couldn't get into at all were rated X.  Sometime in the 1980s (give or take, can't really remember), this rating was changed to NC-17, which means no children under 17, with or without parents.  It's like X except for the age (17 instead of 18) and, where X pretty much meant explicit sex, NC-17 could mean too much/intense adult content of any kind.

Thanks for that, infopri. I'm a little shocked that there are no checks on young children watching violent films. To my knowledge, it's a matter of law here, and cinemas will ask for ID.

[robert_smithson]

Thanks for that, infopri. I'm a little shocked that there are no checks on young children watching violent films. To my knowledge, it's a matter of law here, and cinemas will ask for ID.

That would be socialism. We can't have that here. (Except when we can, you know, like abstinence-only policies, requiring intelligent design in science classes, and banning books in the library.)

[scheherazade]

My God.  Take your pom poms elsewhere unless you have something substantive to say.  I like having conversations with intelligent conservatives who think and explain.  You haven't yet qualified.

That's just great. I hope you don't mind if I use it.

Not at all.  Savor the irritation...

[gennidad]

Thanks for that, infopri. I'm a little shocked that there are no checks on young children watching violent films. To my knowledge, it's a matter of law here, and cinemas will ask for ID.

That would be socialism. We can't have that here. (Except when we can, you know, like abstinence-only policies, requiring intelligent design in science classes, and banning books in the library.)

I don't know about now but they used to check Id's at the theaters if the person was appeared to be near the age limit and did not have an adult accompanying them.  Responsibility not required.

[robert_smithson]

I don't know about now but they used to check Id's at the theaters if the person was appeared to be near the age limit and did not have an adult accompanying them.  Responsibility not required.

MORE socialism!!! Evil, I tell you!

[infopri]

I have to say that I was impressed by Palin last night.  I didn't like her, but I thought she did a very good job, and I'm finally beginning to understand why McCain picked her.  And (to get back on topic), Giuliani (and no fan of his am I) said something right on target.  He pointed out that many people were asking whether Palin could afford to take time away from her family, especially her four-month-old son, in order to do a good job as VP.  "How dare they?" Giuliani asked.  "How dare they ask that question--when they would never ask that about a man?

He's right.  Our parenting standards are undeniably gender-biased.

[inthelab]

I have to say that I was impressed by Palin last night.  I didn't like her, but I thought she did a very good job, and I'm finally beginning to understand why McCain picked her.  And (to get back on topic), Giuliani (and no fan of his am I) said something right on target.  He pointed out that many people were asking whether Palin could afford to take time away from her family, especially her four-month-old son, in order to do a good job as VP.  "How dare they?" Giuliani asked.  "How dare they ask that question--when they would never ask that about a man?

He's right.  Our parenting standards are undeniably gender-biased.

Because gender roles in parenting are inherently unequal.
Look, I asked my husband again and again to child little labkid number 2 because I had morning sickness 24/7 with number 1.  try as we might, did not happen.  I got pregnant, not he.  And I was the one who had the C-section, not he.  Boy, did we ever try with number 2.  Definitely precluded number 3.

[robert_smithson]

I have to say that I was impressed by Palin last night.  I didn't like her, but I thought she did a very good job, and I'm finally beginning to understand why McCain picked her.  And (to get back on topic), Giuliani (and no fan of his am I) said something right on target.  He pointed out that many people were asking whether Palin could afford to take time away from her family, especially her four-month-old son, in order to do a good job as VP.  "How dare they?" Giuliani asked.  "How dare they ask that question--when they would never ask that about a man?

He's right.  Our parenting standards are undeniably gender-biased.

Because gender roles in parenting are inherently unequal.
Look, I asked my husband again and again to child little labkid number 2 because I had morning sickness 24/7 with number 1.  try as we might, did not happen.  I got pregnant, not he.  And I was the one who had the C-section, not he.  Boy, did we ever try with number 2.  Definitely precluded number 3.

It's true. My wife gets miffed that she is "not as good a mother as a she could be" because she travels, and I get rewarded for being an amazing dad because I take our daughter on my own (!!) sometimes. In fact, I went to a festival over the summer just with my 4-tear-old daughter. At one point, I stepped aside of the sidewalk to better hear something she was trying to tell me. Immediately some stranger came up and asked if the little girl was lost--because you know dads do not go out with the kids without mom!

[zuzu_]

Pregnant women who continue working are terribly selfish, as is any woman who lets ambition get in the way of taking care of babies. Especially retarded babies. I know her husband is the primary caretaker of the children--

No, her husband is a manager at BP. I'm not entirely sure where exactly oil company managers find the time to act as primary caregivers for five children.

HERE IS MY SOURCE! If you listen to the story, the detail I refer to is right around the 1 minute mark:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94168401

My husband, currently a stay-at-home-dad with our preschooler and infant, is LIVID with the Democratic "feminists" for asserting that, essentially, it's "just not the same" if Mom isn't around all day.

Go ahead and criticize Palin's experience, judgement, conservative social policies, etc., but it is ridiculous to assert that she is not qualified to be VP because of her role as a mother.  I am THRILLED that a woman is in this race and that I can have the opportunity to vote against her just like I would vote against any man with a similarly socially conservative agenda.

My wife gets miffed that she is "not as good a mother as a she could be" because she travels, and I get rewarded for being an amazing dad because I take our daughter on my own (!!) sometimes. In fact, I went to a festival over the summer just with my 4-tear-old daughter. At one point, I stepped aside of the sidewalk to better hear something she was trying to tell me. Immediately some stranger came up and asked if the little girl was lost--because you know dads do not go out with the kids without mom!

Exactly. Society portrays men as retarded doofuses in regards to home duties and child care. (This is why I hate the Berentstain Bears.) Does anyone remember that commerical for Tamiflu when the mom gets the flu and the Dad has to do laundry and pack kids lunches and fcks it all up because he's just a man? The message is that the Mom is morally deficient for not taking her Tamiflu and letting the her whole domestic sphere descend into chaos.

[inthelab]

Zuzu, he works for BP on Alaska's North Slope.  It's miles and miles and miles from Wasilla.  He works part-time so he can go salmon-fishing and still be a champion snow-mobiler.  He may be taking a leave of absence now, and that's what the sound-bite refers to. 

I have yet to see him hold the baby. 

[macaroon]

I have to say that I was impressed by Palin last night.  I didn't like her, but I thought she did a very good job, and I'm finally beginning to understand why McCain picked her.  And (to get back on topic), Giuliani (and no fan of his am I) said something right on target.  He pointed out that many people were asking whether Palin could afford to take time away from her family, especially her four-month-old son, in order to do a good job as VP.  "How dare they?" Giuliani asked.  "How dare they ask that question--when they would never ask that about a man?

He's right.  Our parenting standards are undeniably gender-biased.

Except Palin's role as a mother is what she is using to appeal to voters.   If she hadn't, I'd say we should keep our opinions on her personal life, and our gender biases, to ourselves.  She self-describes herself as just a PTA / Hockey Mom come to represent us!  Hooray!  Well, I think she's doing a crappy job as a Mom, and I think she's going to do a crappy job as VP.  I'm praying to everyone from Allah to Zeus that McCain doesn't die on us.  

[prof_mom]

Zuzu, he works for BP on Alaska's North Slope.  It's miles and miles and miles from Wasilla.  He works part-time so he can go salmon-fishing and still be a champion snow-mobiler.  He may be taking a leave of absence now, and that's what the sound-bite refers to. 

I have yet to see him hold the baby. 

He held the baby on stage last night after Palin's speech.

McCain moved in the direction so it seemed he would give the baby a kiss. I think he missed or decided against it. It was a strange movement.

[inthelab]

He held the baby on stage last night after Palin's speech.

McCain moved in the direction so it seemed he would give the baby a kiss. I think he missed or decided against it. It was a strange movement.

durn, missed it.  Turn my back to run to the facilites and -.

[robert_smithson]

McCain moved in the direction so it seemed he would give the baby a kiss. I think he missed or decided against it. It was a strange movement.

McCain's arms were too short to hold the baby.

[gennidad]

I have to say that I was impressed by Palin last night.  I didn't like her, but I thought she did a very good job, and I'm finally beginning to understand why McCain picked her.  And (to get back on topic), Giuliani (and no fan of his am I) said something right on target.  He pointed out that many people were asking whether Palin could afford to take time away from her family, especially her four-month-old son, in order to do a good job as VP.  "How dare they?" Giuliani asked.  "How dare they ask that question--when they would never ask that about a man?

He's right.  Our parenting standards are undeniably gender-biased.

Because gender roles in parenting are inherently unequal.
Look, I asked my husband again and again to child little labkid number 2 because I had morning sickness 24/7 with number 1.  try as we might, did not happen.  I got pregnant, not he.  And I was the one who had the C-section, not he.  Boy, did we ever try with number 2.  Definitely precluded number 3.

In this you are mistaking parenting with child bearing.  There is a difference.  There is a definate imbalance in child bearing but there does not have to be an imbalance in parenting which actually takes place after the child gets here.