K, but it seems that one (I’m not singling you out here) can make that point without a deliberate non-word that sends that very message (that another’s concerns aren’t legitimate).

2. Nav: “On innocence, I would seriously protest against the notion that I was still innocent when I lost my virginity. I was out of college, for Christ’s sake!”

Nav, one of the best compliments I’ve ever received is that I’m an innocent, but that “innocent isn’t the same as naïve.”

3. “When I see a pregnant teen, I hope that she has a good support network.”

So do I. I’m tired of liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, pro-choicers and pro-lifers, all having a contest to see who can be the meanest to teen moms (and dads). That’s the very stigma that causes more babies to be killed (whether in the pre-natal or post-natal stage of development). There are no “human mistakes,” and teen pregnancy should be billed not as a dead end, but rather as a detour.

When I see a pregnant teen, I hope that she has a good support network. I wonder what set of life circumstances lead her to her current state - ignorance? Purposeful choice? Bad luck? When I was pregnant, my husband and I went through a 6 week pregnancy and childbirth education class offered by the hospital where I chose to deliver. There was a young girl, somewhere between 14 and 16, who attended the classes with a girlfriend. I overheard her speaking with the instructor the first night about getting a court document signed that proved she had attended the class. I don’t know what her circumstances were, but I assumed that they were not ideal. In a room full of fellow pregnant women, she never relaxed, she never participated, she never spoke, and she never seemed to be excited by having a baby. I sincerely hope she was cared for at home and by her friends and family.

“To suggest that we ought to return to shaming unwed mothers (but not, apparently, unwed fathers) as an instrument for protecting the young is, frankly, an obscene idea.”

I have lots of sympathy and understanding for single mothers, and for young people that have to deal with a pregnancy that they didn’t plan. I surely don’t want to go back to the way things used to be.

But on the other hand, I’m very unwilling to say that the choice to be a mother is always, and under all circumstance, a choice that must never be criticized in any way. I’m very disturbed by this recent story of the group of high school girls and their “pregnancy pact” (please, let it be a hoax!)

In your view, does the prohibition on shaming mean that unconditional support must be given?

Wow! I agree that this line in the NRO piece (shame attached to unwed motherhood) is reprehensible.

Parker: It kept our knees together. Importantly, it allowed girls to hang onto their innocence a little longer until they really were women.

What is she thinking!!! When I read stuff like that it’s difficult to give anything she says much credibility. I thought Bradshaw also discussed healthy shame. I don’t know how I feel about public shaming, because I do know that abuse is generally conducted secretly and not out in the open. I doubt my mother would agree with her views about our education system serving girls better. According to her I suffered attention deficit, climbed trees and was generally quite a handful. I generally agree with your post…

Sua sponte voluntarism - Sua sponte: Latin: “Of one’s own accord”, spontaneous, done without outside prompting or inducement. Voluntarism: A theory or doctrine that regards the will as the fundamental principle of the individual or of the universe. e.g.: as practiced in Maoist China, where public campaigns (such as the Great Leap forward) and other measures predicated on will and public action were held to be capable of overcoming objective structural social conditions.

I’ll concede that it was a clumsy and obscure construction.

If a male poster disrupted a thread here by saying, “Oh, here we go! ‘The poor womenz!’” I imagine that wouldn’t go over real big. By using the “word” “menz,” the user seems to be trying to invalidate someone else’s concerns. Can’t you announce that a thread will focus on women without using an insulting term?

And the term “menz” has become a trope that is widely used.