Oh.... man.... oh man.

So I don't want to detract from the awesome vignette below about Nolan Delaney, Cater-Waiter extraordinaire, but as I was just cruisin' the web doing research for another story line (ahem, hem), I found this eyebrow-raising article about the father-daughter relationship... and a bunch of extraneous christian god stuff woven in.

Interesting shit. Wild, because of the heavy-handed god stuff and the blatant misogyny--

I especially enjoyed this passage: A modern girl is at risk emotionally, physically, and psychologically by the influences of an off-track feminist movement, sex education beginning at an early age, an emphasis on being "sexy," so-called "reproductive" rights, and a welfare state that discourages the commitment of marriage.

Um? Oh my heavens.

But keep reading! Through all the bullshit there are some fun universal truths to be explored. You will likely feel angry, as I did, amused, as I did, and a little manic. But it is an interesting read.

Also this awesome nugget: Depression in girls is all about ungrieved losses accumulated in the heart. This connection can be backed up with medical data . . . When girls approach sexuality, a huge emotional component is involved. When a girl is sexually active once, and it doesn’t matter if it is oral sex or intercourse, she incurs a loss. In the physical act, she has lost something in her heart, her virginity, her respect for herself. When girls feel this, if they don’t acknowledge that they are hurt and that something has happened to them, then they will live with unresolved grief, which leads to depression.

Um?
I like that any sexual act inherently means loss of respect for onesself. And that it's a loss. (And by "I like" I mean I do not like it at-fucking-all!) Listen, I won't debate female sexuality with these folks or anyone right here right now, but I will say this: a consensual, loving act of physical love does not equal a loss of integrity or goodness. I am fairly open and opinionated on this point because I was a young woman and still remember my decisions and my actions with perfect clarity and while innocence must necessarily be lost, such a thing does not by definition mean anything bad or unnatural or sinful. erg. Oh and i love the assertion that "this can be backed up with medical data" priceless.

Still the same old puritanical bullshit masquearading as pseudo-fact. Bodies are unclean, sexuality is sinful, the sex act is forbidden. Yikes yikes yikes yikes.

And perhaps my favorite little line, oh man, wait till you get a load of this:

[A]s a culture [we] have failed to teach boys to live courageously, which means to live with profound discomfort. In not being taught how to live, men have been failed.

All the psychology, pediatric, and medical literature says divorce is at the top of the list of putting kids at risk for all high-risk behaviors. It is an enormous factor in kids’ emotional, mental, and physical health. My job is to try to help fathers stick it out with difficult wives until their daughters are older. The longer they can wait, the better it is for kids. Kids need full cognitive skills to cope with the trauma of divorce, and men need to call upon courage to gut it out.

YUP! Oh my good lord. Yup.

So anyway, between the lines there are some difficult and uncomfortable and deeply true universalities about human culture that I find fascinating. Its funny too, the fixation on appropriate clothing, because I JUST FINISHED writing a scene that centers on that exact idea! Wild right? Then I stumble upon this article and it made me chuckle.

Ahhhh. SIGH.

It's fun for me to see how Jonah can be such a good dad and simultaneously the worst. Wild. Maybe he needs the Superhero Christ in his life? "with Jesus as his model, a father can seek to guard his family by serving them unselfishly, doing battle against evil, and leading to a future of hope." Truth, Justice and the American Way!

Anyhow. Hope you enjoy it if you have a spare moment. Crazy pants.