Me, Myself, and My Right Hand: A Theory of Celluloid and Collegiate Sex

[CmdrSlack]

Now I have to dig out my Belzebubba tape and listen to "RC's Mom"......


"Gonna beat my wife..unh..gonna hit her with a lead pipe...."

[Ironwood]

All girls practically look the same naked, don't be so picky, you aren't going to marry her for godsake.

Yup. That's why poor Hugh Hefner lives in the street... pictures of naked women, who'll ever pay money to see that?

Why no-one.  Certainly no-one with my credit card.   Or at least, that's the fucking story we tell the wife, Got it ?

[Margalis]

What do you do when your dishwasher stops working?

Slap her.

[WayAbvPar]

I think this one has run its course. Time to take it out behind the barn and give the Old Yeller treatment.

[schild]

I'll miss this thread. it was truly terrible.

[Daydreamer]

Damn it, and I had a great rant about the stupidity of my generation I was working on!  I could have made more people hate me!

Curses.

[schild]

We're definately the most stupid social generation. And we've turned TV into a travesty with our taste. That's not saying TV before was less shitty, just that we've so much shit that we need something like 400 channels.

There, 3 sentences. Don't you have a girlfriend to be hanging out with?

[Daydreamer]

I was aiming for something more along the lines of our inability to hold intelligent conversations about anything more complicated than our favorite show X or our favorite tech toy Y.  With the occasional "Grr! Bush (good/bad)! I (love/hate) him!" thrown in to cement social bonifides as a (completely un)informed young adult.  Hell just yesterday I was discussing favorite tv shows with my girlfriend and mentioned that I used to watch Buffy but stopped around my senior year of high school (2000).  Do we discuss likes and dislikes about the show? Favorite episodes? Favorite one-liners? No! She insists on monologueing for over THIRTY minutes about all the plot points that occured after I stopped watching, spoiling them all.  And despite my best efforts to shift the conversation failed. I asked to see the episodes she talked about (She owns all seven seasons on DVD) she batted that down. I mention our shared interest in Joss Whedon's other work (Firefly) and she bats that down. I mention SMGs work on The Grudge and our shared interest in the Japanese horror movies it and the Ring movies are based on and she waves it off.

I don't think it is her fault, and despite the problem I greatly enjoy spending time with her, but it is like that with almost everybody I talk too these days. I want to talk WITH people, not AT them - and I want them to talk WITH me not AT me.  And I want to sleep with them if they are cute and female.  But mainly I want to talk, to pick their brains and tear their mind apart and see how they tick.  How are we alike?  How do we differ?  Do we like/dislike the same things for the same reasons or different reasons?  My got to know my first girlfriend because she loved Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy as I did, but she liked them because of strong female characters and I like them for their reinvention of the adventure genre and their story/art respectively.  And when people monologue about the WHAT of things, like Buffy or any other show or game, I zone out a little.  If a gave a flying fuck who was the Big Bad Demon in Buffy season Six was, or how Dawn came into the series, I would WATCH THE GOD DAMN SERIES.  When I talk with someone about a show I want to know WHY.  Why did she like the whole show and not fall away from it as I did?  Why did she buy and watch the Angel series DVDs when she never liked the series even remotely as much as she liked Buffy?  WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY?  Tell me damn it, give me a window however tiny into your soul!  When you recite plot summaries and soulless character bios you are closed to me and I hate it. I am dating YOU, I want to know YOU, not Sarah fucking Michelle fucking Gellar!

I really have little beef with TV today beyond the completely fake 'reality tv' shows.  Listening to my fellow students try to justify liking a character from, say Desparate Housewives, despite their sins and their neurotic foibles was both entertaining and informative.  The show, and most tv these days, maybe cheesy as all hell, but at least it usually has enough depth and variety that Hollywood can no longer get away with.  When people say "I like X" or "I hate Y" with minimal knowledge of the show I can start picking them apart, getting them to justify themselves, drawing them out of their shells and starting an honest to god conversation with them.  But nobody does that anymore.  They don't want to hurt other peoples feelings so they avoid value judgements at all costs.  No longer to people talk about the WHYs of tv, they only talk about the WHATs and as a result people no longer talk WITH each other they talk AT each other.  And everytime I stop talking, when I fail to monologue sufficiently and ask a question or get a response people take it as ignorance on my part and take it as their chance to monologue about the WHATs of their favorite TV show.  And every time that happens my mental capacity for holding a meaningful conversation shrinks a litte, and my hatred of humanity as a whole grows a little more. 

When I have to seek out my parents or parent's friends or my bosses or my professors because they are the only fucking human beings on this miserable rock that I know are capable of the normal give and take that a conversation should entail, our generation is well and supremely FUCKED.

EDIT:  Feedback more than welcome, please.  Too angsty or not enough?  Too much personal detail or not enough?  Worth posting in the general forums or should it be deleted, the hardrive wiped and the computer burned?

[Shockeye]

I like the what's as much as the why's. But then, I'm shallow.

[stray]

I'm utterly and totally desperate for the why's. For dating, but also for friendships too. I've bailed out on quite a few people for that reason alone.

On that note, I'm with you all the way Daydreamer.

[voodoolily]

Heh, I just IMed WAP to un-den this, but Shockeye read my mind.

I think it's funny that Daydreamer posted such a long rant about his dislike for being talked at in the den (where only You People can respond).  :-D

Daydreamer, to rerail this thread, it sounds a little to me like your relationship with this girl is unsatisfying but is worth hanging onto for the prospect of sex. Is it worth it? That's for you to decide. But I've said it before and I'll say it again: she's out there, dude. The girl who's smart and funny, cute, likes to fuck and thinks you're a fucking stallion. Don't settle.

[Shockeye]

The girl who's smart and funny, cute, likes to fuck and thinks you're a fucking stallion. Don't settle.

And then you get married and it all changes. Beware.

[voodoolily]

Oh, boo, Shockeye. We know you love your snuggy-wuggy. And you've already mentioned that she's hot. You can't fool me with your gruff little mask, Punky!

Edit: Life always changes. Relationships are dynamic. If they didn't evolve we'd lose interest pretty quickly. I'll always remember the first couple of times I spent with my SO alone, and how nervous and giddy I was, but I would never trade that for the security and depth of what we have now. Don't poo-poo on it!

[Shockeye]

Don't poo-poo on it!

Unless you're into that sort of thing. Cartman's mom sure is.

[Triforcer]

I was aiming for something more along the lines of our inability to hold intelligent conversations about anything more complicated than our favorite show X or our favorite tech toy Y.  With the occasional "Grr! Bush (good/bad)! I (love/hate) him!" thrown in to cement social bonifides as a (completely un)informed young adult.  Hell just yesterday I was discussing favorite tv shows with my girlfriend and mentioned that I used to watch Buffy but stopped around my senior year of high school (2000).  Do we discuss likes and dislikes about the show? Favorite episodes? Favorite one-liners? No! She insists on monologueing for over THIRTY minutes about all the plot points that occured after I stopped watching, spoiling them all.  And despite my best efforts to shift the conversation failed. I asked to see the episodes she talked about (She owns all seven seasons on DVD) she batted that down. I mention our shared interest in Joss Whedon's other work (Firefly) and she bats that down. I mention SMGs work on The Grudge and our shared interest in the Japanese horror movies it and the Ring movies are based on and she waves it off.

I don't think it is her fault, and despite the problem I greatly enjoy spending time with her, but it is like that with almost everybody I talk too these days. I want to talk WITH people, not AT them - and I want them to talk WITH me not AT me.  And I want to sleep with them if they are cute and female.  But mainly I want to talk, to pick their brains and tear their mind apart and see how they tick.  How are we alike?  How do we differ?  Do we like/dislike the same things for the same reasons or different reasons?  My got to know my first girlfriend because she loved Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy as I did, but she liked them because of strong female characters and I like them for their reinvention of the adventure genre and their story/art respectively.  And when people monologue about the WHAT of things, like Buffy or any other show or game, I zone out a little.  If a gave a flying fuck who was the Big Bad Demon in Buffy season Six was, or how Dawn came into the series, I would WATCH THE GOD DAMN SERIES.  When I talk with someone about a show I want to know WHY.  Why did she like the whole show and not fall away from it as I did?  Why did she buy and watch the Angel series DVDs when she never liked the series even remotely as much as she liked Buffy?  WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY?  Tell me damn it, give me a window however tiny into your soul!  When you recite plot summaries and soulless character bios you are closed to me and I hate it. I am dating YOU, I want to know YOU, not Sarah fucking Michelle fucking Gellar!

I really have little beef with TV today beyond the completely fake 'reality tv' shows.  Listening to my fellow students try to justify liking a character from, say Desparate Housewives, despite their sins and their neurotic foibles was both entertaining and informative.  The show, and most tv these days, maybe cheesy as all hell, but at least it usually has enough depth and variety that Hollywood can no longer get away with.  When people say "I like X" or "I hate Y" with minimal knowledge of the show I can start picking them apart, getting them to justify themselves, drawing them out of their shells and starting an honest to god conversation with them.  But nobody does that anymore.  They don't want to hurt other peoples feelings so they avoid value judgements at all costs.  No longer to people talk about the WHYs of tv, they only talk about the WHATs and as a result people no longer talk WITH each other they talk AT each other.  And everytime I stop talking, when I fail to monologue sufficiently and ask a question or get a response people take it as ignorance on my part and take it as their chance to monologue about the WHATs of their favorite TV show.  And every time that happens my mental capacity for holding a meaningful conversation shrinks a litte, and my hatred of humanity as a whole grows a little more. 

When I have to seek out my parents or parent's friends or my bosses or my professors because they are the only fucking human beings on this miserable rock that I know are capable of the normal give and take that a conversation should entail, our generation is well and supremely FUCKED.

EDIT:  Feedback more than welcome, please.  Too angsty or not enough?  Too much personal detail or not enough?  Worth posting in the general forums or should it be deleted, the hardrive wiped and the computer burned?

All sarcasm aside, I guarantee if you had a blog and wrote like this, you would get many chicks.  This is high quality angsty emo chick "ohmygod, he thinks EXACTLY LIKE ME!!" magnet material.  Also, your avatar mesmerizes me. 

[Paelos]

I pretty much can't stand my peers for the conversational malaise that they seem unable or unwilling to transcend. Then again, I'm pretty sure that when I speak they are trying to define the last word I just used without having a brain hemorage.

Did I mention most of my friends are older than me? Go figure.

[Merusk]

Like ohmygod, Daydreamer! That whole rant was just like this one time, On Buffy...


People don't know how to relate to people beyond pop culture references anymore.  It's a sad, sad thing and I just forsee a time when we all talk like those anecode aliens from TNG. 

[Daydreamer]

Heh, I just IMed WAP to un-den this, but Shockeye read my mind.

I think it's funny that Daydreamer posted such a long rant about his dislike for being talked at in the den (where only You People can respond).  :-D

Daydreamer, to rerail this thread, it sounds a little to me like your relationship with this girl is unsatisfying but is worth hanging onto for the prospect of sex. Is it worth it? That's for you to decide. But I've said it before and I'll say it again: she's out there, dude. The girl who's smart and funny, cute, likes to fuck and thinks you're a fucking stallion. Don't settle.

That was an off color joke.  I'm in the relationship because we enjoy the same movies and such, and she's smart and funny.  Again, I meant it as less of a complaint about my life and more as a launching point for a more general discussion.

[Daydreamer]

YAK YAK YAK

All sarcasm aside, I guarantee if you had a blog and wrote like this, you would get many chicks.  This is high quality angsty emo chick "ohmygod, he thinks EXACTLY LIKE ME!!" magnet material.  Also, your avatar mesmerizes me. 

Which is precisely why I won't set up a blog.  I don't want emo chicks or hangers-on, I want a have a friggin conversation with someone smart enough to tie their own shoes in the morning without trouble, and willing is shout me down when I get out of line.  Thanks though.

PS the dog is a maltese, which is the same breed as my dog.

[NiX]

I got action in school. I don't think you know her, she's in Canada.

I'm a guy, ass.

[Paelos]

I got action in school. I don't think you know her, she's in Canada.

I'm a guy, ass.

And a sweet piece you must be as well.

[Margalis]

People don't know how to relate to people beyond pop culture references anymore.  It's a sad, sad thing and I just forsee a time when we all talk like those anecode aliens from TNG. 

This is sad but I know EXACTLY what episode you are talking about. Ha ha...

Honestly I think the notion that people can only communicate via pop culture references is also a fabrication of pop culture. It's very self-referential. Seriously, turn off your TV for a few weeks and stop reading magazines, and just talk to some people.

I don't know jack shit about pop culture and I can relate to people fine. Actually, that's not true, I don't relate to people at all, but that's because I'm an anti-social schizotypal person, not because I don't know what happened on the OC. Although I do know what's happening in the world of pro-wrestling.

[NiX]

This thread was enlightening. I just finished my entrance exam for college this morning and I await my (or what I hope to be) acceptance letter. Then I'm going to push for some residence action and live it up! Thank god for government assistance! 

[Hanzii]

What's wrong with you people? The long established correct answer to this is...

I was aiming for something more along the lines of our inability to hold intelligent conversations about anything more complicated than our favorite show X or our favorite tech toy Y.  With the occasional "Grr! Bush (good/bad)! I (love/hate) him!" thrown in to cement social bonifides as a (completely un)informed young adult.  Hell just yesterday I was discussing favorite tv shows with my girlfriend and mentioned that I used to watch Buffy but stopped around my senior year of high school (2000).  Do we discuss likes and dislikes about the show? Favorite episodes? Favorite one-liners? No! She insists on monologueing for over THIRTY minutes about all the plot points that occured after I stopped watching, spoiling them all.  And despite my best efforts to shift the conversation failed. I asked to see the episodes she talked about (She owns all seven seasons on DVD) she batted that down. I mention our shared interest in Joss Whedon's other work (Firefly) and she bats that down. I mention SMGs work on The Grudge and our shared interest in the Japanese horror movies it and the Ring movies are based on and she waves it off.

I don't think it is her fault, and despite the problem I greatly enjoy spending time with her, but it is like that with almost everybody I talk too these days. I want to talk WITH people, not AT them - and I want them to talk WITH me not AT me.  And I want to sleep with them if they are cute and female.  But mainly I want to talk, to pick their brains and tear their mind apart and see how they tick.  How are we alike?  How do we differ?  Do we like/dislike the same things for the same reasons or different reasons?  My got to know my first girlfriend because she loved Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy as I did, but she liked them because of strong female characters and I like them for their reinvention of the adventure genre and their story/art respectively.  And when people monologue about the WHAT of things, like Buffy or any other show or game, I zone out a little.  If a gave a flying fuck who was the Big Bad Demon in Buffy season Six was, or how Dawn came into the series, I would WATCH THE GOD DAMN SERIES.  When I talk with someone about a show I want to know WHY.  Why did she like the whole show and not fall away from it as I did?  Why did she buy and watch the Angel series DVDs when she never liked the series even remotely as much as she liked Buffy?  WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY?  Tell me damn it, give me a window however tiny into your soul!  When you recite plot summaries and soulless character bios you are closed to me and I hate it. I am dating YOU, I want to know YOU, not Sarah fucking Michelle fucking Gellar!

I really have little beef with TV today beyond the completely fake 'reality tv' shows.  Listening to my fellow students try to justify liking a character from, say Desparate Housewives, despite their sins and their neurotic foibles was both entertaining and informative.  The show, and most tv these days, maybe cheesy as all hell, but at least it usually has enough depth and variety that Hollywood can no longer get away with.  When people say "I like X" or "I hate Y" with minimal knowledge of the show I can start picking them apart, getting them to justify themselves, drawing them out of their shells and starting an honest to god conversation with them.  But nobody does that anymore.  They don't want to hurt other peoples feelings so they avoid value judgements at all costs.  No longer to people talk about the WHYs of tv, they only talk about the WHATs and as a result people no longer talk WITH each other they talk AT each other.  And everytime I stop talking, when I fail to monologue sufficiently and ask a question or get a response people take it as ignorance on my part and take it as their chance to monologue about the WHATs of their favorite TV show.  And every time that happens my mental capacity for holding a meaningful conversation shrinks a litte, and my hatred of humanity as a whole grows a little more. 

When I have to seek out my parents or parent's friends or my bosses or my professors because they are the only fucking human beings on this miserable rock that I know are capable of the normal give and take that a conversation should entail, our generation is well and supremely FUCKED.

EDIT:  Feedback more than welcome, please.  Too angsty or not enough?  Too much personal detail or not enough?  Worth posting in the general forums or should it be deleted, the hardrive wiped and the computer burned?

Psycho!

[Ironwood]

The girl who's smart and funny, cute, likes to fuck and thinks you're a fucking stallion. Don't settle.

And then you get married and it all changes. Beware.

I've said it once before, but it bears repeating...

[Strazos]

This thread was enlightening. I just finished my entrance exam for college this morning and I await my (or what I hope to be) acceptance letter. Then I'm going to push for some residence action and live it up! Thank god for government assistance! 

Fuck you Campus Kid. Don't you dare start going to class in PJ's because you're too fucking lazy to shower and change your clothes in the morning.

And I agree with you, once again, Daydreamer. I don't talk to my peers very well (for a variety of reasons, some of which you listed). My better conversations usually, if not always, come from people older than myself; realitives, friends of the family, professors, and people who just happen to be mature and older than myself.

It's a shame, and I hate Pop Culture

[schild]

I like pop culture from 10-20 years ago. I'm ashamed of pop culture as it stands today. Most of it's just white trash and walking stereotypes. Somehow, amazingly, the one thing corporations were good at, they managed to ruin.

[NowhereMan]

I've had a slightly different experience of talking with people but I think it may be more down to the people I hang out with at Uni and at home. At home I've got a few good friends I hang out with I enjoy talking to, it's the normal 'old friends' type talking about people we know and trading stories. Failing that it's mostly talking about news or games.

At Uni I've had a rather bizarre experience that most of my friends seem to have some sort of fucked up life (a few tend to get very depressed, one might be an alcoholic, etc.) so I get to spend my time talking about why such and such is fucked up or if they're doing ol at the moment. Of course there's lots of normal conversations as well, we even manage to talk about politics, philosophy and other Universtiy type topics on occasion.

Of course I also know people I won't call friends who like to spend all their time talking about the latest plot point in the OC so I'm guessing my exprience is atypical even where I am.

[Merusk]

This is sad but I know EXACTLY what episode you are talking about. Ha ha...

Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra!

Honestly I think the notion that people can only communicate via pop culture references is also a fabrication of pop culture. It's very self-referential. Seriously, turn off your TV for a few weeks and stop reading magazines, and just talk to some people.

I don't know jack shit about pop culture and I can relate to people fine. Actually, that's not true, I don't relate to people at all, but that's because I'm an anti-social schizotypal person, not because I don't know what happened on the OC. Although I do know what's happening in the world of pro-wrestling.

I know very little about current pop culture, either, and I can relate to other professionals just fine. The problem comes in when I have to deal with anyone under the age of 22-ish.  (those above that have the problem usally have other issues.)  Perhaps it's just a symptom of the age itself, or my own age rather than a societal downward spiral.  I don't know.   I was really just looking for a way come-off as angry and slip in a nice bit of irony. (Damn people and their inability to speak without referencing pop culture! It's like <pop culture reference>)

[MrHat]

I like fart jokes.  She likes fart jokes.

A match?

Or heartbreak?





This post brought to you by the undeniable need to use that heartbreak emoticon.   

[CmdrSlack]

I like pop culture from 10-20 years ago. I'm ashamed of pop culture as it stands today. Most of it's just white trash and walking stereotypes. Somehow, amazingly, the one thing corporations were good at, they managed to ruin.

Even the older pop culture is full of stereotypes and stuff.  You have probably, like most people, romanticized it because it marks some happier period in your ilfe (being a kid).

[Ironwood]

So, Daydreamer posted that his girl is a retard and we're supposed to not point this out to him.

Hey, mate, you think you have so much in common because you get to go deep in her.  It wears off.

Just sayin'.

[SuperPopTart]

I was aiming for something more along the lines of our inability to hold intelligent conversations about anything more complicated than our favorite show X or our favorite tech toy Y.  With the occasional "Grr! Bush (good/bad)! I (love/hate) him!" thrown in to cement social bonifides as a (completely un)informed young adult.  Hell just yesterday I was discussing favorite tv shows with my girlfriend and mentioned that I used to watch Buffy but stopped around my senior year of high school (2000).  Do we discuss likes and dislikes about the show? Favorite episodes? Favorite one-liners? No! She insists on monologueing for over THIRTY minutes about all the plot points that occured after I stopped watching, spoiling them all.  And despite my best efforts to shift the conversation failed. I asked to see the episodes she talked about (She owns all seven seasons on DVD) she batted that down. I mention our shared interest in Joss Whedon's other work (Firefly) and she bats that down. I mention SMGs work on The Grudge and our shared interest in the Japanese horror movies it and the Ring movies are based on and she waves it off.

I don't think it is her fault, and despite the problem I greatly enjoy spending time with her, but it is like that with almost everybody I talk too these days. I want to talk WITH people, not AT them - and I want them to talk WITH me not AT me.  And I want to sleep with them if they are cute and female.  But mainly I want to talk, to pick their brains and tear their mind apart and see how they tick.  How are we alike?  How do we differ?  Do we like/dislike the same things for the same reasons or different reasons?  My got to know my first girlfriend because she loved Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy as I did, but she liked them because of strong female characters and I like them for their reinvention of the adventure genre and their story/art respectively.  And when people monologue about the WHAT of things, like Buffy or any other show or game, I zone out a little.  If a gave a flying fuck who was the Big Bad Demon in Buffy season Six was, or how Dawn came into the series, I would WATCH THE GOD DAMN SERIES.  When I talk with someone about a show I want to know WHY.  Why did she like the whole show and not fall away from it as I did?  Why did she buy and watch the Angel series DVDs when she never liked the series even remotely as much as she liked Buffy?  WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY?  Tell me damn it, give me a window however tiny into your soul!  When you recite plot summaries and soulless character bios you are closed to me and I hate it. I am dating YOU, I want to know YOU, not Sarah fucking Michelle fucking Gellar!

I really have little beef with TV today beyond the completely fake 'reality tv' shows.  Listening to my fellow students try to justify liking a character from, say Desparate Housewives, despite their sins and their neurotic foibles was both entertaining and informative.  The show, and most tv these days, maybe cheesy as all hell, but at least it usually has enough depth and variety that Hollywood can no longer get away with.  When people say "I like X" or "I hate Y" with minimal knowledge of the show I can start picking them apart, getting them to justify themselves, drawing them out of their shells and starting an honest to god conversation with them.  But nobody does that anymore.  They don't want to hurt other peoples feelings so they avoid value judgements at all costs.  No longer to people talk about the WHYs of tv, they only talk about the WHATs and as a result people no longer talk WITH each other they talk AT each other.  And everytime I stop talking, when I fail to monologue sufficiently and ask a question or get a response people take it as ignorance on my part and take it as their chance to monologue about the WHATs of their favorite TV show.  And every time that happens my mental capacity for holding a meaningful conversation shrinks a litte, and my hatred of humanity as a whole grows a little more. 

When I have to seek out my parents or parent's friends or my bosses or my professors because they are the only fucking human beings on this miserable rock that I know are capable of the normal give and take that a conversation should entail, our generation is well and supremely FUCKED.

EDIT:  Feedback more than welcome, please.  Too angsty or not enough?  Too much personal detail or not enough?  Worth posting in the general forums or should it be deleted, the hardrive wiped and the computer burned?

Want some very free advice from someone who gives relatively good advice?


When you have an inability to communicate in a relationship beyond your favourite tech toy or tv show I am not sure what problem you think it signals but to me it flashes the word INCOMPATIBLE.

The OMG factor of getting laid wears off and the image of perfection dies as the relationship lingers. THAT, my friend, is when true love begins. When every good thing stops being amplified and the newness is gone, and all you are left with is reality. And the reality that who you are with makes you laugh, cry, want to pull your hair out and stomp on her/his head, really, really good conversation and unbelievable laughter. These are the things that make a relationship work.

And it sounds like you pretty much don't have that.

Seems to me also, however, that in addition to being on a message board you should also be speaking to HER about this and your feelings in regard to it. And if you somehow can't talk to her, then you need to bow out gracefully and find someone you can talk to because it just won't work.

[SuperPopTart]

I like fart jokes.  She likes fart jokes.

A match?

Or heartbreak?





This post brought to you by the undeniable need to use that heartbreak emoticon.   

Laugh and the world laughs with you.
Fart and it's goodbye everyone.

If she stays with you through fart jokes, you have a winner ;-)

[Murgos]

Well no doubt in my mind that SPT is female.  Two posts, two completely different points of view on the same topic and circumstances.