‘And They Wonder Why We Still Need Feminism’

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/01/nytnow/and-they-wonder-why-we-still-need-feminism.html

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Here are the top 10 comments of the week on our digital platforms, as selected by our readers and the journalists who moderate nearly every comment. Some comments were edited for length and clarity.

1. So ... showing skin inherently makes you a bad person? And “covering up” makes you a “good girl” in the eyes of the patriarchy. And they wonder why we still need feminism.

— Alexandra Parker on The Times’s Facebook page, responding to an article about fliers posted at a prep school in Florida that tried to show appropriate prom attire, but instead drew complaints of sexism.

2. The EU had undeniably become far too bloated and bureaucratic and meddled in affairs that should never have been within its jurisdiction. It needs to look at itself and reform before more countries leave.

I’m praying that wise heads will prevail in the ‘divorce’ proceedings and that they will look to the future of their children rather than their own egos.

— Clare Brooklyn in Brooklyn, N.Y., reacting to an article about Prime Minister Theresa May formally initiating Britain’s exit from the European Union.

3. At last! Looking to the future for our independent country.

— Margaret Pawson on The Times’s Facebook page.

4. They give up the bathroom part of it and keep the draconian power grab. The only reason their plan somewhat backfired is that it effected something more important than wages and freedoms in NC. Something more sacred to citizens here. Basketball.

— Brian C. Reilly in Myrtle Beach, S.C., reacting to an article about the repeal of the controversial state law that curbs legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and sets rules that affect transgender bathroom use in public buildings.

This comment received more than 130 reader recommendations.

5. Well, that’s pretty infuriating. I taught high school physics for 3 years straight out of college and restructured $100,000 in debt to make it qualify for this program. I took a break from that career to get some hands on experience in the field and ended up joining the Air Force as a physicist instead of trying to find a higher-paying civilian job specifically so I could still qualify. I really hope this gets sorted out before my 10 years are up.

— Nick Aguilera on The Times’s Facebook page, responding to an article about the Education Department’s suggestion in a legal filing that a program to forgive the student debt of those who work a public service job for 10 years or more may be invalid.

6. It’s like the end of “Jurassic Park,” when the tyrannosaurus rescues the heroes from the velociraptors.

— Jim Davis in Beaverton, Ore., reacting to an article about President Trump’s tweets on Thursday in which he blamed the House Freedom Caucus for the loss of his health care bill and suggested that other Republicans challenge them in next year’s midterm elections.

This comment received more than 400 reader recommendations.

7. All that seems to matter to many is that their side is the eventual winner. I don’t know which option is worse. The government grinding to a halt as this fight plays out, or one side ‘winning’ and railroading their fever dreams through Congress and the White House unopposed.

— T. Boyle in Arkansas.

This comment received more than 190 reader recommendations.

8. Athletes play sport and coaches coach sport. You want the best choice to deliver the best outcome. If Pat Summitt were still alive, don’t tell me that some NBA teams that have had multiple coaches wouldn’t consider her based on her success as a Volunteer. [She] clearly understood the game and how to get the most and the best out of players.

People would be surprised how many male players may play better with a female coaching them. I have seen as a referee women coach men’s teams who have been pretty much unstoppable on the court. Those coaches got those players to perform. You don’t coach with your unique gender-specific parts of your anatomy. You coach with your mind.

— Paul Lindsay on The Times’s Facebook page, responding to an article about the dearth of female coaches at the college level.

9. It has been 28 years since I left the Derech, having been raised by Western European Orthodox Jews and at the time, having been married with two young children. Getting a “get” (Jewish divorce) took some doing; and it was embarrassing for both my ex-husband and myself.

But, to my parents, the embarrassment to them was all they seemed to care about. Meanwhile, since then I completed a PhD, remarried a post-Episcopalian man, and have lived a significantly happier life and career (though full of post-Orthodoxy hardships) than my life prior to my departure from the Derech.

My heart goes out to all the young people mentioned in this article and to those who are still searching. Trust that in time, you will find your own path. Trust and faith, ironically, is the substance of what you must cling to on your journey.

— Deborah Seymour in Bethesda, Md., reacting to an article about young people who leave ultra-Orthodox Jewish sects unprepared for life in the secular world.

10. I wonder how many Inuit tribes were totally unaware that their own land was being bought and sold from beneath them by America and Russia, with neither country having consulted them in the transaction or paid them for their share.

Kinda like the Louisiana Purchase, in which President Thomas Jefferson purchased millions of acres of “American land” from France, despite the fact that countless tribes that actually owned that land were never contacted about the sale and purchase of their own land. Eurocentric arrogance has no bounds.

— Mark Adkins on The Times’s page, responding to an article about the remorse of some Russian nationalists over the sale of Alaska 150 years later.