_______________CONCEPTION BY DECEPTION BY TRACY QUAN (09/23/98)
	I can't tell you how closely your story strikes at a reality. It never ceases to amaze me how brazenly women conclude that we men are manipulable in the context of pregnancy, much less relationships in general. But then again, I am one that believes that much of the "empowerment" of women has resulted in a subtle but almost unilateral hegemony in many contexts: Why wouldn't they think we're stupid? It happened to me, by a 30-year-old debutante with a 5-year-old. She kept telling me she was "taking care of it," and 7 weeks after our first date she informed me she was pregnant. And this from a woman who really aggressively pursued me. Aware of the possibility, I asked the question before each sexual encounter and felt both that I should trust her and that I'd done my duty. I insisted on abortion. She relented. Thanks for your honest inquiry into the "other side" of the deal. I'm telling you it was enough to chill me out of the hunt for five years. -- Don Haslam I am 42, do not want children, have never wanted children and am happily married to a man who has already been there, done that. I have felt deep resentment for decades toward this particular secret nasty manipulation of many women who first, on the issue of having children at all, carelessly and lazily let their hormones make the decision -- a decision that means a rest-of-your-life commitment. I have hated the way no one talks about women manipulating men into being parents. When I have brought up the subject in the company of women, I've been shellacked from wall to wall with screeches, not normal disagreements of opinion, and as though I were a traitor of the worst variety. Interestingly, it's helped me determine who are some of the women I choose to have as friends. Women who would so disrespect their partner by tricking them into being a parent do not have self-respect either. And somehow, somewhere, in a big or small way, the child will be the ultimate recipient of the lack of self-respect. Kids aren't stupid. But of course, these kinds of mothers wouldn't understand. They think grown men are stupid, too. -- Christine Cascella Reider Arlington, Va. I'm really disappointed at the post-feminist dross published today from your contributor Tracy Quan. Where does she get her data from anyway? A few guys roaming the streets? Hardly, a good cross section for a study of this type of behavior and these types of overarching accusations. Generally, I appreciate the broad scope of Salon's articles. This story, frankly, surprised me with its cloaked misogyny. This is always most insidious and unfortunate when it comes from a woman. -- Marie Kacmarek San Mateo, Calif. Tracy Quan's elegantly written piece was a refreshing twist on some of the prevalent cultural shibboleths like "dead-beat dads, no means no," etc. In an area of discourse characterized by knee-jerk responses, it is gratifying to see such a calm, thoughtful view. -- Charles Peck I'm a victim of the deception. I took the responsibility for contraception by wearing a condom, but foolishly removed the condom at the behest of my partner during intercourse. A child was conceived even though we had known each other only a few weeks, and even though the deceptive mother insured me that she could not conceive. Furthermore, I was 40 years old when the baby was born and the mother 39, and there was greater risk of an unhealthy baby since it was the mother's first child. The deception occurred nine years ago, but I'm still struggling with the consequences. I haven't had a relationship since, nor do I really want one. When you're deceived in this manner you feel like such an idiot as well as a sucker. It was good to see an article that recognizes this phenomenon. Cheers to Salon! -- Melvin Shaw
_______________ALLY McBEAL, ALL-AMERICAN ANTIHERO BY SARAH VOWELL (09/21/98)
	I was very disappointed by Sarah Vowell's recent rail on "Ally McBeal." Granted Ally can be annoying. Her character complains, back stabs, rambles and talks about things she knows nothing about -- just like everyone I know. She also sticks up for her principles, listens when her friends have problems. After dragging my ass to an office every morning for years, I realize that Ally and her cohorts are much more realistic characters than Buffy or Wonder Woman could ever hope to be. True, if I had a young daughter, I probably wouldn't let her watch "Ally McBeal," but somehow I thought adults were supposed to appreciate multifaceted characters for their good attributes as well as recognizing their bad ones. Also, while Buffy is a great character on a fun show, let's not pretend that she is doing anything that Jamie Summers didn't do 20 years ago when she single-handedly defeated the Fembots and saved the world in glorious, bell-bottomed slow motion. Comparing a comedy like "Ally" with a comic book-styled adventure series like "Buffy" is about as useful as comparing "Frankenstein" and "The Three Stooges": They don't have much in common. -- Edwin Hill
_______________ANALYSIS: THE POLITICS OF PARANOIA BY BRUCE SHAPIRO (09/22/98)
	Why does this reaction from the right-wing crazies surprise anyone? Did everyone forget Starr's earlier attempts to intimidate the press by hauling reporters in for questioning? He was trying to find out the source of embarrassing (to him and his investigation) leaks, and to try to stop critical stories, and his excuse was that this was "an attempt to intimidate the Office of the Independent Counsel." We've known for a while what kind of madman was granted unlimited power. Why is anyone acting surprised? -- John Chesman Monroe, Mich. Bruce Shapiro has the easiest job in the world! Lie about your enemies and get paid for it! It is easy to see you don't need real skills or integrity to write for Salon magazine. Congratulations, you make a perfect couple. -- Clay Quinn Denver I am grateful that the publicity about the Hyde affair led me to "finding" your magazine. I am so relieved to find a voice of reason crying out in the wilderness, so to speak. I was impressed with Bruce Shapiro's analysis of the damage done to our reasonable rule of law by Starr's behavior and tactics. Then all of a sudden there is the name-calling of the president, "He's a putz," from out of nowhere and in reference to nothing. Is this supposed to show that he is objective in his analysis favoring Clinton by showing that he, Shapiro, is morally or mentally above the president so that we therefore be impressed with his objectivity? If we had to choose who is the putz between him and the president, it wouldn't be the president. -- Bob Morgan San Diego Congratulations on Bruce Shapiro's engrossing article "The Politics of Paranoia" and Charles Taylor' s insightful analysis of Clinton's grand jury testimony. Earlier in these pages, a letter of mine was published calling for the resignation/impeachment of President Clinton as a matter of principle should it be proved he lied to the American people regarding the "Lewinsky matter." Now that the inevitable has come to pass, I'm afraid I have a different opinion. The sheer scope of the mendacity and vileness at work in Washington on the part of Starr and his acolytes has proved to exist on such a Grand Guignol scale that our poor philandering president, in his unthinkably televised grand jury testimony, seemed for all the world like the heart-rending Jimmy Stewart in the Capra classic "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." It is astounding to wake up to the fact that, as Mr. Shapiro makes brutally clear, we are living at a time when our most basic legal rights are once again at stake in the hands of a rogue's gallery of hypocrites in a frenzy of sexual and political jealousy. (Shapiro never overtly names the Salem Witch Trials in his examination of historical precedents, but I find that sad episode only too pertinent in view of Inquisitor Starr's bizarre collusion with a pack of hysterical harpies shrieking about their encounters with the Dark Man's diabolical genitalia.) The situation has gone so far (with no end in sight) that only Oliver Stone could do it justice. I think we are witnessing an assassination attempt -- a bloodless coup -- that is extremely frightening in its implications. -- Stewart Clarke SALON | Sept. 25, 1998

R E C E N T L Y+| IN DEFENSE OF PARENTHOOD BY KATIE ALLISON GRANJU

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