Wednesday morning quick roundup and big rant

Not much of a roundup today but here's a poignant essay on today's Iraq.

As an unmarried, unengaged woman who is not in a serious relationship and who leans against changing her name, I have no dog in the name fight, except that I don't believe it should be a fight. Nonetheless, I'm going to call out Julie R. Rodriguez for her condescending, annoying blog post. First of all, Ms. Rodriguez, I certainly don't hope that you have Celiac's, but that's pretty much the only good reason for having a gluten-free wedding. I would say I die a little inside when people with no actual gluten issues go gluten-free, but I don't care enough; it's their loss. I do die a little inside when women wear unflattering clothing on their wedding day, and honey, that suit looks terrible on you. I'm not taking issue with your decision to wear a suit; I just think you ought to have bothered to find one that fit you better. Finally, I die a little inside when people like you, who have managed to actually make a career as a writer--hence your pride in your name--showcase some boring, repetitive, pointless writing. Your argument is just silly: you go out of your way to explain why your name is important to you, and you say you understand that other women don't necessarily have that attachment to their names, but then you go on to tell them that they should have an attachment to their names anyway. You can't make that decision for other people. Their life is not their life. Who cares what name is on your well-stamped passports of yore? You're still the same person. I repeat that my strong feelings on this matter are not based on my own choices; it just angers me when women lecture other women about their life decisions, or declare themselves saddened by them. Do you want to hear what makes me die a little inside, Ms. Rodriguez? How about the prevalence of rape in this country and the world? (Maybe pull your head out of your ass and read the news?) How about girls getting shot on the way to school? Assaults on our reproductive rights? I could go on, but I think that's enough to make the point that there's enough out there to make us die inside before we start imposing our personal beliefs, values, and experiences on other women in order to judge their personal choices.