What is even more tragic (or comic) is the recently divorced or those just recently handed "...divorce-papers..." 40 + Women
(& Men), who after 25 yrs or so of unholy deadlock seem to think it is ok to screw anything with a pulse to 'get over' their rotten ex spouses.

25 yrs ago, blokes who did it were labelled an *SSHOLE - so why is this any different today because she does it now in the name of 'liberation' or 'freedom' - whatever the reasons?

Does this then give creedence to the same lousy attitude being foisted & transported upon and into the mindset of the children from the marriage?...yes greed is good...consume, destroy, rapaciously get even... don't consider the emotional consequences of those you 'screw' - but unfortunately the chooks will come home to roost eventually.

Hallelu - Jah for that!

Now we see these bimbo-like 14 to 44 yr olds... very dangerous indeed, being led onto PC's and lap tops by the same crappy attitudes to relationships - is this some quasi-New Age revisitation of the Free Lovin' Sixties with even more dangerous substances with which to ingest?

Look after your kids first.. It is your prime directive!

proverbs,

the rub is that one's reactions are are one's reactions, in essence, internally derived. We can all have completely different reactions to the same stimulus, in which case its not the stimulus its the observer. Responsibility or accountability dont enter into it. Who knows what experiences and notions have entered a persons consciousness and how these colour reaction. Its impossible to put these things down to a certain set of links. All one can really do, is be aware of oneself and their reactions as they occur. And to learn how to temper ones reactions. Eventually the things that used to push your buttons, dont have that effect anymore.

One is capable of independent, rational thought. At the very least informing oneself, on one's own terms as to how they perceive themselves.

Throwing oneself to the mercy of such stimuli (propganda and influence) is the basis upon which propaganda functions. Once you take a stand and refuse to surrender, the intended effect of the propaganda dies a natural death, in one's mind.

In short, the propagandist rely on people internalising their nonsense. Without it, they have no influence.

The thing is that by the time they get the doll or game it is too late. They already seem to have developed the mind set that says that this behaviour is appropriate and okay.

Parents need to rebel and fight against the onslaught of visual pollution that our children are exposed to today as young people are becoming confused as to what should be done where, when and what is okay. The standards are too low. We need to reintroduce manners and morals so that our children develop self respect.

Cornflower

“A risk averse parent who would ban, conceal or otherwise deter her children from coming into contact with anything she doesn't like is actually doing her charges a disservice through raising them as limited, bigoted adults who are not confident or resilient enough to rely on their own judgement, learning and experience to guide them in the world… Your eternally imposed shielding, censorship and scolding is unhelpful in the extreme.”

Calm down! Talk about over-reacting. I didn’t buy toy guns for my son, that’s all. He wasn’t deprived and he certainly wasn’t shielded, censored or scolded. He never asked for guns or showed any interest in them. They were a complete non-issue. None of anything you have said here applies to myself or my children. It is completely wide of the mark and quite offensive really.

You obviously have some sort of gun fetish, but for most people guns don't really rate that highly in their everyday lives. I doubt many, apart from yourself, would consider a visit to a rifle range an essential part of their child's education.

Col Rouge

"My daughters and I made up a game for the car, the first to spot the road kill, one point at side of road, two point in the middle and double the points if you could identify the critter. We called it “Flat Cat and Friends” and they loved it."

I wonder what sort of lessons your daughters drew from this sick little game.

Bronwyn

Did you always shout your son down like that too?

You may equivocate now but among other things this is what you said:

"Shielding boys from guns is a walk in the park compared to the challenge of equipping girls to ignore the drumbeat message"

and now

"Calm down! Talk about over-reacting. I didn’t buy toy guns for my son, that’s all. He wasn’t deprived and he certainly wasn’t shielded, censored or scolded."

But why force your morality onto your son in the first place? Educate them, provide safe learning experiences and trust them to make up their own minds and find their own true North.

For heavens sakes, over four hundred children die every year in backyard swimming pools but I bet you don't force your son to avert his eyes when passing one and you wouldn't pretend they don't exist. Instead, a caring parent would arrange swimming lessons.

There would not have been anywhere near the number of children injured by firearms since federation as there are drowned yearly in parents' pools.

Yours would have been a rare boy indeed if as you say he never, ever displayed any interest in guns: "He never asked for guns or showed any interest in them. They were a complete non-issue." But then again maybe he quickly learned what were "no talk, no go" subjects in your household.

Your spiteful comment that I must have a "gun fetish" because I have competed in rifle shooting teams (many women do and Australia usually has strong teams) was neither correct nor deserved, however it did speak volumes about your complete ignorance of the sport and where you are coming from in life.

more feminist rubbish. didn't bother reading the article, except the synopsis.