I don't think I have any more right to step into that culture and say something is wrong than I do into American culture because I think capital punishment is wrong

Does education from without count as stepping in? Boycotts? Political sanctions?

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I would say that those are external pressures which might trigger change from within for what we see as the better, which would be a good thing, but that those things might also have no or the opposite effect. What they probably will do is assuage the guilt of people on the outside. If they also cause societal change that benefits people within, then so much the better.

eta that on that note, I'll have to go to bed, as I have a project to write tomorrow. Which this discussion has actually been quite helpful in framing for me.

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I would say that those are external pressures which might trigger change from within

Your original statement read much more like everyone outside should sit back and let the culture itself take care of things. I only have so much respect to go around. We all draw our lines in different places, but there's no way I can take a stance against all external influence.

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It's not "more often" its "almost always". There is SOME reason for this amazingly disproportionate result.

Yes, but the correlation doesn't tell you what that reason is. Parents rape their own children significantly more often than children rape their parents, or parents rape other people's children, or children rape other children, etc. Does Occam's razor indicate that there's something inherent in parenting that predisposes you to rape your child?

I'm comfortable saying that men who rape women are not embracing sexual equality. I just don't know what that proves about the feelings the vast majority of men have toward women.

Also, A Way to End Female Genital Cutting. Oddly enough, it takes a village.

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You people are my pregnancy experts. What say you: Beach ball or other beach ball?

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I suspect that Angelina Jolie may well stay skinny throughout her pregnancy, so citing Katie's puffiness or lack thereof is not conclusive. If that entire bulge is supposed to be baby and baby shell, then it's not only not real, it's crappy FX. Maybe the wind rushed up her blouse?

Not that I am sold on it being the most convincing pregnancy, but more from the inconsistent belly sizes demonstrated near the beginning.

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Having been pregnant twice now, I think Katie is certainly within the bounds of possibility, especially for a first pregnancy on a very skinny woman. I looked like I was toting a (rather smaller) beach ball with my first, and as I'm 5'11" I had a lot of room vertically. I maintained a skinny face and arms and had no problems wearing rings.

Second pregnancy, 'nother matter.

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If that entire bulge is supposed to be baby and baby shell, then it's not only not real, it's crappy FX. Maybe the wind rushed up her blouse?

Yeah, I'm voting wind or Photoshop there -- if they were going to fake a pregnancy, surely Tom Cruise knows makeup people who could do a better job than that.

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I think it's the wind that makes that pic look particularly roundly fake, but no weight gain anywhere just looks freaky.

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Me, 9 months pregnant. [link]

YPMV.

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