Comments on: Boys might be hitting puberty earlier, too

By: FoolishOwl

FoolishOwl — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 06:45:00 +0000

As I recall, my younger sister went through puberty several years before I did. My parents were anxious about it, but never spoke to me directly about it, just kept reassuring me that it was okay to be a “late bloomer” for no reason I understood. It was only in adulthood, comparing notes with my sister, that I found out what that had been about. Most of their reassurances took the form of deriding people who went through puberty early, which I found in no way comforting and really rather weird at the time; in retrospect, it must have been awful for my sister to overhear it.

Anyway, my sister and I must have had nearly identical diets, so I’m not sure whether I could attribute the differences to our diets.

By: rhodian

rhodian — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 23:13:00 +0000

Fair point; I guess I was considering the chin to be the whole jaw line including sideburns, but really I suppose it’s probly meant to be just the pointy bit.

By: cdh1971

cdh1971 — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 10:20:00 +0000

Neal: Del… Why did you kiss my ear?
Del: Why are you holding my hand?
Neal: [frowns] Where’s your other hand?
Del: Between two pillows…
Neal: Those aren’t pillows!

That’s no Moon!

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 09:47:00 +0000

The male equivalent of funbags is meat pillows.

By: cdh1971

cdh1971 — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 09:06:00 +0000

How the nuts did I not know the term ‘funbag’? I knew the term funbagS ’cause of House, but not funbag.

What a great term – thank-you!

By: cdh1971

cdh1971 — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 09:01:00 +0000

C’mmon bra, I’ve always liked the ‘nuts’ euphemism.

When I see written ‘dirty pillows’, I think dirty pillows. Applied to breasteses, it’s just not descriptive, it’s insulting and provoking to point of flame to those sporting breasteses, and their supporters.

When I think of ‘nuts’ describing testicles — Balls, I think of golden, hard to crack walnuts. How could comparing nuts to testicles be insulting? Nuts, for example, walnuts kinda are brass coloured, like brass, like big brass balls.

Really bra, isn’t ‘dirty pillows’ a bit insulting, ftw?

Dude.

By: Liam Falconer

Liam Falconer — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 08:56:00 +0000

I’ve actually got one of those ball measuring devices. The technical name is an orchidometer: http://i.imgur.com/VW3Ov.jpg It also came in a totally svelte leather case.

By: rocketpjs

rocketpjs — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 05:04:00 +0000

The poor kids. As far as I can recall, puberty sucked. And then it is followed by adulthood, which has stabler hormones but also working for a living. Long live childhood – I would hate to see my 7 year old start puberty in 2 years, he is having so much fun now.

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 02:32:00 +0000

The old normal (for millennia) was for most women to be pregnant in their teens, and oftentimes dying as a result.

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 02:29:00 +0000

An awful lot of awful fathers taught America that sometimes families are better off without fathers.

Most people don’t take their cues from one TV program….especially one that occurred decades after the change started showing up in the culture.

By: Tony Heisenberg

Tony Heisenberg — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 02:00:00 +0000

Yeah, I remember… we teased her quite a bit about it.

By: James Agenbroad

James Agenbroad — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 00:11:00 +0000

ISTR reading something similar. Menarch seems to be more closely related to weight than age, and we’re heavier than than we used to be.

By: James Agenbroad

James Agenbroad — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 00:07:00 +0000

That’s Gen Anthony McAuliffe, not Gen Macarthur.

By: elix

elix — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 23:07:00 +0000

I don’t know about you, but soft touches makes mine uncurl, but if you start trying to strike it, I’m afraid I don’t have the capacity to retract as a muscular reflex.

(I’m sorry, I had to go there.)

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 21:36:00 +0000

Ah, that's not actually an orchid. What you've got hold of there is the one named after the Latin, not the Greek, the little-known Gynophilaea testiculosus -- also known colloquially as the Latin orchid (although not actually an orchid). G. testiculosus, unlike members of the Orchidaceae family, respond to touch: a brief, soft touch will cause the leaves to uncurl, while a sharp rap will cause the flower to pull up into the leafy bundle. The flower also turns bright blue during the spring, gradually losing its color to become tan by late summer, and pasty white by late fall.

By: allenels

allenels — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 21:35:00 +0000

“Modern meat raising?” BPA has been in US food production since the 1930′s. Canada and Europe have banned the usage of BPA. The FDA, although it is aware of the fact that BPA exists in things as innocuous as receipts (the waxy paper used in almost all commercial receipts), the interiors of all cans, not to mention what other chemicals are used to produce super foods, meats, vegetables, fruits, et al, as well as whether, or rather, how much or water has been compromised by runoff from farms. There are young girls who not only have breasts in the second grade (Los Angeles area schools) but some have started their menses as young as ten. The FDA knows how much is too much exposure to BPA for human consumption but the cumulative effect from multiple sources has never been quantified by the FDA. Big Agra, think Monsanto, spends a lot of money to ensure their billions.

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 21:26:00 +0000

Allow me to quote General MacArthur: “Nuts!”

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 20:54:00 +0000

Um….

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 20:51:00 +0000

Jeez, dude, don’t get your funbag in a twist.

By: Preston Sturges

Preston Sturges — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 20:46:00 +0000

We all remember the kid who could grow a 5 oclock shadow by the end of the school day in 5th grade.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 20:42:00 +0000

It’s estrogens all the way down.

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 20:32:00 +0000

That or your average morbidly obese.

By: abstract_reg

abstract_reg — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 20:30:00 +0000

I’m not saying it’s right. I’m saying that the past was not a golden age. We are getting better, and these problems can (and often will) be dealt with.

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 20:29:00 +0000

Heh, 40 years is a long time ago in terms of sexuality and gender studies. As for overweight, not surprised. I recall reading that female dancers develop slower thanks to higher physical activity keeping down body fat.

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 20:24:00 +0000

Another thing to keep in mind that that part of this “moving out” is the act of buying ones own place. This is a very political act in USA based on the idea that home owners do not riot…

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 20:22:00 +0000

Well there have been observed that kids that are given responsibilities, and held to account regarding them, early on behave more “adult”.

By: dragonfrog

dragonfrog — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 20:16:00 +0000

I read a while ago about an interesting study that came to similar conclusions over a longer timespan.

The trick there was that historical medical records of onset of menstruation were available, but nothing similar for boys. They ended up making the assumption that the tendency of adolescent men to do stupid shit and get injured at a higher rate was mainly biologically based, then compared medical records of accidental injuries, looking for a spike among young men. They found that, sure enough, the spike used to come at a somewhat older age.

All sorts of possible other explanations, which they acknowledged, but still a cool approach and finding.

By: dragonfrog

dragonfrog — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 20:11:00 +0000

That’s right – old folks should be carted off to nursing homes as soon as they weaken. Any support from their adult children other than signing checks to the nursing homes is inappropriate. Or something.

Yes, I do get your point, and I realize that’s not what you’re advocating – still though.

I dimly recall something from an anthro course many moons ago, about an approach where families in some parts of Europe (maybe the Balkans somewhere?) maintains two houses or apartments, with alternate adult generations living in them – when the children find the pressure of living with their parents (who are used to telling them what to do, etc.) gets too much, they move to the other home, with their grandparents. The grandparents and grandchildren don’t have those patterns entrenched, so they can establish how they will live together as adults and equals. The younger generation is there to support their elders, without driving one another too crazy.

By: Boundegar

Boundegar — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 18:58:00 +0000

I will admit the last century in North America is the only time and place I’ve ever lived.

And maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it’s just fine if the new normal is for teen mothers to be abandoned by their sperm donors, unable to complete their education and barely fed by welfare and SNAP. Maybe it worked out well in Victorian London, or somewhere.

By: Boundegar

Boundegar — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 18:53:00 +0000

Childhood’s End!