By LELA MOORE and SONA PATEL
April 30, 2016
Here are the top 10 comments of the week on our digital platforms, as selected by our readers and the journalists who moderate nearly every comment.
Female Sports Journalists Facing Abuse
1. As a male, I feel ashamed watching this video. Guilty by association, I guess. I weep with the men who were asked to read a litany of vitriolic texts, tweets and emails sent to these — no, all — women. I ask myself, "How can I be part of the solution?"
— AbbaDaniel in Houston, reacting to[1] a column about the vitriol aimed at female sports journalists by their male readers on social media.
2. I used to write a comedy show. The letters I got were pretty awful — sexist, violent, rude. Some of them I still remember word for word. I wrote back to every person and responded very nicely. I asked them if they wanted to write an episode, and I said I would be really happy if they did and I would work with them.
It was amazing how my putting a human face on the correspondence changed the tenor of it. Many responded to me. Some apologized. All were sheepish.
Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina
3. Don't underestimate the value of Fiorina to Cruz as a short-term strategy. In Indiana, he's trying to pull in more Republican women and excite evangelicals to show up for him. She is very appealing to religious conservatives and Republican women professionals.
In California, she lost her Senate bid, but she did win the Republican primary nomination first. This enabled her Senate run in the first place. California Republicans are used to voting for her. They did it before and Cruz is betting she can do it again.
— Andy W. in Chicago, reacting to[3] an article about Senator Ted Cruz choosing Carly Fiorina as his running mate.
Texting and Driving
4. I was right behind a car that flipped over and bounced around on the highway. I had to pull over with two to three other people and approach the upside-down, smashed car.
I never felt such dread in my life, and then we all saw a baby carseat. It took guts to peek inside that car — not sure I would have been brave enough to do it in the first place. Luckily there was no baby, and the driver was alive, and bloody but largely unharmed.
She had just grabbed her phone for a sec to text her mom that she would be there soon. I got back in my car and cried my eyes out.
Please, people, you're driving several tons of metal at high speed. Don't text and drive.
— JN in Brooklyn,[4] reacting to[5] an article about technology that could allow the police responding to a traffic accident to determine if the driver at fault had been texting at the time of the crash.
This comment received more than 380 reader recommendations.
Target's Bathrooms
5. More Republican lawmakers have been caught doing immoral things in the bathroom than transgenders.
— Alexander Roehl on The Times'[6]s Facebook page,[7] responding to an article about Target stores allowing their empl oyees and customers to choose the restroom that aligns with their gender identities.
Marketing to the Rich
6. I think it's the "in your face, proles," mentality that I really resent, and the diminution of the experience for those who are unable to pay premium prices, accompanied by a mentality that the rich just aren't like the rest of us, and that our experiences, comfort, or dignity just doesn't matter.
— Minmin in New York, reacting to[8] an article about companies' employing marketing strategies designed to divide wealthy and average consumers.
This comment received over 1,240 reader recommendations.
Playing the 'Woman's Card'
7. When Trump said, "If Hillary Clinton were a man, I don't think she'd get 5 percent of the vote," my first thought was, "And if you WEREN'T a man, this conversation would be over."
— J. Burkett in Austin, Tex., reacting to[9] an Op-Ed column by Gail Collins about Donald J. Trump's criticism of Hillary Clinton.
This comment received over 1,100 reader recommendations.
Sore Losers
8. What I don't get is how some who would seem to support quite liberal ideas (though admittedly some seem to be there only for the excitement or because "change" is all they care about) would say that they won't vote for Hillary.
If too many of them do that we will have President Trump or Cruz. Do Bernie supporters really care so little about the content of the change?
Is any change O.K. with them as long as it's something really different? Is that very liberal seeming crowd really O.K. with overturning Roe v. Wade, outlawing gay marriage, and carpet bombing the Middle East?
— Anne-Marie Hislop in Chicago, reacting to[10] an Op-Ed column by Frank Bruni that called Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Ted Cruz "sore losers" over their reluctance to end their presidential campaigns.
This comment received over 2,000 reader recommendations and 96 responses from readers.
Chobani
9. I'll never eat another yogurt. Only Chobani for me. Yogurt for the people by the people.
— Jupiter in New York, reacting to[11] an article about the founder of the yogurt company Chobani offering his employees shares worth up to 10 percent of the company when it goes public or is sold.
Genital Cosmetic Surgery for Teenage Girls
10. Physicians are seriously baffled as to what could be responsible for the increase in demand for this surgery among teens?
I find it rather baffling that not once is the word "pornography" mentioned in this entire article.
For all those who argue porn is a harmless pastime, this article should shock us all wide awake.
— Lili B. in New York, reacting to[12] an article about a growing number of teenage girls seeking surgery to alter the shape of their vulvas.
References
- ^ AbbaDaniel in Houston, reacting to (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ SAS in Newton, Mass. (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ Andy W. in Chicago, reacting to (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ JN in Brooklyn, (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ reacting to (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ Alexander Roehl on The Times'< small> (www.facebook.com)
- ^ Facebook page, (www.facebook.com)
- ^ Minmin in New York, reacting to (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ J. Burkett in Austin, Tex., reacting to (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ Anne-Marie Hislop in Chicago, reacting to (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ Jupiter in New York, reacting to (www.nytimes.com)
- ^ Lili B. in New York, reacting to (well.blogs.nytimes.com)< /small>
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