Question Time

I need a break from posting about horrible things. Here at Respectful of Otters, that can only mean one thing: it's time once again to answer questions readers ask in Google searches which lead them to my site.

what is a DNC menstruation
You know how women living together in dorms tend to cycle together? Well, the female employees of the Democratic National Committee... okay, no. This person was wondering about dilation and curettage, otherwise known as a D and C, and their mistake is more common than you might think.

little glires sex pics (also young glires sex pics )
I don't know whether to hope this one is a misspelling or not. Glires, as you may or may not know, are rodents. So, which is more disturbing: someone looking for pictures of little rodents having sex, or someone looking for pictures of little girls having sex? Huh. Okay, yeah, on balance I am hoping it was an ethologist.

what makes a healthy self respectful teenage girl
I'd say that the number one ingredient would be a sense that something matters beyond the world of attractiveness and popularity. Sports, music, art, academics, volunteering, politics, religion - something she can see as a measure of her worth that isn't dependent on her appearance. That would be a start, anyway.

otter personality
Otters have taken a lot of personality tests - it's a natural outcome of spending five years in residence at a clinical psychology graduate program. According to the Five Factor Model (the personality theory with the greatest amount of research backing it up), otters are more or less average in neuroticism, extraversion, and agreeableness. They're in the top one or two percent for "openness to experience," which is a measure of flexibility, intellect, and liberalism, and they're in the bottom seven percent for "conscientousness," mostly because they're messy and disorganized. So now you know.

Paglia mental case
Hee! This one's too easy, so I'm just going to turn it over to Molly Ivins.

livejournal piercing health risk
Yes, piercing your LiveJournal has significant attendant health risks. If sterile equipment isn't used, your computer may develop a virus - and that's not to mention the risk of electric shock to the person doing the piercing.

horrible ads
Hoo boy. I'm going to have to go with the awful Miller High Life commercials which run endlessly during Major League Baseball games. They're aimed at 50-year-old working-class men with traditional values. Women don't appear in the ads at all, although they're sometimes referenced as "the little woman" or "the ol' ball and chain." No other ad campaign screams "you're not our target demographic, Rivka" quite so loudly. Their heavy airplay during MLB games is a constant reminder that I'm not supposed to like baseball. I hate that.

quasi-monogamous definition
I'm pleased to say that "quasi-monogamous otters" brings up exactly one Google hit: my Valentine's Day post. I suppose I'd define "quasi-monogamous" as a relationship structure which combines behavioral nonmonogamy (by one or both partners) with the claim or intention of monogamy - in contrast to polyamory, or openly nonmonogamous relationships. In my experience, quasi-monogamous relationships run into serious trouble.

how do otters protect themselves
I'm a damned good shot, actually. My Significant Otter is always after me to hang one of my used targets on my office wall, in case my clients get any ideas. But I've never used a handgun to protect myself - I rely on a combination of eloquence, force of will, and common sense. It's worked so far.

cut little otters
All I can say is, this better have been a misspelling.