MORALS: MISSING

DEAR WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY—I read your article Saturday morning ["My So-Called Hell," I Love Television, Aug 27]. I am shocked at how degraded your writing is. Sounds like the kind of stuff you want to watch is at your X-rated video store. Where are your morals? I just can't believe you need to write like this to get your point across. What jumps out at the reader? Let me list them for you: freaking, monkey penis, hell, damn, Beelzebub, Satan, hell, drunky slut, horny, dork, freaks, geeks, freaking, hell again and again? I thought I was in a bathroom stall reading the stuff on the walls. Sounds like you've been watching the BOOB TUBE way too much—you may have actually turned into one.

-Rdweathers

THE UGLIER TRUTH

Well, that is [an] incredibly rosy take on the industry ["I Resolved to Become a Stripper or Kill Myself," Feature, Aug 27]. I myself danced for 17 years and know personally many of the women mentioned, and I can assure you that no one who strips for a decent length of time gets away with their emotional health intact... if it was intact to begin with. The process of being a stripper requires an amazing amount of detachment and denial of your emotional reality. A slippery slope, you simply turn off any feelings or intuition that could cause you to question your chosen profession and the ironclad belief that you are a naked goddess who by no means is degraded or exploited. You justify your choice by railing against society, spouting feminist dogma, and shaking your fist at the "uptight conservatives" who dare question why you would do such a thing... all the while losing touch with your original motivations and your sense of self. I don't know many strippers who are happy with themselves, and if they are, they quit. Myself included. The truth is much uglier than dancers will have you know. Maybe Viva [Las Vegas] gets to that later... but I doubt it. That wouldn't be as entertaining and empowering.

-posted by Rose on portlandmercury.com

EITHER WAY YOU DIE

What is the difference between assisted suicide and insurance agencies ["Death Spiral," News, Aug 27]? One helps you die, the other lets you die. Life is priceless, but in America, only money is sacred. Your health insurance would save a buck before saving your life.

-posted by Pink.Tuscaderro on portlandmercury.com

EXPLOITED BY EYES

I think what we're forgetting, and what these forward-thinking feminists have brought to our attention, is that women don't have the right to express themselves by exposing their bodies ["Feminists vs. PETA," News, Aug 27]. Women who expose their bodies in the attempt to express a feeling or opinion, or to support or oppose a popular convention, are actually naïve and confused. They don't realize they're actually being exploited by the eyes of all who look upon them. That's why we should protest the organizations that use photos of these confused women, because they are abusing their position as paternal figures, responsible for making these kinds of decisions for women.

-posted by AlphaMonk543 on portlandmercury.com

TO YOUR HEALTH

This Erin [Fairchild] lady needs to stop looking for ways to be offended ["Feminists vs. PETA," News, Aug 27]. Animal abuse is much more important than someone feeling fat because the PETA ad calling for cruelty to end has a skinny girl on it. The stance that PETA is sexist is so unbelievably egotistical and elitist that only a cult weirdo would think that way. Being a chubby vegan myself I firmly believe being overweight for either a man or woman is not healthy, screw looks! An unhealthy lifestyle/body should never be embraced.

-posted by Crake Bailey on portlandmercury.com

CONGRATULATIONS TO CRAKE for promoting the health of mankind rather than dwelling on death and degradation. Yee-haw. Crake wins the letter of the week, with two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater and lunch at No Fish! Go Fish! where healthy bodies are embraced.