Joy, since you have it all together, you’re obviously not one of the women that the writer is talking about, so there’s no reason for you to take offense to her letter.  I had a child out of wedlock the summer after I finished college and he left me.  I have taken care of my daughter for two and a half years now without receiving any assistance from the government.  When I read her letter, I didn’t take offense to it because I know she’s not talking about me. 

I think education is MORE imporatant for a woman than a man.  A man without a degree can still get a $40-50,000/year job but there are very few women without degress that can do that.

Elle - I’m really sorry to hear your story.  What’s worse is that even if you HAD told someone, there’s a good chance that nothing would have been done.  I know of a child who is accusing a relative of touching her sexually and CPS won’t do anything about it because there is no ‘physical’ evidence and they won’t talk to her until she’s three (which she will be in 5 weeks so ‘hopefully’ she will say something then, although it’s doubtful because this relative has 5 weeks to convince her to NOT say anything - she lives with this relative).

Rosemary - I think she was referring to the fact that a woman has the choice to be on birth control pills, which are extremely effective in preventing pregnancy.  Not foolproof, but almost.  So whether a woman is raped or a victim of domestic violence, if she is on bcp, she most likely will not conceive a child from it.  And the percentage of unmarried pregnant women who are victims of rape or domestic abuse are extremely low.

Amanda, I apologize for suggesting you were mooching but from your letter it sounded like you were older (like your current age).  Yes, an 11-year old should definitely be spending AT LEAST every other weekend with their father - I personally think the standard should be higher.  I thought the letter was from a twenty year old that wanted to spend every weekend from her father - completely different situation.  I am a stepmother and I do know there are good ones and bad ones out there.  I really feel for you that you got one of the bad ones and I am even more upset with your father for allowing it to happen.  His wife knew about you girls before she married him and if she wasn’t committed to loving you like her own then she should never have married him.  If I couldn’t love my stepdaughter or resented her in any way then I would not be with my husband because I would never want to come between him and his child.  Now that you’re older I would suggest that you be the bigger person and let it go and just meet with your father without his wife (she doesn’t even deserve the title of step’mother’) as much as possible.  If she gets mad then just tell her that she isn’t pleasant to be around and you don’t need that in your life.

#1 Has anybody thought about the fact that maybe the author included the famous people’s email addresses in the cc line so that the non-famous people come (hoping to meet the famouse people)?  It may have been a marketing ploy…

#2 The stepmother doesn’t sound completely innocent, but this daughter needs to realize her dad has a life outside of her.  She’s upset because she no longer gets to spend EVERY WEEKEND with her father.  No wonder the stepmother was upset!  These children are supposed to be grown and they want to come ‘home’ every weekend to mooch off of dad?  I think them seeing their dad once every week or every other week is sufficient (with plenty of phone calls in between).  It’s not like the stepmother is trying to cut them out of their father’s life - she just wants some alone time with her husband, as any wife should.