Cocksure vs hensure

Something caught my eye in Kristian Gravenor's column ["Business and pleasurable reading don't mix," Sept. 17]. Namely, author Karen Salmansohn's suggestion of the use of the pseudo-word "vagina-sure" in place of the masculine "cocksure."

I'm not sure that's entirely appropriate. It's the male of the domestic fowl which puts the cock in cocksure. As in, "I'm a bright red rooster and I own this little area of the world and am pretty confident about it, hence I am cocksure." Cocksure also implies that the person being called cocksure, while being confident, is probably so on inadequate grounds. Surely, we usually see that much more often in males anyway, and I'm not sure you'd really want to have this word in there with the other gender jealousy. If you did, the proper translation into the world of fem-dom would not be vagina-sure but hensure, which I'm sure would be confused with the word ensure or insure, making English even harder to learn for those of a different mother tongue.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled letters about punks, cops, concerts, raves and language.

-Mitch van der Leest

Creepy dictators and concealed weapons

I found the article "The Mounties always get their protester" [Sept. 17] extremely xenophobic and, at best, a poor journalistic endeavour. If the goal was to reveal the attempts made by the RCMP to dampen the Canadian citizens' right of protest, the validity of such protests as well as the writer's personal opinion on the Indonesian president, are irrelevant. By stating that the protesters were objecting to the visit of "a truly creepy dictator," the writer not only inappropriately expresses her opinion, but also uses juvenile language--and, although the above may be true, she fails to substantiate such a claim.

As leader of a country, having a bodyguard is not only essential, but standard in the visit of any head of state. Furthermore, guards being armed with concealed weapons is standard in any bodyguard unit. Do you expect them to fend off violent attacks against a president's life with their fists? With their mental faculties?

Considering that the Mirror has never commented on President Clinton's armed escorts, the article almost implies that Suharto was not entitled to similar privileges merely because his country is located in Asia.

Quite frankly, the article implies that an Asian leader's escorts are to be trusted less than those of a North American or European leader.

Do not think I am merely being petty in my criticisms, for although our current p.c. training allows such xenophobia to not be blatant, its bitter sting nevertheless lurks throughout the article.

-J. Andres Hannah-Suarez

Pedophilia is no joke

I can hardly contain my rage and disgust as I read the various commentaries on, and reviews of, the film Lolita. The Mirror's "High" of the week [Upside/Downside, Oct.1] is: "Pedophilia--it's hip, it's cool." Matthew Hays' review ["Adaptation sensation," Oct.1] refers to "inter-generational obsession" and draws (through the director's comments) a parallel between the Clinton­Lewinsky "scandal" (Monica was 23) and this depicted relationship between an alleged 12-year-old and 45-ish man. Director Lyne states, "The idea of somebody's relationship being examined like that--everyone in the world think that's nuts," inferring that sexual abuse should also be a private matter. What else is new? That's what abusers have always proclaimed--whether they are beating their wives or raping their daughters--hey, it's nobody's business.

Let's see how "hip," "cool" and reciprocal child sexual abuse actually is. Oh, yeah, my daughter's friend Alice thought it was pretty cool when her dad started molesting her when she was eight, continuing into her teenage years. Just to show how reciprocal it was, she spent a year in a mental hospital when she was 15, but nobody took her seriously. After all, this is just "intergenerational fun," isn't it? When she finally wanted to make a real statement about how "hip" it was that this 48-year-old man was raping her, she threw herself in front of the metro and died, at the age of 16.

The apologist's depiction of predatory 12-year- olds desperately pursuing sex with 47-year-old men is such utter bullshit. Oh yes, I remember how attractive I found those pot-bellied, balding perverts when I was 12, 13, 14, as they ogled me and tried to grab my ass with their ugly fat fingers. Heaven forbid that a 50-year-old man behave as a true, caring father figure--that might mean he'd have to grow up! And/or face his own repressed pain--even worse.

Don't any of you have children you love or maybe a niece or nephew? What is wrong with you people?

-Jan Murray