2021年3月30日 星期二

《The Friend》Sigrid Nunez

I left early. On my way out I heard someone say, I hope there are more people than this at my momorial.


And: Now he's officially a dead white male.

Is it true that the literary world is mined with hatred, a battlefield rimmed with snipers where jealousies and rivalries are always being played out? asked the NPR interviewer of the distinguished author. Who allowed that it was. There's a lot of envy and enmity, the author said. And he tried to explain: It's like a sinking raft that too many peopole are trying to get onto. So any push you can deliver makes the raft a little higher for you. 

If reading really does increase empathy, as we are constantly being told that it does, it appears that writing takes some away.

*
I don't like men who leave behind them a trail of weeping women, said W.H. Auden. Who would have hated you.

*
She's nineteen and a half - still young enough for "and a half" to mean something. She doesn't love you, which you can bear (which, to be honest, you even prefer). What you can't bear is that she doesn't want you. Sometimes she fakes desire, though never wholeheartedly. Mostly she is too lazy to do even that. The truth is, she doesn't care about the sex. She isn't with you for the sex. The sex that she does care about, you know perfectly well, she gets somewhere else.

By now it has become a pattern: young women who are willing to fuck you but who share none of the desire that drives you to them. What drives them instead is narcissim, the thrill of bringing an older man in a position of authority to his knees.

*
Writers love quoting Milosz: When a writer is born into a family, the family is finished. 

*
In a recent television documentary, a former prostitute who worked out of a suburban motel explains that Monday mornings were her busiest times: apparently nothing was so good for business as a weekend spent with the wife and kids. 

*
It seemed to me that everyone I knew who was a writer - which back then meant pretty much everyone I knew - was in a state of chronic frustration. People were constantly getting worked up over who got that and who got left out and how horribly unfair the whole business was. It was very confusing. Why did it have to be like that? Why were the men all so arrogant, and why were so many of them sexual predators? why were the women all so angry and depressed? Really, it was hard not to feel sorry for everyone. 

2021年3月28日 星期日

《Sempre Susan: a memoir of Susan Sontag》 Sigrid Nunez

1/ 談論先輩死去和自己得癌都是因為性生活不足。

I heard her say to several people that the recent deaths of Lionel Trilling and Hannah Arendt had left her feeling "orphaned." Fierce indignation as she reported someone saying of Trilling that it was no wonder he'd gotten cancer since he probably hadn't fucked his wife in years. ("And this was an academic speaking.") She hated to admit it, but she bravely did: one of her own first thoughts when she'd been told she had cancer was "Did I not have enough sex?"

2/ 覺得童年就像坐牢。


3/ 17歲時嫁給28歲的教授,婚姻持續七年。

4/ Susan 在考慮後認為只能稱讚 Joseph Brodsky。然而他批評她並不客氣。知道她最想做的是小說家而不是評論家,Brodsky 說:寫小說就像唱歌 - 不是每個人都會唱歌。而她非常想唱歌卻唱不好。小說晚年得獎,領獎後哭得不能自己。

5/ 熱愛美麗的肉體、城市,不喜歡自然景觀。

What sort of inspiration was to be found in the country? Had I never read Plato? (Socrates to Phaedrus: "I'm a lover of learning, and trees and open country won't teach me anything.")

I never knew anyone who was more appreciative than Susan was of the beautiful in art and in human physical appearance - "I'm a beauty freak" was something she said all the time - and yet I never knew anyone less moved by the beauties of nature. To her, it could not have been more obvious: art was superior to nature as the city was superior to the country. Why would anyone want to leave Manhattan - "capital of the twentieth century," as she loved to say - for a month in the woods. 

6/ Hate squeamishness of people 
7/ 寫作時用安非他命、右旋(安非他命)一口氣寫完。每天晚上都要出門,無法忍受孤單,什麼都要人陪著一起做。晚上回來後輕聲敲兒子的門坐在床旁邊的沙發聊晚上的事。

8/ 不化妝,後來才染髮(把白髮染黑,而不是把前額那戳染白)咬指甲。穿褲子,很少穿裙裝。擦男性香水,Dior Homme.

9/ She said, "Here's a big difference between you and me. You wear makeup and you dress in a certain way that's meant to draw attention and help people find you attractive. But I won't do anything to draw attention to my books. If someone wants to, they can take a closer look and maybe they'll discover I'm attractive. But I'm not going to do anything to help them." Mine was the typical female way, hers was the way of most men. 

10/ 用詞誇張

Much has been made - not least by Susan herself - of her "morbid" (her word) obsession with beauty. But it should be said that her taste in physical beauty, like her taste in most other things, was very broad. She saw beauty in all types, and in many men and women whom others did not find remarkable at all. If a person had even one striking feature - a good body, for example, or big blue eyes - that person was "to die for." How was one to take, for example, her account of the people she had observed in North Vietnam, where "every other person looked like a movie star"? I saw it as part of her habit of exaggeration: every work of art she liked was a masterpiece every artist who moved her was a genius, every man or woman who acted bravely was a hero, and around every corner came Helen or Adonis. 

11/ 容易感受到性吸引力,於是時常和朋友睡覺

Susceptible is the word that comes to me. She was susceptible. "If I'm close to someone, even if its' just a friend, I always feel some sexual attraction to that person." She often ended up sleeping with friends.

12/ 朋友帶妻子來對話就會變無聊

She was exasperated to find that the company of even very intelligent women was ususally not as interesting as that of intelligent men. 

13/ 愛談戀愛

Susan was alone, and she did not want to be alone. She wanted to be in love. (She believed in love, and when she fell she fell hard, and in her feelings there was an element of terror.) She wanted to be married. It would torment her all her life that no relationship of hers, no matter how deeply and truly she cared for the other, had endured. 

"Mean, smart men and silly women," she once said drolly, "seem to be my fate."

14/ 喜歡歐洲小說更勝美國

American Fiction is either passé suburban realism or Bloomingdale's nihilism. 

15/ 寫作一定要朋友陪

"Other writers try not to use the same word twice in one paragraph. I don't like to use the same word twice on the same page." It was a boast - like her much-repeated "I care about every comma." But a more confident writer would not have been so anxiously strict about this, I thought. A more confident writer would not have been as addicted as she was to the thesaurus. Another thing she often depended on while writing was a pal, someone to sit and work with her during the many long hours it took to polish a draft. Sometimes that person would move into the apartment for days at a time, and the two of them would work together in Susan's room, discussing every idea, going over every line, every comma. I have never known any other writer to work like this, though the arrangement obviously helped Susan thrive, and she said she was always much happier when she was working with someone else than when she had to work alone. She hated doing anything alone, and if solitude was a necessity in a writer's life, she would, inasmuch as she could, find ways of getting around it. 

16/ 認為工作就是羞辱

Susan had never wanted to be anyone's employee. The worst part of teaching was that it was, inescapably, a job, and for her to take any job was humiliating. But then, she also found the idea of borrowing a book from the library instead of buying her own copy humiliating. Take public transportation instead of a cab was deeply humiliating. "When I moved to New York" - at twenty-six, in 1959 - "I promised myself, no matter how poor I was, I would never do it." Stoop to it, her tone said. Divaism? She seemed to think any self-respecting person would understand and feel as she did. 

17/ 她們相遇時她還沒有什麼傢俱,活得像碩士生。然而55歲後搬到 Chelsea 頂樓公寓、穿設計師服裝。反問 Sigrid:你怎麼還活得像碩士生。

18/ 一起床就要敲別人的門,讀報聊天。對兒子控制慾望強烈,去哪裡都要跟(Big Sur trip)作者在外面聽了不少 Susan 和 David 亂倫的傳言。就是這種程度的不可分離。晚年 Susan 的心理顧問才說她是把 David 當爸而不是兒子。

Elizabeth Hardwick
Nicole Stéphane
Maria Irene Fornés
Philip Rieff 

2021年3月26日 星期五

《惡俗 BAD》Paul Fussell

1991 年寫成,顯然是《格調》賣得太好了才追寫。然而沒有格調一半好,可能人年紀也大了,時代也變化的太厲害。但討厭雷根和小布希是一定的。川普則從90年代就是惡俗的代表。2015年台灣才買了中國版的翻譯重出,當初“新的很惡俗”的現象已經變成有點舊的歷史了,裡面提到的演員幾乎不認識,完全不 relevent. 


“代客泊車不再是家庭晚會的奢侈服務,它已成為備受期待和歡迎的服務,它奠定了各種晚會的基調 - 當美好的夜晚結束,客人們被一一送走時,他們享受到的代客泊車服務能使他們感到自己很特殊、很有教養。”敏銳的讀者應該能從以上論調推斷出美國人無比惡俗的趨向 - 他們會花錢買尊重,而不是靠自己的行為贏得尊重。

大多數的惡俗男女侍者迫於工作需要,不得不用虛情假意代替職業尊嚴,這種情形被英國文學評論家 Cyril Connolly 稱為“心理學家的仙境” Psychologist's wonderland:“當我們看著那些毫不友善的人努力裝出友善的樣子,這種行為背後的心理活動就會輕易地暴露在我們面前。” 要改變這種情形也許很困難,辦法卻很明顯,就是不要假裝友善。唯有遵守這一點,才能終止形形色色的惡俗。

真正惡俗的人,往往不是與政治、就是與神學有關。這兩個領域內的人都得在大眾面前表現出強烈的廉潔和美德,因此都會造成表象與實質之間的大差距。我們已經知道,這種差距正是惡俗的必備條件。

《格調 Class 社會等級與生活品味》Paul Fussell

1983 年寫成,和我差不多年紀了。連看電視都算沒格調的時代。中國在98年出版,當時品位還是品味。


Roland Barthe 接受記者採訪時談到他所希望的理想生活,他說 “有點錢,不要太多;有點權力,也不要太多;但要有大量的閒暇...... 讀書,寫作,和朋友交往,喝酒,聽音樂,旅行等等。”

錢和權力對於一個生活在商業社會裡的人來說不可全無,否則你會生活得沒有尊嚴和安全感。但無止盡地追逐金錢的生活也不值得,因為缺少品味。

Walter Whitman 在《民主的遠景》1871 中寫道,美國政府的結構形式為公民們創造了一種均等的條件(或至少是幻覺),個人為了得到社會認可,確立個人自尊,將因為某種難以言說的焦慮而經歷曠日持久的掙扎。那焦慮就是,如果人人都是人物,則人人都不是人物。最近的民意測驗中,76%的受訪者認為他們最需要的是“他人的尊重”。

......由於石子必須經常更換,這樣花費就多,還會添許多麻煩,帶來諸多不便。經常花掉本可以不花的錢,無可置疑的是社會地位的象徵。

地位越高的工作越“安全”
玩的球越小地位越高,高爾夫到保齡球。
貧窮帶來迷信
最有錢和最貧窮的階級都是隱形的,善良的車是給著急的中產階級開的。

X class 另類

2021年3月21日 星期日

《正午惡魔 The Noonday Demon》Andrew Solomon

治療

經歷大屠殺後重生的方法:忘記、工作、愛
愛是:意志、情緒、認知

運動和飲食對改善情緒疾病,扮演很重要的角色,在適當的活動與營養環境下,病情可以得到一定程度的控制。另類療法中,我認為較嚴肅的有“重複性穿顱磁振刺激療法” repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation rTMS、光照療法治療季節性憂鬱症 Seasonal affective disorder SAD,眼動心身重建治療法 eye movement desensitization and reprocessing EMDR、按摩治療、生存課程、催眠、睡眠剝奪治療、 Saint John's Wort 藥草、S-adenosylmethionine, SAMe、順勢療法 homeopathy、中醫、群體療法、病友支持團體和神經外科。

族群

女性最嚴重的憂鬱時期是適合懷孕的那幾年。憂鬱最嚴重的是生育後快樂化學都被被掏空。女人的憂鬱症被當作溫柔(無聲,放棄思考、退化,只會說我不知道、我不清楚),男人的憂鬱症多以 aggression 暴躁表示。動怒、虐待妻子、濫用藥物、殺害他人。

"如果女性的憂鬱之所以會惡化,是因為她們無法像自己期望的那般快樂,那麼,男性的憂鬱之所以會惡化,則是因為他們無法像自己期望的那般勇敢。大部分暴力行為都是一種膽怯的形式,而有些膽怯之舉正是憂鬱的症狀。"

兒童憂鬱症嚴重起來,感覺和思考不分,可以靠循循善誘才能引導他們思考,用遊戲方式讓他們學會慢慢思考表達。一半高中生想過自殺。老人80歲後的血清素只有60歲的一半。青少年的性苦悶很容易引發憂鬱症。

歷史上特定時期的特殊憂鬱症表達方式:19世紀末的 Mad Traveller,無緣無故在路上亂走。
18世紀:昏倒、突發性哭泣
19世紀:歇斯底里、性癱瘓或痙攣
現在:慢性疲勞、厭食

少數群體,亞洲人和非裔,習慣刻苦,不習慣將其視作憂鬱症
猶太男性較不暴力,憂鬱症發作率和女性一樣
若沒有育兒相關的憂鬱症,女性憂鬱症比率與男性一樣
同性戀的憂鬱症是一般人的七倍

Greenland 

二十世紀中早期的丹麥探險家發現伊紐特人有三種主要的心理疾病,敘述這些事的伊紐特人都不知道這些病症何時開始出現。這些病症只發生在極偏遠地區,在其他地方都已消失。一位患過“基地歇斯底里症”(polar hysteria)的男士敘述其為“一股氣生氣,你那海象、海豹和鯨魚血所滋養的年輕血氣衝上來 - 悲傷包圍了你。你開始覺得焦慮,厭倦生活。”此病症的變形如今還存在,我們可以稱之為觸發憂鬱症或混合狀態,很接近馬來西亞人所說的“失神殺人狂”(running amok,精神錯亂,以殺人為樂者)。“高山流浪者症候群” mountain wanderer syndrome 發生在離群索居者的身上 - 早期的時候,村人不准他們回到聚落,讓他們完全自生自滅。“獨木舟焦慮症”(kayak anxiety)是現實錯亂,覺得船中進水,自己會沈入水中溺死,這是最常見的偏執形式。雖然這些字現在多是在講古時才用到,但依然可喚起伊紐特人為生活奮鬥的記憶。根據格陵蘭公共衛生部門的首長 Rene Birger Christiansen 所言,最近在 Umanaaq 有許多人頻頻抱怨,覺得皮膚底下有水在流動。法國探險家 Jean Malaurie 在1950年代寫道:愛斯基摩人基本的個人主義特質和他們刻意相信孤獨等同於悲慘,兩者之間有著戲劇化的衝突。一被夥伴拋棄,他就會被存在已久的憂鬱擊垮。團體生活親密得令人受不了嗎?人與人之間都被道義的網牽絆在一起,使愛斯基摩人自願成了囚犯。

沒有表達的習慣,男人都很沈默。冬天就是“看著牆漸漸融化”的過程。

藥物

古柯鹼:興奮
Opiate:平和
長期使用會產生 Seconal permanent serotonin axons harm 接收器受損

藥物濫用可把‘難過且無法理解的痛苦’轉化為‘舒服且可理解的痛苦’,消解‘使用者無法理解,無能控制的苦難‘代價是’藥物造成的焦慮,使用者清楚這點‘ 在尼泊爾,若是大象踩到木片或尖刺,主人會把辣椒灑到牠的眼裡,眼睛的痛苦使牠忽略了較低的痛苦,人就可以趁機把刺拔掉而不必擔心被踩死(然後立刻沖洗牠的眼睛)對許多憂鬱症者來說,酒精、古柯鹼或海洛英就是辣椒,這些令人難以忍受的東西所帶來的痛苦可讓人忘卻更難以忍受的憂鬱症。

自殺

4種自殺 Emile Durkheim:利己、利他、頹廢、宿命

“殺人者殺了一個人,自殺者殺了所有人,他殺了一個世界。” G.K. Chesterton

自殺者往往經過自省和深刻思考
腦中往往血清素過低,是成功商人和詩人的常態

歷史

西方的憂鬱症歷史和西方思想史有十分緊密的關係,主要可分五個階段。古代對憂鬱症的看法與現代相當類似。Hippocrates(古希臘名醫,醫學之父)認為憂鬱症基本上是腦部的疾病,應以服藥的方法治療,其追隨者關心的是腦中體液的特性和口服藥方的調整。在中世紀黑暗時期,憂鬱被視為天譴,表示患者無幸接受聖寵的福音。憂鬱症在這段時間受到污衊,最極端的時期,患者會被當成異教徒。文藝復興時期將憂鬱浪漫化,誕生了幾位憂鬱的天才,他們擁有的憂鬱的氣質,陰沈被視為深度,他們的脆弱被看成是藝術眼光和心靈深奧的代價。十七世紀至十九世紀是科學時代,以實驗探索大腦的構造與功能,努力嘗試以生物學和社會學的方法控制精神障礙。現代時期起於二十世紀初,佛洛伊德和 Karl Abraham 亞伯拉罕的心智和自我的精神分析理論,提供我們敘述憂鬱症與病原的語彙,至今仍在使用,而 Emil Kraepelin 的著作提出心理疾病的現代生物學,認為憂鬱症是有別於或外加於正常心智的苦難。

貧窮

沒有詞彙可以解釋自己的痛苦,因為貧窮是一切的簡單解答。但有許多人有行為能力後才能離開貧窮。某些例子裡偷偷用百憂解提升他們心情,結果果然狀況變好。

演化

伴隨憂鬱能力的機能在某些階段可能有助於繁殖。有四種可能性:一是憂鬱的作用在演化至人類以前有其功能,而現今這種功能已不再有用處。第二項是現代生活的壓力與我們演化出的大腦相衝突,由於是我們的進化尚未趕上我們生活的結果。第三項是由於本身在人類社會有其功能,有時候人類會憂鬱是好事。最後一項是基因和生物結構的結果,產生與憂鬱,也和其他更有用的行為和感情有關 - 由於是大腦生理機能中,一種有用至突變的附帶結果。

2021年3月12日 星期五

《Kitchen Confidential》《Medium Raw 半生不熟》Anthony Bourdain

KC


- First trips to France on Queen Mary, 9 years old. Parents went to La Pyramide and left them on the car with Tintin. Became a food adventurist. The cold soup and oyster fresh from the sea turn on his palate. 

"......became a thrill seeker, pleasure-hungry sensualist, always looking to shock, amuse, terrify and manipulate, seeking to fill that empty spot in my soul with something new." 

- First time witness chef fucking the bride from back in the wedding banquet - wants tot be a chef

-Vassar dropped out

-Line cook - artist, exile, mercenaries

Medium Raw

- Travelled to the orient for the first time for La Halle Tokyo. Love the experience and addicted since. Became a TV personality soon after and fell in the grab of South East Asia - like lots of the lost white middle age men we see there. 

- Dated ultra rich girl and hate St Barth. Rich likes to be with rich, just charge them outrageous price with mediocre food. 

- Ends up living in Upper East and spend most of his time in wife's Sardinia.  

- From a good up-bring, father was Columbia Music's management level. 

- The writer he appreciates: Graham Greene Malcolm Lowry, B. Traven, Elmore Leonard

2021年3月3日 星期三

《背離親緣 Far From the Tree》Andrew Solomon 身心障礙/神童/遭姦成孕/罪犯/跨性別

艾倫羅斯在《不平凡的孩子》一書中提到,父母“不免會期望孩子超越自己,或至少擁有跟自己同樣的社經地位”。他接著寫道:“如果孩子不符期望,父母往往需要他人協助,才能調整行為、適應現實,他們得學著接受“他們的孩子”與心中“某個孩子”的理想形象間有一段差距” 導致親子關係緊張的,往往不是孩子的缺陷有多嚴重,而是父母的適應能力、健康的家人間的互動關係,以及父母是否在意外人的眼光。投注在孩子身上的金錢、時間,以及外界的支持等,也是很重要的要素。人際孤立或許是最大的壓力來源,有可能是朋友疏離,或是父母自己因朋友的同情或不理解而與之疏遠。健康的孩子通常能為父母拓展社會人脈,身心障礙的孩子則往往縮小了父母的人脈。”


上帝並不存在人的身上,而是在人與人之間。

意識不是名詞,而是動詞。如果把意識當成一成不變的物品來理解,只會釀成災難。

母親回應孩子需求的能力”不僅促進她對孩子的認同,也為自己帶來快樂、成就感,更是一種自我展現。” 精神分析學家很久以前便提出,在某種形式上,母親照顧幼兒就是在照顧自己。佛洛依德對此的描述是:“父母對孩子的愛十分感人,但追根究底又是如此幼稚。說穿了,不過是父母自戀的重現。”

神童

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十二歲時,父親去世,母親把他最主要的快樂變成煩人的勞務。爾文說:“我媽恨我。”他也因此恨她,有次還稱讚希特勒了結她的性命。他和許多從小被捧過頭的天才一樣,展現出手上的自戀者那種混合著自負又極度缺乏安全感的特質。他說:“不管遇到什麼阻礙,我都直接放棄。”他結婚十次,離婚九次,有一陣子還無家可歸。他活到很大的歲數,卻久久才表演一次,結果總是好壞參半。他彈琴是為了討好或對抗母親,少了母親,爾文便失去表達真實情感的動力。

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美國作家 Gore Vidal 寫道:對雙親其中一人的恨,能造就恐怖伊凡,也能成就海明威。而一對父母對孩子全心全意呵護的愛,則能毀掉一個藝術家。“ 早期的創傷與剝奪,點燃了許多孩子的創作靈感。有人研究過許多名人的故事,發現名單上又超過半數的人在26歲之前便失去父親或母親,機率是一般大眾的三倍。殘酷的成長過程能抹煞天份,也能成就天份,重點在於父母的所作所為要能符合孩子的需求。席洛塔說:天份要毀掉很容易,要完全靠後天培養則難多了。

- 星媽,圓自己的夢
- 老師和父母之間的拉鋸與衝突
- 長大後沒有自己
- 其他才能被音樂拿走,變得自負、自閉,閱讀困難症

遭姦成孕

美國八成的強暴是熟人所為,一半年齡低於十八歲,1/8低於12歲。

- 戰爭集體強暴的受害者 Bosnia, Rwanda, East Timor。戰後沒有人接受他們和小孩,變成無國家的人。

罪犯

世人熱衷辯論犯罪傾向是究竟與生俱來或後天養成,熱切程度與討論自閉症及神童的起因不相上下。國立衛生研究院的尚普和同事的實驗指出,帶有重度侵略基因的新生猴子若改由個性非常溫和的母猴養育,即使體內的攻擊基因仍具有生物活性,長大後仍不會好鬥。人類的犯罪行為源於某個血清素轉運子的功能改變而造成的基因異常。杜克大學神經科學家卡斯比研究體內有此一多態性的人,發現這些人若在平和的環境中成長,發展出反社會行為的機率並不會特別高;這些人或小時曾挨打,則有85%的人會展現反社會行為。可見基因並不會使人犯罪,但在某些狀況下,卻可能讓人發展出犯罪行為。家庭能帶來負面影響,也能帶來正面影響。有研究認為“正向的家庭環境是年輕人不從事違法或不良行為的主要因素”,家庭環境親密的孩子,較能抵擋犯罪的誘惑。蘿森首開先河,比較多份研究後表示:“比起其他因素,親子關係更能解釋犯罪。” 

有的時候雖然不和諧的家庭氣氛看似傷害了孩子,但人們終究發現,其實孩子才是不和諧的原因。單親媽媽撫養的孩子犯罪率較高,但很難說這究竟是因為沒有父親陪同長大帶來傷痛,或因為單親媽媽都是些不擅於選擇配偶的女人,當上母親後也做了一些不高明的選擇,還是因為她們為了賺錢養家被迫超時工作,無可避免地難以兼顧親子關係。

跨性別

階級,有錢人可以在青春期前就用柳培林荷爾蒙阻斷劑抑制進入青春期

也許為人父母最難避免的錯誤,就在於不管孩子要不要,都把自己想要的強加在他們身上。我們以自己想要卻得不到的愛來療癒自己的傷口,卻看不見自己造成的傷口。

2009 跨性別者大型調查:每五個受訪者就有四人曾在學校受過騷擾、肢體攻擊或性侵犯,幾乎一半是老師所為。將近九成的人完成了一定的大學學業(一般民眾不到五成),失業率卻比一般人高出一倍。每十人就有一人在職場受過性侵犯,在工作上受到肢體攻擊的比例也幾乎一樣高。1/4的人曾因性別不協調遭解僱。貧窮機率是一般國人的兩倍,每五人就有一人曾流落街頭,有1/3的人因性別問題無法進入收容所。1/3的人因為醫療人員的不尊重或歧視,延後或逃避接受醫療照護。超過半數的跨性別年輕人自殺未遂,一般大眾只有2%。吸毒、酗酒和憂鬱症的比例高的驚人。二到四成流浪街頭的青少年是男同志或跨性別者,還有超過一半的跨性別有色人種靠街頭賣淫為生。

不轉變性別會自殺,轉變會遭謀殺。

為人父母

要不要把自己的重擔放在他人肩上,讓他人受苦,是個人的道德問題。然而所有的父母在某種程度上都決定這麼做。有錢人即使可以用捐贈的超人精子和傑出女性的卵子做體外受精,但多數人還是選擇自己生育。雖然愚笨會讓日子很難過,但不聰明的人還是毅然決然生下了不聰明的孩子。肥胖的孩子可能因為體重而被邊緣化,但病態肥胖的父母卻還是常常生下胖孩子。憂鬱症的父母所生的孩子可能得設法面對長期憂鬱。貧窮的缺點不言而喻,這也沒阻止窮人生子。