I'd like to apologize for the public rebuttal that follows. I always have to laugh when people take general statements personally. I'd like to reply to the two people who compared me to Ed, which I find offensive thank you very much. Cindy - you kind of support my point by stating that "pets are a safe haven [for] men to transfer emotions [to]." No one is stopping men from showing emotions but themselves. Yes society plays a big role, but this is not a sociological forum and therefore not the place to discuss this. I fail to see the relevance of your story about Lance. You certainly did not give a full account of the circumstances surrounding his sister's death, and it really doesn't prove any point. I am glad that Lance has a good home now. If my statement is ' prejudiced and no better than Ed's ' why then are you criticizing only me? Where's your letter to Ed about his prejudice about little girls, of whom you most likely used to be one. ( Just want to cover all surgical possibilities here, no offense meant.) Ron Carter - I pose the same question to you? Where's your letter to Ed? If you think my prejudice is no better than his get off your hypocritical high horse and publicly criticize him too. I'm sorry Ron that you felt I was criticizing you personally, even though I have never met you. As I stated in my post "IN MY EXPERIENCE girls and women are far more nurturing than boys and men." I have plenty of reasons to feel this way but again, having never met you, I don't feel I need to share my experiences, some of which were very scarring. As far as Ed goes, I too have yet to hear from him though I did personally email him. Maybe he's finally run out of things to say that will get a reaction. And while I have a healthy suspicion of human males, I love my big fuzzy boys beyond words; just because they are. Of course I love my little fuzzy girls too! [Posted in FML issue 2629]