I had a long conversation over the weekend with a recent graduate, who after a recent breakup has decided to fully immerse herself in the dating world. At the moment, she’s dating three different guys whose ages range from 22 to 28, and in her opinion, their bedroom abilities directly correlate to how old they are. This has led her to believe that generally speaking, older equals better, which is a myth that I’ve long tried to dispel.

Girls have always been fascinated by the older guy. It’s as if you feel that because you are supposed to (and generally do) mature both emotionally and physically faster than guys, it entitles you to act superior to guys your age and seek out the more mature older guys.

And this is not a movement solely reserved for college grads. Freshman girls love the juniors and seniors. And some of my older colleagues on this site have discussed being in pursuit of law students and others enrolling in graduate programs. Hell, even most of my high school friends were often obsessed with the guys a couple grades above us. Read More »

The internet was the enabler behind most of my middle school drama.

The enigmatic anonymity that the web provides was a big green light for mean teenagers to harass other mean teenagers without the consequences of face-to-face confrontations. And it was this online shield that facilitated the worst culprit behind my pubescent angst: the fake screenname.

Fake screennames were the best way to tear your enemy (or popular best friend) apart incognito. You could lash out ruthlessly, ruin lives and then delete said screenname without being linked to any of the drama that would surely ensue.

I will never forget my most potent digital nemesis: ClawYourEyesOut. ClawYourEyesOut not only harassed me on a nightly basis with the unoriginal “slut,” “bitch” name-calling. He/she also IMed my adorable little boyfriend Brad and my bitchy, gullible friends and spread nasty rumors which quickly turned them against me.

And even though ClawYourEyesOut brutally defamed my reputation, there was nothing I could do about it. To this day, ClawYourEyesOut’s identity still eludes me.

But thanks to two female Yale Law School grads—who suffered a magnified version of my ClawYourEyesOut saga, online anonymity may not be such an impenetrable issue in the future.

The two women are trying to uncover the identity of 28 pseudonyms behind discussion board posts that spread rumors about their academic records, sexuality and even threatened rape. Read More »