Editor, the Gauntlet,
[re: “Stick this in your pipe and smoke it,” Asia Walker, Jan. 25, 2007]
I find myself, yet again, disappointed by the narrow-minded views taken by the Gauntlet and its writers. To say that masochists–all masochists–enjoy second hand smoke is an ignorant blanketing of an entire community of diverse individuals.
The only thing that all masochists have in common is deriving some sort of pleasure out of pain. True, there are some masochists who enjoy sucking second-hand poison, but they are by no means a majority.
If Gauntlet writers choose to neglect doing research on the groups they talk about, they should at least know better than to make sweeping generalizations. How many people will this paper alienate before they finally learn to respect their readers?
Mistress D. Monika
[Editor’s note: Apparently running sarcastic pieces garners sarcastic letters. Who knew? And on the topic of “sweeping generalizations,” the opinions expressed in individual articles are those of the authors and do not represent the entire Gauntlet staff.]