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January 2, 2006
International Intrigue (SM.AC 2)
Yep, I've got international readership now. Or, at the very least, I have readership smart enough to know that, when pretending to send an email from India, it's wise to go through an email anonymizer so as to mask your Cambridge, Massachusetts IP address. Presented verbatim.
Greetings,
I saw your postings asking for advice. My name is Subbuni and I enjoy reading your contemplatives on music and artistry from Chennai. Oned ay I hope to partake of an academic experience as yours. Please answer my question in your advice column: whenever I see my step-sister my heart speeds up to no end and I become tense. I think I lust after my step-sister. Is this wrong? She is hoping to enroll in the Oklahoma University for a MASTER's degree; should I follow her?
I do not know what to do, Symphonic Man. I am sending you anonemous email becaus my mother may read this e-mail.
Nanedri,
Subbuni
Note: SM.AC is a series of "advice column" (AC) posts based on actual questions from actual readers, who may or may not be telling the truth, and may or may not be blatantly misrepresenting who they are and what they actually think. Send your questions here.
In my ignorance about Indian culture, Subbuni, I have to confess I have no idea what your gender might be. Still, whether you are a girl or a guy, there's nothing "wrong" with feeling attraction to your step-sister. But presumably your brother (or sister, if in Massachusetts, New York, or Canada) has a monopoly on her affection, so your attraction will remain unsatisfied whether you follow her or not.
SymphonicMan is last to condemn the reckless pursuit of love and first to cringe when it goes painfully awry. And this situation, I'm afraid, is going nowhere but awry for you. But fear not! I have a suggestion: attach your lust to a celebrity. Americans do. And remember you've always got a shot at catching his or her eye. Thus is the clarion call of Kevin Federline. Lusting after a celebrity has the added bonus of glorifying fame, so that you too! can aspire to frequenting overpriced clubs, drinking overpriced drinks, partying excessively, and dying an unnaturally early death surrounded by scores of lechers and hangers-on....I mean, of course, adoring fans.
But SymphonicMan is also last to condemn adoring fans (ahem). So I have more advice for you. Think carefully to yourself: self, why is it that I am so attracted to my step-sister? Try to extract what it is about her you find so appealing. Then go looking for it, whatever it is: regular bathing, auburn hair, attractively long legs, huge....tracts of land, etc. Remember that there are not only lots of good fish in the sea; there are also lots of different fish in the sea. One of them, dear Subbuni, might even be attracted to you.
UPDATE (2 January 11:10 PM EST): Aw, shoot, Bill's right (see comments). Subbuni wanted to know about her step-sister, and I answered as if he/she wanted to know about his/her sister-in-law. Shoot. Well, this is substantially more difficult. My advice remains good advice, insofar as any of my advice can be called "good". As to the ethical question of whether or not it is wrong to lust after one's step-sister....well, it's not, biologically speaking, incest. But neither does it seem particularly productive to me.
My readers, I feel as though I have failed you with this one. But there are more advice questions coming soon....
Posted by David Richmond at January 2, 2006 1:52 AM EST
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Comments
Dude, I think you've confused "step-sister" with "sister-in-law." Your sister-in-law is the spouse of your sibling. A step-sister is what you get when your divorced or widowed parent marries someone who already has a daughter.
In the interest of S&M.com quality control,
Bill
Posted by: Bill at January 2, 2006 5:09 PM