The Piles Of Makeup And The Insistence

The 'feminine' Woman Is Forever Static And Childlike. She Is Like The Ballerina In An Old-fashioned Music Box, Her Unchanging Features Tiny And Girlish, Her Voice Tinkly, Her Body Stuck On A Pin, Rotating In A Spiral That Will Never Grow.

We Think Of A Feminist As Someone A Woman Becomes In Reaction To Personal Indignities And Social Injustices. But The Truth Is, Such Inequities Only Awaken Her To The Feminist She Has Always Fundamentally Been - That Is, A Person Who Understands That Her First Responsibility Is To Her Own Humanity. That's Why, For My Money, The First Known Use Of The Word 'feminist' Is Still The Best, Appearing In An 1895 Book Review: A Woman Who 'has In Her The Capacity Of Fighting Her Way Back To Independence.

Having Whipped Single Women Into High Marital Panic-or "nuptialitis," As One Columnist Called It- The Press Hastened To Soothe Fretted Brows With Conjugal Tonic.

The Central Argument Of The Backlash - That Women's Equality Is Responsible For Women's Unhappiness.

Feminism's Agenda Is Basic: It Asks That Women Not Be Forced To 'choose' Between Public Justice And Private Happiness.