Glad to see such a flawed system crumbling. Took too long.

BTW: Speaking of mindless exposure--just saw reports that Anna Nicole Smith had died. (Not saying she wasnt a human being--just noting the absurd attention surrounding her life)

I had to cover this topic in my German feminism history paper, except it was 150 years ago, when women were expected to be virgins and unavailable to every man, and yet flirt with every man and present herself as available to the right man.

One women, in my history book, compared the virgin/whore paradox to the style of clothing they had to wear. The dresses were very low cut and tight in the chest, emphasizing the bosom and the tiny waist, yet the clothing itself was many layers and laced very tightly, making it very hard for a man to take them off.

May I ask why Jessica is being referred to as a "young feminist"? I seem to recall this epithet for her before. Young to me always implies under 18 - heck, usually under 16.

Jessica's almost 30, isn't she? When does she stop being "young" and start being a "prominent feminist"?

I'm more curious than anything else.

But...but...I'm only 28!

Jessica is definitely still as "young" feminist. 28 is a babe in the woods, really. (It also happens to be my age, so...)

But I'm 30! I'm not young, am I? Is 29 the cut off?

I just hear "young" and thing "young adult", is all. This may be an Anna-thing as opposed to a cultural thing (Canadian ex-pat).

I think "young" has a lot more to do with the age of the writer.

I'm 50. Trust me, Anna, you are young. Some of the people I work with even refer to ME as young.

Perhaps the writer could have referred to her as a "prominent young feminist", or an "up-and-coming feminist".

Mary B has a great point...female fashion in the past has almost always followed that paradox, at least in the most prominent and lasting eras. We're in it now, I daresay.