the heart of the backlash argument: women are better off 'protected' than equal.

My feminist view - that gender is on a continuum and we are all better off dropping a lot of those binary notions - is one that is shared by the more recent generation of trans activists and theorists.

Self-esteem is the basis for feminism because self-esteem is based on defining yourself and believing in that definition. Self-esteem is regarding yourself as a grown-up.

I write to figure out what I am thinking: What does my life mean?

The demand that women "return to femininity" is a demand that the cultural gears shift into reverse, that we back up to a fabled time when everyone was richer, younger, more powerful.

Feminism's agenda is basic: It asks that women not be forced to 'choose' between public justice and private happiness.

In place of equal respect, the nation offered women the Miss America beauty pageant, established in 1920-the same year women won the vote.