Just to clarify something: as a confessed non-athletic, non-militant and generally "prissy" female who has feared being drafted since early adolescence in the late 1970's (the Carter ERA, so to speak), and has best been lukewarm about the feminist movement -- and yes, about the idea of serving my country in a military capacity -- not all of us asked for this.

Remember that for many of us Early-Gen-X ladies, the strident, in-your-face 1970's feminism associated with Gloria Steinem and Bella Abzug, was imposed upon us, quite against our will. Because of the social and economic upheaval that this movement has caused over the course of the past three decades, we now have to work, both for economic and "socio-political" reasons.

Friends of mine, mothers of young children (who are NOT "supported by the state," by the way), feel obliged to justify being "stay-at-home moms" to officious busybodies who demand to know why they are not working. And these judgmental busybodies are not exclusively old-school Feminazis. My still-single girlfriends and I can vouch for the fact that lot of you guys won't even ask out a woman who doesn't command a decent, if not a handsome, salary -- or one whose job title and educational credentials would not enhance your own social and professional image.

(I remain to be convinced of the truth of the last sentence. -- Editor)