Feminism

Feminism as a "movement" in America is largely played out. The work here is mostly done. At a time when education matters more than ever, more American women attend college than men. More women graduate, with better grades and get more advanced degrees. As Kay Hymowitz writes in her new book, "Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Has Turned Men Into Boys": "For the first time ever, and I do mean ever, young women are reaching their twenties with more achievements, more education, more property, and, arguably, more ambition than their male counterparts.

Brandon McInerney is the defendant in the Chatsworth courtroom, accused of bringing a gun to his middle school and killing gay classmate Larry King. But as the case unfolds, the school itself has come under scrutiny. One teacher after another has testified in the murder trial about their deep worries that King's feminine attire and taunting behavior could provoke problems - and that E.O. Green Junior High administrators ignored them. It wasn't just that King, 15, had begun wearing makeup and women's spiked-heeled boots, witnesses testified.

If Eleanor Smeal really believes that feminism has no liabilities, then she ought to get out more often. In the real world, feminism does not bring to mind issues, but a personality type--a strident, man-hating zealot. It's discouraging to see a feminist leader who doesn't recognize the obstacles a potential convert faces. The media have certainly done their share to perpetuate this stereotype, but the inability of feminist leadership to manage its public image is troubling. ELENA SONG Manhattan Beach

BOOKS Jon-Jon Goulian The author of the new memoir "The Man in the Gray Flannel Skirt" will sign and discuss his book, which recounts his experiences as a neurotic young man grappling with body-image issues, nagging family members, sexual anxieties and a general desire to not grow up. His idiosyncratic coping mechanism, which gives the book its title, is donning women's clothing. Book Soup , 8818 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. 7 p.m. Free. (310) 659-3110. http://www.booksoup.com . MUSIC The Civil Wars When John Paul White and Joy Williams perform one of the gentle, yearning songs they've recorded as the Civil Wars, they lean in toward each other, as if to get the weave of their harmonies just right.

Shame on you, Home magazine, for the title you gave your coverage of Paris / Rome spring fashions (The New Feminist, March 24) ! Today's "new feminists" are struggling, not to re-feminize fashion but to achieve true justice in society, so that all may live, work and love as equal persons. By co-opting the words feminist and feminism you have joined in the trivialization of the women's movement by the mass media. Marilyn Almeida Santa Monica

Regarding "Throwing Nashville a Curve," by Elysa Gardner (Nov. 2): Singer Shania Twain was quoted as saying, "I wouldn't call myself a feminist, because I think there are differences between men and women." I am always saddened at the limited and erroneous definition people seem to have of "feminism." Feminists aren't trying to emulate or emasculate men; they don't all hate their mothers or resent their fathers. Just because I, as a feminist, want to be paid the equivalent wages to what a man earns, or be permitted to occupy a job heretofore restricted to men, does not mean that I believe men and women are exactly identical.

Snortland points out the contradiction of imputing the attributes of one member of a class to another and then she imputes negative attributes to all white males. Isn't that a non sequitur too? She writes, "What a drag it must be to be an African-American and be expected to explain all other African-Americans." Ms. Snortland, it's a drag to be a white male and be blamed for racism, sexism, militarism, pollution, classism, depletion of the ozone and death and destruction the world over.

On Monday in Sudan, Lubna Hussein, a 34-year-old journalist, was convicted and jailed for wearing pants (long, loose ones) on the streets of Khartoum. Though she was released the next day and, moreover, avoided the 40 lashes with a plastic whip that is considered a standard sentence under Sudanese law for wearing "indecent clothing," her case made international headlines and attracted protesters outside the courthouse, many of whom were women who wore trousers in solidarity (and some of whom were arrested)

Feminists have indeed killed feminism. The truth is that people do think of the feminist movement as anti-male, anti-child, anti-family, and anti-feminine, therefore, the women who go out to the public with their obvious hypocrisy ruin the work that we women have slowly accomplished over the years, despite the stereotypes that people have about feminism. If women want to be housewives, be involved with other women or be celibate, they should have the freedom to do that, but they should keep their private lives to themselves.

State of Wonder A Novel Ann Patchett Harper: 368 pp., $26.99 In Ann Patchett's new novel, "State of Wonder," an ordinary woman winds up in increasingly extraordinary circumstances. That woman is Marina Singh, a 42-year-old pharmaceutical researcher who travels to a remote part of the Amazon after receiving news that her colleague Anders has died there. The dutiful daughter of an American mother and an Indian father who divorced when she was young, Singh seems an unlikely choice for a jungle adventure.

Laura Linney's brief introduction to "South Riding," the three-part "Masterpiece Classic" series that debuts Sunday, includes an explanation of "the surplus two million"— women who were left without the numerical possibility of a mate after an equal number of British men were killed in World War I. Technically one of these women, writer Winifred Holtby we are told, "refused to be surplus" and at the end of her all too brief literary career (she died...

Justice denied Re "Supreme Court overturns verdict against prosecutors," March 30 As a physician, I am held legally responsible for any errors that I make in the course of performing my job. Even if there is a bad outcome for a patient that was completely out of my control, I may be held legally responsible. It's an outrage that five conservative justices of the Supreme Court feel that prosecutors should be given a pass when they make errors. It is even more of an outrage that in this specific case, John Thompson was deprived of 14 years of his life and was nearly executed because the New Orleans district attorney's office intentionally withheld evidence that exonerated the defendant.

This may come as a surprise, but Phyllis Schlafly, legendary conservative and leader (that is, victor) in the battle against the Equal Rights Amendment, is alive and well and still publishing books. At 86, she just collaborated with her 43-year-old niece Suzanne Venker on "The Flipside of Feminism: What Conservative Women Know — and Men Can't Say. " If you've heard about this book, it might be because you read an interview with the authors on the Huffington Post with the headline "Feminists Love Divorce!"

Feminism as a "movement" in America is largely played out. The work here is mostly done. At a time when education matters more than ever, more American women attend college than men. More women graduate, with better grades and get more advanced degrees. As Kay Hymowitz writes in her new book, "Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Has Turned Men Into Boys": "For the first time ever, and I do mean ever, young women are reaching their twenties with more achievements, more education, more property, and, arguably, more ambition than their male counterparts.

"Sexual intercourse began in 1963," the poet Philip Larkin said of the revolution that liberated women and changed the world. And nowhere was that revolution more on display, literally, than on the beaches of the French Riviera, where the first bare breasts appeared just a year later. Scandale ! Some local mayors prohibited it, and the Interior Ministry declared it illegal. But as anyone who has visited a French beach in the last 40 years will know, public opinion was stronger than the bureaucrats' protests.

After struggling with its definition and connotations, Sarah Palin has apparently made peace with the "F-word." She freely used it in a May 14 speech for the Susan B. Anthony List, a PAC for antiabortion female congressional candidates. And given Palin's extraordinary influence in certain circles, you can bet untold numbers of women who might once have never considered it will now be dropping the F-bomb with alacrity. The word in question, of course, is "feminist." It may be the most polarizing label on the sociopolitical stage (it makes "environmentalist" or even "gay-rights advocate" seem downright banal)

POP MUSIC Julieta Venegas The Grammy Award-winning songstress — who began her music career at age 10 — showcases her enchanting Spanish-language blend of rock and pop at this hotly anticipated Southland concert. Her fifth studio album, "Otra Cosa," debuted in March. Club Nokia, 800 W Olympic Blvd. L.A. 7 p.m. $40-$65. (213) 765-7000. http://www.clubnokia.com Broken Bells As evidenced by his Beatles-versus-Jay Z mash-up, "The Grey Album," and his future-funk collaboration with rapper Cee-Lo, Gnarls Barkley, the producer-musician Danger Mouse is fond of cross-genre experimentation and synergistic partnerships.