THE TRUTH ABOUT WOMEN'S BODIES
"When does your issue come out on typical men, featuring naked male bodies? I'd like a little beefcake too!" KATHY PTACIN Wauwatosa, Wis.
Three cheers for "The Real Truth About the Female Body"--the most informative, most sensible and most enjoyable piece on gender issues I've seen in a very long time [THE SEXES, March 8]. Barbara Ehrenreich, in her delightful way with words, punctures stereotypes right and left, revealing new subtleties in the ever fascinating dual sexuality of our common humanity. RICHARD L. BRUBAKER Chicago
Even though they may now be calling themselves "femaleists," they're still singing the same old feminist refrain: "We're not inferior to men. If anything, we're superior (so stop oppressing us by forcing us into outdated, limiting sex roles, you chauvinist men)!" Enough already! Instead of wasting time and energy exploding what remains of the old sex-role stereotypes, let's move on to the more difficult and important task of creating new, updated sex roles. Do we really need to determine who actually did the hunting in prehistoric times or prove that women have it in them to be just as promiscuous as men? ELLEN WEISMAN STRENGER Voorhees, N.J.
Next time, tell us how a woman's brain works. RICHARD R. HOFSTETTER Plainfield, Ind.
Your cover lines showed a typical bias: "The latest research...reveals that women are tougher, stronger and lustier that anyone ever thought." Anyone? Some men, perhaps. Women have always known these facts. KEITHA LEONARD Boulder, Colo.
We women have never really rejoiced about the elegance, the subtleties and the extraordinariness of our being. Men, individually and collectively, have always known the real truth about the female being. And they have been guarding this secret for some time, even going to war to protect it. If we replace the word "body" with "being" when discussing both women and men, we can expand our attempts to truly understand each other's identity. JEANNE BELOVITCH Boston
Thank you for letting readers know that women are special but men aren't bad. Women aren't a weaker sex but, as you said, a separate one. It's extremely refreshing to read an article that points out qualities in one gender without bashing the other. LAUREN KOTT Lakewood, Colo.
God help us! Americans have finally discovered the female of the species! JOHAN W. VIS Tokyo
Woman sharing man's genetic predisposition toward hunting, humping and brawling? Sounds like the female anthem for the new millennium might go something like "I am woman--Hear me grunt, belch and scratch." DON HOLLEY Lafayette, Calif.
Did you get your ideas from watching Xena: Warrior Princess? You say we are finding out so many new things about women, but there's really not much to hang your hat on here. If science doesn't back you up, you can just say science must be wrong! If reason doesn't back you up, no problem; women have for too long been held down by reason. You didn't allow for the chemistry between men and women, what happens when they get together. Without this essential chemistry, your theories fizzle. T. PAIGE DALPORTO Charlton Heights, W.Va.