Couldn't agree. Women are doing more harm than good to their own cause by becoming too hysterical and reinforcing stereotypes.
 

It is nice, however, to see liberals trying to hold other liberals to their same level of nonsense, instead of just doing it to conservatives (and plain ol' middle-of-the-road folk, for that matter).

Reading the email war, I have to say that I would consider Estrich's threat to go public blackmail, too.
 

I don't agree that, in order to enjoy that equality, women need to be more like (or write more like in this case) men. I think both genders bring their own strengths and talents to the table, and each should work to their strengths, rather than capitulating to the strengths of the other.

As for hysterical victim-card players, whatever the nature of the perceived victim, I also tend to react viscerally against them. High-pitched rants about how unfair it all is are, as often as not, attempts to demagogue an issue to the complaintant's advantage, rather than attempts to truly better a group of people. This is particularly the case in 21st Century America, where equality of opportunity is becoming the rule.

However, in recognizing that the equality of opportunity that exists for most groups in our country (not for all yet) is only a fairly recent historical development, I also recognize that the shrill lobbyiests for change, while annoying, are often necessary to bring about positive effects.

Having lived in Ireland, where gender equality is a couple decades behind where it is in the U.S., I've seen first-hand how women, whose loud complaining would annoy me in the U.S., was necessary to bringing about change in their society.

To polish off this ramble, something I noticed last night while out to dinner. I ordered some sushi at a very good local restaurant, and was noting how excellent it was when Mrs. Nomad pointed out that the sushi chef was a woman. It occurred to me then that I had never, in all my years eating at sushi bars, seen a woman sushi chef. I thought it was interesting that I'd never noticed it before. Perhaps it's because there aren't many women who want to be sushi chefs. More likely, it has to do with deeply rooted role-identifications in Japanese culture that mandate certain professions to one gender or the other. So, yeah, the United States has come a long way with respect to gender equality. But, even within our borders, barriers exist... whether those barriers are culturally based or otherwise.