Erica Jong has it....and I'm saying this as one turned off by Story of O.

interesting. I'm not really familiar with these novels and don't read them but I was just amused by the "omg it's another aspect of the war on women" comments cause they're taking a human sexual aspect that's probably been around as long as we have and localizing it to a different plane that's very specific and very macro political. It's just a reminder to me that there's a type of political liberalism that's not the same as social/psychological open mindedness. I think that would explain the mindset in some demographics that are seen as stuffy and upper class but they're still extremely blue so what explains that.

Odd? Not at all odd when you consider that some of the most hostile transphobic rants come from a few members of the radfem community. The Left has as many control freaks as the Right. As another example, consider the racism that accompanied the first few weeks of Occupy Wall Street. Tolerance is not a widely accepted principle by any measure.

Consider too that the NYT comments are open to anyone (more or less), and columnists like Dowd attract readers across the entirety of the political spectrum.

true Ardiril some of the conversation around Occupy has been about those sort of color/class/gender issues. And I suppose progressive movements have always had this sort of stress, like a group is really pro-black but is it pro-woman enough, or it's anti-war but is it pro-working class? etc. In the end at least the left pays lip service to openness to changes in social power structures though which is more than can be said for the Newt Gingriches of the world.

What is heartening is that the concept of intersectionalism has emerged. While some progressive newbies have difficulty applying its tenets correctly in their writings, the more learned are working toward greater general understanding.