i admired her

but i did not fully agree with her. my belief is; women as a whole cannot have their power taken from them unless they allow it. they allowed it waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy back and we're still fighting to get it back (well SOME of us are, some don't give a flyin' yoo hoo and another portion never wanted their equality and never will). thanks for stepping up to the plate back in the day though. your voice counted

MARILYN FRENCH, 79 Controversial Feminist Author Known for 'The Women's Room'

By Patricia Sullivan

Washington Post Staff Writer

Marilyn French, 79, a feminist whose 1977 debut novel "The Women's Room" sold more than 20 million copies and who became a prominent thinker on women's history, died of a heart ailment May 2 at a New York City hospital.

Ms. French, an erudite and angry writer, blamed men for the condition of women throughout the centuries, a stance that brought her sharply divided critical attention. Although many feminists lauded her for writing one of the most influential novels of the emerging feminist movement, others outside the movement charged that her books were belligerent and artless.

"In a way, 'The Women's Room' was, to a particular part of the women's movement, what Ralph Ellison's 'Invisible Man' was to the civil rights community," feminist Gloria Steinem said yesterday. "She was always so far ahead because she wasn't writing about reforms around the edges. Her theories were big and exciting, and they definitely appeal to younger women who hear about them."........

(hint to naomi wolf-see my posting yesterday: instead of even talking about helen gurley brown, you should concentrate more on the frenchs' of the world)