"Note to Clark-Flory: the next time you're thinking about publicly slagging off a group of accomplished women's rights activists you know nothing about, working in a political environment you know nothing about, consider at least calling one of them (on Salon's dime) to pose your critique and ask for a response rather than judging them by an article in the Telegraph."

Please Clark-Flory, act upon Ciccina's suggestion. Nothing would make me happier to see American women learn from the Polish Women's Party's example.

However, Ciccina, I don't think the discussion of porn/erotica is far off from the topic of what the Polish Women's Party's did in their billboard poster. Their poster wasn't pornographic, but it was erotic, and the candidates of the Women's party in the poster were using the natural eroticism that they possess to promote women's issues. My point is that I think they (the Women's Party) may have done a very clever thing by opening up the possibility that pride in sexuality and in being an unsheltered woman can be used as a political tool, but we will have to wait till after the Polish elections are over to see if it was an effective political tool.

I often argue that feminists and women's group need to get over the skittishness that they feel towards the porn/erotica industry, because that industry can work overwhelmingly to the benefit of women, if women and women's groups controlled it.

I really like Jessica Valenti's book "Full Frontal Feminism", because she made it clear that Feminism doesn't have to be anti-sexy or anti-romantic. Women can still be independent and professionally successful, and be sexy and romantic as well.

Feminism is often accused by both the right and the left of having killed romanticism, but in my experience of having dated and been in relationships with feminists I have found that notion to be untrue. I see Feminists as actually re-instilling the romanticism that died shortly after men no longer needed to learn poetry, music skills, singing, dancing, drawing, and painting to earn a salary. Assertive women, whether they consider themselves feminists are not, are taking the initiative to insert advancements in culture that the working male stiff no longer bothers to offer.

I am glad the Polish Women's Party did what they did. They care, they're beautiful, artistic, original, creative, and they are ready to bare it all in order to force the changes to the stagnate patriarchal status quo that is killing our humanity.

So personality matters nothing? I have never been rich, and I am not particularly all that good looking, but I have never in my life had a problem attracting women.

Women are considerably less superficial than you think, Brightstar65.

Make a woman laugh, and she's yours. Then if you can pass the oral exam, she's yours for life (that is until you prove that you are a pig).

To Leftychris

The Dutch navy can also unionize, and their berthings are co-ed (meaning groups of men and women sleep in the same living quarters onboard ships).

I Don't know anything about the Belgium or Spanish Navys.

"I get into a physical fight with someone - for reasons unrelated to race, sexuality, gender or disability. BUT, during the scuffle, my combatant calls me a slur - "bitch", "faggot", "nigger" or something equally offensive.

Once again, the cops arrest us - but this time, under the Hate Crimes Law, my opponent can be charged with a more serious crime (with a presumably harsher sentence) than I - solely because they uttered something hateful during our altercation.

Is this FAIR?"

Yes it is.

Having been in more fights than I care to remember, I can honestly say that I have never uttered a racial, religious, or sexual based slur during the scuffle, because I know that if I utter such obscenities, it changes the context of the fight entirely (every law enforcement official knows this).

I fight to protect myself, not to advance an agenda (actually I do fight to advance an agenda, but not in the physical sense). Once you have crossed the line and make your physical offensive or defensive aggression about racial, religious, sexual, or disability issues, then you have made yourself guilty of a hate crime.

I defend my country from terrorism, not because I hate Islam, because I don't, but because I hate terrorism, and no religion or racial group has a monopoly on terrorism. The KKK is just at much a terrorist group as Al-Qaeda is, and the last I saw the KKK was a white extremist organization.

Often when I hear my coworkers use the slur "Sand Nigger," I quickly remind them that our fight is to spread freedom, not racism (though lately is doesn't seem like we are spreading much freedom).

The indirect focus of the Matthew Shepard Act is to go after groups that promote or condone hate crimes, one of which is "Focus on The Family," and I will be happy to see that homophobic, hate mongering group put out of business with huge legal bills.