There is something very disturbing to me about the idea that a burka or a veil can be seen as a blessed relief from stares and makeup and grooming. Are these women serious? Do they really fantasize about actually hiding themselves because they are overwhelmed with the burdens of shaving their legs and wearing makeup? What the hell? Do they feel so besieged and sexualized every moment of their lives that a head to toe sack sounds GOOD to them?

I am more than my hair and makeup- my face and my identitity are more than my attractiveness! I have been intimidated by the occasional sexual bully, but I am more than whatever jollies those asholes got when they whistled or groped. I would never dream of hiding my FACE anymore than I would stop talking or reading. Even if I did feel compelled to make myself invisible, the "benefits" of never having to groom myself (would you still wear deodorant or is that not too onerous?) would be outweighed by never being able to move freely, feeling hot, never riding a bike or walking down the beach barefoot in shorts or just sitting around and shooting the breeze in a tanktop at a summer barbeque. I'm trying to imagine a discussion of men choosing to be masked after being sexually harrassed by other men, and I can't imagine it. Who wouldn't understand that a man's face and identity are more than what a pervert wants? Why don't these women see themselves that way?

If a child wanted to be invisible and hidden from the world, we would rightly recognize that she has issues. When women posting here or anywhere speak of the anonymity of the burka with wistfulness, I think we should recognize they have issues too. The idea that women have to choose between being sexual objects and being completely anonymous and hidden is false and misogynist to its rotten core.

Teenage girls are worrying about their appearance! Feminism is dead. Are boys STILL worried about being tall anough as well? We'll have to examine the state of US manhood later.

Really: I don't really care if a 12 year old feels pressure to be thin (and a lot of 12 year olds of both sexes could use alittle more physical activity anyway if you know what I mean). I care about whether reproductive choice, educational and professional opportunities, and protection against gender related violence will exist as she moves into adulthood and beyond. By these measures, feminism is laive and well. Lighten up, everyone.

Sinamon, I am by no means an expert on the subject, but I have been up close at several sex assault trials, guilty pleas, police interviews, sentencings and probation interviews and I can tell you that the idea that pissing in public gets you on a sex offender registry is false. As is the idea that a violent rapist gets the same treatment as a 17 year old with his 16 year old girlfriend. I have never heard of this really happening- and whenever I have heard of something similar happening, the details are always worse than they seemed at first- like it was a 25 year old with a 15 year old and the public exposure charge was a plea bargain for someone who flashed 11 year olds.

In my state and I suspect in others the sex offender registries exempt certain sex crimes and inclusion on the registry becomes a bargaining point for the attorneys. This idea that sex registries and harsh punishments are some sort of hysterical overreaction has become accepted as gospel truth by people who really don't know what they are talking about, and buy the stories of public whizzers going to jail for rape. Show me a person who has been overconvicted for a sex crime, and I'll show you a rare aberration or a else someone who isn't telling the whole story. The tone here of "let's just give the sex offenders a little treatment and understanding" is bothersome. Even "harmless" sex crimes like a man groping his daughter's 12 year old friend wouldn't seem harmless if you were the 12 year old, or she your daughter.