File this under "How the Hell Did I Miss This?" Ana Marie Cox of Wonkette fame wrote a scathing review of Katha Pollitt's new book on July 2nd. (I was on vacation at the time.) Cox's review got trashed by feminist bloggers, including Echnide and Ehrenreich.

I don't have much to say about Pollitt or the book. I haven't read the book, and I rarely read her column. Her predictability factor is fairly high. I did see her give a talk once, and she was very funny, so quiet yourself about feminists without a sense of humor.

Cox's biggest problem with Pollitt and old guard feminism is its obsession with the fashion choices of other women. Cox likes a fine pair of heels and doesn't want to be shamed for liking them.

When women dress up damaging choices as empowerment, it weakens feminist argument. But when feminists start lecturing about wrong choices, it lessens their numbers. I wish I had an easy answer about how to navigate between stridency and submission. Then again, I wish Katha Pollitt did too.

First of all, I really hate the whole grouping all feminists together thing. I side with the feminists that value nontraditional measures of success.

I support feminists that direct their attention to society and political structures, rather than on tut-tutting other women who aren't cookie cutter replicas of themselves. It is insane to make the claim that my fashion choices have any impact of oppressed women abroad. If the women in Islamic fundamentalist countries are forced to wear burkas, then it makes more sense to figure out how to put pressure on those governments to change, rather then yelling at heel-wearing women on 5th Avenue.

And, yeah, there has to be some common sense here. Some compassion for those who lack the zealous fervor of others. Some understanding that there is a big difference between women being forced to wear burkas and women having fun trying on tank tops at Anthropologie.

Call me crazy, but I just don't think that feminism should have anything to do with footwear.

There is a generational gap going on between the old guard and the new. Our obstacles to success and fulfillment are different from theirs. I think we have to respect and admire the important work that the previous generation did for us. But I also think that they need to listen to us and stop the hectoring.