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36. AMAZONS (Dec. 2003)
Guys! The Amazons are here. They've left the myth, they're in the streets, shoulders squarer, the arms more toned, legs more muscled-- and you know what? Their faces are harder. Washboard stomachs, even. In.your.face.yeah.deal with it.guy. We're not talking pro athlete. No interest in sports. But in training for some fierce..private Olympics. I see them on 3rd Avenue striding to their offices. I see them on the West Side at night in little black dresses that can barely contain them. I see them treadmilling in the windows of health clubs late at night, driven, driven, driven...I totally understand: pride, anger, the contempt for men, the many disappointments in love, celebration of the female self. The skirts have shrunk. Yet these are miniskirts without warmth, without joy. Warrior kilts. Am I the only guy in New York City who's wondered where hosiery has gone? It has a deadly flaw-- it pleases men, and the better to show off striations, definition, tone, hard. The muscles, like the amazingly heavy makeup some women now wear, even young women with totally beautiful complexions-- are parts of a suit of armor. Against whose arrows? In what war?
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