Erica Jong in The Nation, December 30, 1996:

The notion that some women "make it on their own" in our sexist society seems naive to me. Whether one is a political wife, a courtesan, a woman governor, senator, lawyer or writer, one operates in the context of sexism. This means women are judged more harshly than men, subject to ad feminam attacks and, most painful, scolded by other women for not being sufficiently "independent." Humans are social animals. No woman is an island. To imagine that it is possible for any woman to inhabit an asteroid, like the Little Prince, is delusional. One way or another, we are all prisoners of our culture's sexism.

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