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I'm not so sure it's a war metaphor, but of course, my personal experience dictates my interpretation.

My mother and her friend were thrown in jail at the age of 18 after protesting Nixon on a Virginia Air Force base which she snuck onto. She painted her face white and sat on her University steps alone for three days to protest the Vietnam war. My father worked with the Black Panthers within a Latin sect of supporters. After years of hearing all these stories time and time again, and finally learning that not everyone was as passionate, I asked my parents what they were willing to give up to support their respective causes. Both, in many ways, described dying for what they believed in, not in a physical sense per se, but in the manner that one thinks about sacraficing themselves for their child, or for a loved one. The thought of equality, of peace, of justice, meant more to them then life without those things. Life without those things...was as good as death, and thus they were willing to fight. Has this type of protest, the only type I have ever viewed as effective, slowly died away? Sure, people wear certain colors in school to protest this or that injustice...but since when does support for a cause have to be expressed to a teacher? Have we come to the point where gender equality does not require men and women to "rush the gates," as it were? Is that too old school? Or are we just lazy?

Recently, I was amazed by the documentary "The U.S. versus John Lennon." This 2 hour movie documents his [John's] hold on the younger rebellious generations eager to make a change during that time period, and the response of the government, weary of those willing to "rock the boat." During an interview, John states straight into the camera: "Ok, so flower power didn't work. So what? You keep going, you keep trying." Those words alone represent my opinion of the feminst movement as it exists today. Do I/should I really have to read a book in order to grasp what wave of feminism we're currently involved in? Should I have to study up in order to understand what feminists in this country are working for RIGHT NOW? Or should it be an ever-present thought on the minds of women? When african americans and latinos were fighting for equal rights, the white men and women of this country weren't confused about what they wanted. It was all anyone could talk about and it caused a mass uprising.

Here's what it boils down to: There are thousands of races and only two sexes (sorry to reduce it to this, but it helps my argument). If one race can fight for equality in a world of different races, why can't one sex (which composes a larger dynamic)? Is the feminst cause one not worthy of that attention?