someone tell Keira Knightly, though, that Missoni on a beach somewhere in Dover just ain’t cuttin in.

All the points you bring up are so insightful. I realize my complaints are perpetuating an argument that fits nicely under the paradigm of misogyny. I think for me the thing that bothers me the most, and I touch upon it briefly at the end of my “rant” is this idea that some women are progressing while others remain chained to the patriarchal norms. This discrepancy, I feel, is hard to deal with when one sits back and assess the meaning attributed to one’s conduct and appearance. I mean, I consider myself to be principled but very open-minded in those principles. However, when I see another girl playing by the boys’ rules I feel threatened. Ultimately, I feel that my language won’t be understood by men or by women playing by boys’ rules and therefore my choice to act respectfully (monogamous, mindful of someones else’s feelings, faithful) in a relationship won’t be perceived as simply that but as a concession on my part to abide by the misogynist rules. You see where I’m going with this?

That’s why at the end of my piece I briefly state that if all women were bearing their breasts and it meant NOTHING then I’d have no argument. It frightens me that as a gender we’re not exactly playing by the same gender-specific rules. And so the “skank” continues to threaten not because men think she exists, but because women do.