"Memories of Underdevelopment" by Estragon (an573847@anon.penet.fi). Erica and Leila are two fifteen year old girls who are beginning to discover their own sexuality. Little by little, they start with what they know about boys just from instinct, and then imagine things together, out loud, that they would only have let themselves imagine in private before; and then they try some of those things out for real, on real males; and then they build on what they have learned.

One day Erica says, "It's strange. Girls let all kinds of guys they're going to break up with in a week touch them and learn all about them, and their best friend who they'll love forever has no idea what their nipples or slot look like...." And so they head for Leila's house, get naked, and explore each other's bodies. Sounds normal to me. Like many of Estragon's stories, this one starts with perfectly normal, sensible activities and emotions like these and builds to the point where readers will suddenly realize that they are accepting as normal activities that they would previously have viewed as bizarre.

In other words, Estragon has fiendishly combined the Socratic dialogue with the short story and feminist ideology.

Careful research shows that males outnumber females on this newsgroup. I can't explain this, although I'm sure Erica and Leila could demonstrate that it is this way because women want it this way. My point is that large numbers of male readers will read this story and wonder whether young girls really do lie around playing with each other's bodies, giving pleasure to each other and devising plans for subjugating males to be pussy whipped. {The story gives a delightful discussion of this term.} On the surface, most men probably reject the idea as foolish; they know their girlfriends and lovers, and these people are nice to their male friends. But isn't it possible that that's just part of the facade? Maybe the girlfriends and lovers are smart enough to not let the dumb males know that they are being pussy whipped. Maybe there really is this huge conspiracy going on, but maybe we women are just smart enough to keep our slaves happy by letting them foolishly believe that they are the masters. Makes sense to me.

I truly love Estragon's writings, and I don't want to betray the Sisterhood; but I'm going to tell you a secret. When I was an adolescent girl, I did NOT sit around with a girlfriend and devise ways to subjugate males. I never once stuck a boy in the balls with the backside of a spoon, nor did I pee on a male of the species who was begging me to do so. However, as I grew older, in dorms and locker rooms we girls did metaphorically do these things. Although I don't know anyone who actually did cut off a boy's or man's testicles, I do know lots of girls who took delight in emasculating their boyfriends in more socially acceptable ways; and I myself often enjoyed giving one of these assholes a metaphorical kick in the balls.

What I am saying is that I doubt that many young girls literally do the things that Erica and Leila do; but a very large number of mature women (myself included) read this story and say, "That's not an entirely bad idea!"

In short, this story is sort of a thinking person's "Thelma and Louise."

Most of my correspondents think that Estragon is a man. I have no direct knowledge to the contrary, but I suspect that she is a woman. If Estragon is a man, he's a genius to have insights like this into the female psyche; and as Estragon herself would point out, men just aren't all that smart. Ergo, Estragon must be a woman - and a damned good writer besides. On the other hand, Aristophanes was a man, and he wrote Lysistrata.

Don't be scared off by my references to Socratic dialogues, to feminine psyches, and all that technical jargon. And don't you guys be afraid that you'll become emasculated by reading this story. And who cares if this IS reality? If Estragon is right, you guys too dumb to realize it anyway. Just read this story and enjoy it! If you do so and then ask real politely, maybe a nice lady will let you get naked for her.