oh, SHAKIRA

Listen, Shakira: I defended you when all my Anglo friends thought you were a mere Charo reincarnation. I defended you when Laundry Service featured songs that were far beneath your skill and intelligence because you wanted to cross over. I defended you when my roomate said you were anti-Israel and had made comments to that effect on MTV (probably not true).

But this is the last straw. In a profile in today's Times, you come off so intelligent, so cultured, so in control, all those excellent qualities that make you a great singer and a great role model. And then you ruin it all by saying this:

"I don't want to sound like a feminist saying this. But it's true, it's a man's world."

Guess what? You ARE a feminist, you LIVE feminism, given that you've controlled your own production for ten years, that you write songs about women being independent, and about women expressing and pursuing their own sexual pleasure. If you're afraid of the label somehow tainting you as an angry man-hater, I assure you that no one who has seen your videos will ever assume that. Given a golden oppportunity to elevate (or at least not denigrate) the popular view of feminism, you chose to revert to old superficial stereotypes. I'm genuinely sad that you could be that lame. I hope somebody will remember that it is feminism that allows so many amazing women to be who they are and succeed as wildly as they have.