I'm just teasing though. Astra makes some excellent points. Especially the drapetomania issue, which was a brilliant inclusion on a number of levels:

1) It is illustrative of the scope of knowledge that Astra commands on this topic. My argument is subtly weakened by the (polite and nonconfrontational) intimation that Astra knows vastly more about the topic at hand than I. *golf clap*

Not that her superior claim to expertise will, by necessity, obviate any retarded comments she might make.

2) Bravo on the clever (and cleverly non-explicit) analogy between the plight of the modern woman and the plight of the slaves. That shit was sly I tell you. I almost missed what you were doing there.

3) All that is utterly beside the point though. Astra pretty much pwns me on the difference between normal/healthy and functional when she points out that "Certainly now we can recognize that the desire for freedom and autonomy is a normal and healthy behavior, regardless of the form that such desire takes."

I mean, what else is there to say? I was just thinking earlier today that there are lots of desires that are perfectly normal, regardless of the form that such desires take. Really, if something stems from a rational desire or inclination, then the ultimate expression of that desire or inclination is, by necessity, rational itself.