Oh, and I read this and ran to my soapbox...

Marcelle D'Argy Smith, former editor of Cosmopolitan in The Independent;

''Boys have always rated women but it's utterly mainstream now, as if nothing else counts but your body. The moment you become aware of boys you want to please them. But whereas before you used to maybe buy a new frock, now girls think about nothing but their bodies."

This had me incensed! How can a woman who used to edit a high profile womens magazine enslave generations of women to men like this?

The moment I became aware of boys I wanted to be as far away from them as possible (ie; my brother's annoying mates) and then later on tried to get their attention a bit, after that I'd say that my interest developed into wanting to castrate them or gag them most of the time.

True enough I do like to play with them from time to time but I'd say that I, and the majority of my friends, dress to impress other women - not men. Though I grant that sometime a low cut top can help you get what you want - but not by pleasing a man - by confusing him. Most of them can't concentrate properly on what you're saying while looking at breasts so you can get them to say 'yes' a lot easier.

Personally I gave up reading these type of magazines a long time ago. They just make me feel like I'm too poor, or too fat, or not fashion conscious enough or that I should spend more time preening and less time living. That kind of pressure does no one any good - but it kind of proves my point about the fact that this pressure doesn't come from men, but from women - don't you think? I've never been with a man who said; 'darling, don't you think you should exfoliate more?'. Yet.