And I stumbled across this at Pandagon:

I was a virgin. He knew that. I'd told him, repeatedly. We both knew what my virginity meant in a cultural sense; that I still had the societal worth that a female is afforded before she has sexual intercourse (or before a man rapes her); that if we were to have sex, it would be him who would "score" and me who would "be scored upon"; that he would win something and I would lose something; that sexual intercourse is what makes boys into men and girls into sluts.

FEMINISM.

I say that particular F Word around folks I don't yet know very well and I get a wide range of emotional reactions, everything from delight to disgust. The men usually get nervous; even the liberal men. Many of the women are instantly on guard. They seem to be wondering: am I one of those "angry feminists" they've heard about or am I going to be "normal"; am I going to be upset if they're not feminists; am I going to be hyper-critical of their life choices; am I going to be a sanctimonious prick; am I going to try to recruit them. And really, only that last fear is valid. ;)

No kidding.

I'll include the same upfront note as MAJeff, which is that parts of these discussions may get heavy into theoretical language (although I am going to make a concentrated effort to keep my diary as accessible as possible) since there are a lot of academics and other brands of theory dorks around these parts. If you don't understand something, please don't hesitate to ask for explanations. The mark of a true theory dork is the ability to convert what sounds like dense, over-intellectualized bullshit into conversational language that actually makes sense to people who don't study this stuff. No matter what your level of familiarity with the subject matter, if you have an interest, please post your thoughts, questions, musings.

Click on in, the water's soupy.