Megan Amram

The enemy of the modern woman is not women who like fashion or are writing about it. The enemy is stereotypes that come from all places and that tell you to be one way or the other. The enemy is really real sexist people, like Todd Akin, and people who are violent against women physically or sexually.

I feel confused about what I'm supposed to be doing as a feminist because I do like fashion, and I do like magazines, too. I buy them on airplanes. I like seeing what hot trends are new this fall. It makes me feel very conflicted a lot of the time.

From 1961 to 1964, I was fortunate enough to work at a think tank in the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago. As a writer and editor, I reported in a publication about the thinkers. Our offices were in a former mansion; I worked in what had been the ballroom. As I sat typing my copy, I imagined the dancers waltzing.