It is hard to believe that on author could be so passionate about this topic of cross-dressing. The only place people truly get away with cross-dressing is on the big screen. I know in my personal experiece on visually seeing men dressed as women, I laugh and rididcule, but it is ok when I see it in the movies. The author clearly indicates that women who impersonated a man would be deeply humiliated. This occurred before 1960. This is so ironic because society has changed dramatically since 1960. People ridicule men for dressing like the opposite sex more than women in this day of age. Rebecca uses a variety of movies to back her knowledge and opinions reguarding this particular topic. She uses them wisely and precisely so that even if one does not know a lot about movies, it is not hard to understand the point she is trying to make. There are many authors who do not do this in their books. They leave one clueless if the reader can not relate to the material that the writer is addressing. The point that Rebecca is so clearly indicating is the societal differences that have occurred through the years reguarding gender issues. Gender has always been a hot topic in society and will continue to be one of the most broadcasted. I am not, by any means, a genious, but I enjoyed this book because of its literature about women and the societal sufferings that they endured especially for such a small crime as cross-dressing.

This slim volume on Weil is unlike all others (and there are many others) I've read. Frost and Bell-Metereau have obviously read Weil quite extensively and have a good working knowledge of the important secondary literature (but in English only it seems). Their selection of quotes are quite a propos, too. What I found odd about the book was its apologist tone. The authors seem overly eager to "justify" Weil's views, especially her spiritual/religious views, to what they evidently sense may be a hostile post-modern audience. Hence one gets the impression that Simone Weil needs somehow to be "rehabilitated" to reach the now-sophisticated post-Y2K reader. I'm not sure that's necessary (or appropriate), but their attempt is interesting nonetheless for the light it sheds on just how far foundational philosophical and metaphysical discourse has evidently fallen into embarrassing disrepute these days. Perhaps theirs is the only way to present such thinkers as Weil to the cyber generation. But I hope not.