IN 'Why do men take refuge', Helen Mead seeks to distance herself from the new post feminist model, or simply fails to identify the chosen medium through which many men explore their vulnerable inner selves (May 13).

A major success of the feminist movement over the past 50 years has been the challenge to established gender stereotypes. A period of 'reverse sexism' was considered acceptable, however the debate has long since moved on.

In her interview with The Independent, Natasha Walter, author of The New Feminism, acknowledges the validity of the feminist 'third wave'; where women seek to work with men in order to change society in a meaningful way. Ms Mead's somewhat lurid account of her own marital relations, and her pre-conceptions of the male psyche belong to a different age.

Might I draw her attention to Virginia Wolf's excellent polemic A Room Of One's Own. Perhaps the article was merely intended as a spoof?

Dr Fay Greenaway,

Department of Sociology,

University of York,

Heslington,

York

Updated: 10:26 Monday, May 20, 2002