[Lalaith]

Thank you Morwen! I agree entirely.
I have to confess that a lot of the time I'm a bit confused by the PC debate. I studied English Lit at university, but not in the US. It sounds to me from what some people have been saying that the way Eng Lit is studied these days in the US is rather political. Am I right?
Bethberry, your quote from Tolkien's letters was very interesting, but it was written in 1941. As someone (Child I think) pointed out, Tolkien's creation of characters like Andreth came much later in his life. In 1941, he would probably not have been teaching women for that long, but I would hazard a guess that his views may have changed from that expressed in the quote, over the years. Particularly with his creation of Andreth.