Naomi Wolf, Enemy Combatant

So it's 2:14am, Thursday morning, and I am *awake.* Not groggy, not drowsy, not sleepy, but wide awake bright eyed bushy tailed. And BORED. So I'm flipping through the channels, and come to rest on The Colbert Report, which is always entertaining. And to my delighted surprise, his guest that night was none other than Naomi Wolf, author of such books as "The Beauty Myth" and "Fire With Fire." Wolf happened to be on the show as a promotion for her latest book, "The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot," which draws parallels between the Bush administration and the worst dicatorships of the 20th Century. And she seemed entertained, and nearly proud, when Colbert deemed her an "enemy combatant."

Few people have had a career as both respected and criticized as Naomi Wolf. Her first work, "The Beauty Myth," published in 1991, became an instant hit. The work details the ways in which the "beauty myth" works to control women through the use of their own insecurities. There was much controversy over Wolf's work, but one cannot help but be impressed by her willingness to speak out about the ways in which women are oppressed, ultimately by themselves. She has since written several books, on topics ranging from female sexual liberation and female empowerment, to her mid-life crisis and motherhood in America.

Since this time, Ms. Wolf's career has taken a turn for the political. She has spent time as a political consultant for both Bill Clinton and Al Gore, giving advice on how to reach the female "soccer mom" demographic. Her most recent, and perhaps ambitious work, "The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot," is a break from her previous work, which was rooted in third-wave feminism. In this book, Wolf leaves behind issues of feminisim, and brings to us a work that is honest in its attempts to alert us to the goings-on of the American government and the affect their actions have on the democracy and constitutional rights of American citizens.

Love her, hate her, or question her, Naomi Wolf's impact on the world of feminisim, and now politics, is undeniable. Ms. Wolf is a force to be reckoned with.