But of course the forgoing does not apply to XX's who don't read or write Clit Lit; who, by instinct or by breeding, are of a class superior to their maudlin sisters. It does not apply to those whose first definition of themselves is as human beings, not females. It does not apply to Simone de Beauvoir, nor to the vast majority of decently educated French and Italian women. And note: I lived in Italy for six months a half dozen years ago, and in that time I heard many bitter complaints from young American women whose bottoms had been pinched by Italian men; I never once saw or heard of that outrage being perpetrated by an Italian man upon an Italian woman; and I believe generally, knowing the characters of Italian women as I have known them, that no Italian man would be damned fool enough even to try pinching their bottoms. Which is funny, because another thing I noticed about Italian women, even very respectable ladies, is that they tailor their dresses (cinch them in just a bit) to show off the lovely contours of their tushes, in a way that ladies (certainly not American women) of other nationalities never do.