...if you really want to be feminist about it--the admirable woman in this story--in fact, the only really admirable character--is Vashti, who refuses to allow herself to be degraded. The only reasonable way I see to read Megillat Esther today is as a spoof. Trying to take it seriously is perhaps the reason that the minhag developed that Purim is the one time in the year when it's permissible to get drunk. Larry
Feb 2005 Digest 029
Debbie Friedman's "Vashti's Song" comes to mind. Here are the lyrics:
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