It's a rare individual brave enough to stand up to the prevailing orthodoxies of the age and say, "This is not right. This is not justice. I demand equality." One thinks of Gandhi, of Dr. King, and, as of today, Alex Kuczynski.

It is important to note what has become a kind of tyranny of large-calved women, the ones who have been complaining for years that boots are too narrow. The boot industry has now gone rocketing in the opposite direction, and you could have fit two of my calves into one of these boots. Women and bootmakers of America, we must find a middle ground.

We could not agree more. Let us all hope that the dark clouds of small-calved prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of leather bootery will tread over our great nation with all their flower- appliqu d beauty.

Where All the Flowers Have Gone [NYT]