books may say so, but I, dear sir, was alive and would know best!"

"What, then," he coolly replied, with a sharp grin that reeked of self-
confidence, "Would you call all the messes of make-up and perfume and
other such things which they were virtually forced to wear? I see
nothing different between wearing face coverings and transplanting an
entirely new face, hair, and body on oneself everyday. In fact, our
women got together and decided voluntarily to do so, for the very reason
that if an artificial covering must be put on, it might as well be one
that is easy, for why spend an hour or more a day to change one's
appearance, when it can be done in moments with a head covering? That is
a great time saver for us. And why spend the resources to research,
produce, and market massive amounts of facial paint to cover up the face
when it is possible to put a covering on and get the same effect much,
much easier? It is only logical.

"And in general, Jehu," he pursued, warming to the subject matter, "I
find the oppression of women in your time to be quite appalling. You
seemed to think that the liberation of women consisted in transforming
them into loveless, materialistic thugs, into workaholics whose only
desire is wealth, into aggression driven beings that possessed little
shred of real humanity, into, in a word, men. I think it would have been
a much better endeavor to have attempted to change men into women."

I was taken aback by his eloquent defense of the treatment of women in
his society, and felt, I must admit, a little impressed by his
arguments, seeing as how it did make more sense to wear a head covering
than to paint on a face every morning. Still, I desired to let him see
that traditions aren't all that bad, just as they aren't all that good,
and, as I had still won one point out of two so far, I felt it safe to