Still Flying High

Thirty years ago, writer Erica Jong turned the literary world and the nation on its backside with her first novel "Fear of Flying." The uninhibited adventures of 29-year-old Isadora Wing and her desire to fly in the face of 1970s "nice women don't say that" conventions became a blockbuster best-seller and cultural phenomenon. "Growing up female in America, what a liability," observed Isadora. "Fear of Flying" became a manifesto for a generation of repressed "good girls," ready to push for what they wanted in the workplace. In relationships. In bed.

Fast forward 30 years. At the checkout counter, you'll scarcely find a find a magazine cover without a scantily clad woman and captions like "Finding the X Spot." On the tube, those fun-loving Sex and the City gals are looking for love in five inch stilettos. There's even a remake in the works of the "Stepford Wives." The Betty Friedan generation of the '70s has been transformed into the botox generation. In a recent, NY Times editorial, Maureen Dowd observes, "There's even a retro trend among women toward deserting the fast track for a pleasant life of sitting around Starbucks, gabbing with their girlfriends, baby strollers beside them, logging time at the gym to firm up for the he-man CEO at home."

What would Isadora Wing make of all this? We ask the woman who started it all. Tonight, On Point: Erica Jong and the shape of sex and feminism today.

Guests:

Erica Jong, best-selling author of "Fear of Flying," celebrating its 30th anniversary. Her new novel is "Sappho's Leap";Randall Kennedy, On Point news analyst, professor at Harvard Law School