Still ahead of her time, unfortunately.

take your word on the Nine Inch Nails number Casey. I honestly couldn't even make out the words - let alone the glorious metaphors.

What you said about Rand leap frogging the whole feminist movement is dead true. What an incredible amount of sheer guts she displays in writing sex that way, at that time. Very raw and powerful - not to mention hot. Another testament to the strength of her conviction of being undoubtedly and unashamedly right.

I read that, too, and found it very interesting. Amazing how the song I posted on the other thread by Nine Inch Nails uses many of the same metaphors Rand used in her sex scenes! I had forgotten how precisely similar was the raw, unabashed sexuality of Rand's views. A little ahead of her time in those regards, leapfrogging the whole sexual revolution even as most feminists have taken a giant leap backwards into puritan prudery so that they now sound like the most repressed conservatives. Wow.

Wendy McElroy also has one of the best essays on a Rand heroine's sexuality. The finer distinctions between rough sex and rape regarding Roarke and Dominique, Reardon and Dagny. Very interesting perspective coming from a feminist - especially one who is no stranger to sexual violence. Very worth reading.

Of interest, Brian Doherty has a much more sympathetic take on Rand's work than one will find in his recent history of the libertarian movement. There is no suggestion that 'Atlas' may have been written out of "hate," for example.