Gloria Steinem, who just died, said, “Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don’t feel I should be doing something else.” Hear, hear, for the writing life, and for a woman affirming its centrality, above and beyond other goods and values, including motherhood.

Incidentally, one of the really nice things about the unjustly criticized Devil Wears Prada 2 is the last scene, where Meryl Streep says to Anne Hathaway, by way of discussing the sacrifices she has made over the years for her career as a journalist and an editor, including sacrifices foisted on her children, “But boy, I love to work, don’t you?”

I thought it was a gutsy way to end the movie, particularly to have a woman say that, affirming the love of work that is worth loving, and how important that can be to leading a good life. Here’s Steinem on a related matter: “Not everybody with a womb has to have a child, like not everybody with vocal cords has to be an opera singer. It’s a choice, and it’s a wonderful choice, but if everybody has to do it, it’s no longer a choice.” I also thought it was worthwhile to have Streep affirm not just the value of work, but of creative work, of writing work, in this age of AI and slop, which the movie also deals with, again, I think in a sensitive, intelligent, and, yes, entertaining, way.