Flirting, Heskell claims, is the 'new social order', socially and professionally.
Bitch is out.
I want to set the record straight for flirtatious women,' she says. She is outraged that society encourages masculine charm while female flirts are condemned as flighty teases. Psychoanalyst Adam Phillips agrees. Since Dr Johnson's first dictionary definition of a flirt as a 'pert young hussy', women who smile and lead men on have been seen as deserving of sexual harassment or worse. Women are now using flirtatious charm as a means to empowerment.