My readers have been wagging their fingers at me. They are telling me that I'm badly misinformed about the merits of certain bonding retreats--particularly ones that call for a lot of soul-baring and maybe a bit of baring of other parts.

Remember my recent posting ("So That's What Men Do!") about the California firm that allegedly required male lawyers to attend a retreat run by ManKind Project, where participants sit around naked and pass around a wooden phallus? Apparently, some people feel that I didn't give that organization its proper due. (Above the Law has picked up that thread, providing an update of the lawsuit by lawyer Steven Eggleston, an unwilling participant of the retreat, against his former firm Bisnar/Chase.)

Well, readers, you are so right. There's so much I don't know. For starters, who am I to say that nudity among colleagues won't promote team spirit and better lawyering? In fact, several lawyers e-mailed me about the "transformative" power of those retreats. To focus on the sensationalistic stuff without putting it in the context of the whole experience is unfair, they tell me.

But the big revelation I learned from readers is that women have their own primeval bonding retreats. Just like the Big Boys. Turns out that the ManKind Project has a women's division--like a sister college--called "Woman Within International." And like its male counterpart, it stresses sensuality and empowerment--personal, fiscal, and all other forms.

According to the Web site, "over 10,400 women worldwide have attended the Woman Within Training weekend, and many of these women have continued their journey at other Woman Within retreats and workshops, including Healing the Wounds of Shame, Your Sexual Self, Woman Within Level II, and Women Empowering Women."

I am so thrilled that women can now partake in the same rites as men. After all, women have long been excluded from those proud traditions. The ancient Greeks didn't allow women in their power games. And even today, there are male-only retreats, like the uber-exclusive Bohemian Club, where luminaries like Henry Kissinger, the George Bushes, and Ed Meese reportedly frolic naked in the Northern California woods, while chit-chatting about ruling the world.

But I know what you really want to know: Does Woman Within have a nudity component? Its Web site is a bit cryptic on that point: "We have also created our own ways of honoring the sacred feminine. You can choose to participate or not."

I wonder if any law firm will require its female lawyers to participate in one of these retreats. An even better question: What will women be passing around as the symbol of womanhood in those bonding rituals? Might it be a Manolo Blahnik stiletto?

Do you have topics you'd like to discuss or tips to share? E-mail The Careerist's chief blogger, Vivia Chen, at [email protected].

Art: Women Making Music by Jacopo Tintoretto