"I only have opinions, and we've become a society which makes it very difficult for people to express opinions if they tend to be more traditional. Nontraditional types can be quite vicious. They're the ones who are polarizing. I'm not polarizing anybody. I'm just expressing my point of view."

She doesn't stay on that road for long. Schlessinger is barely restrainable as she sets off to talk about her show. First off, it really is a one-woman show. "I do my hair. I do my makeup. I do my wardrobe. I am everything," she notes.

"The first act, which is the major part, about 60% of the whole show, people don't know anything about. That was the point of doing this show -- that people would actually get to know me, what my life has been about, what goes into being me and living me.

So amid wardrobe changes in spangly sweats and jeans, pumping iron onstage barefoot and wearing "too much jewelry -- I believe in a lot of bling," she says -- and later some snazzy cowboy boots, she gives the audience Act One, which, according to a show summary, "mixes humor with true-life stories, plus current events pulled from the top stories of the day. Dr. Laura shares her opinions on everything from childbirth to death and all things in between, including her own childhood."

In Act Two, she takes questions submitted earlier by that night's audience and solves their dilemmas lickety-split. "They bring in stacks. I quickly go through and pick about 50," she says.

"Men and women no longer respecting what it means to be masculine and feminine in themselves or each other," she says. "I think that's probably been the most disruptive and destructive force, which is why my last book ("The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands") was such a huge smash. ... People needed to understand what the heck was wrong in their homes and didn't quite get it."

And what was it? Husbands "aren't the enemy; he's not a girl with extra parts," she said. They're unique beings that have to be treated that way.

"Absolutely not," she says. "Because I can't compromise. I have been asked and I realized I'm totally unsuited because I can't compromise. And you have to. A woman's got to know her limitations."

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