For Dave McDonald and Molly McLeod, Equality in All Things

Molly McLeod says she's never thought about whether her mother was a feminist. She just remembers growing up in a family where her parents were best friends, where "each did their own thing, but both contributed to what made for a very successful family."

"My mother always told me I could do anything I wanted to do," says Ms. McLeod, a young investment adviser in Boston. "So did my dad."

Today, McLeod defines the kind of equality she saw between her parents as feminism. "Quite simply," she says, "to me, it's equal opportunities for men and women." She's happy to define herself as a feminist - unlike many of the twentysomethings portrayed in the media as Ally McBeal wannabes, who want to enjoy the benefits of the women's movement without identifying themselves as part of it.

When McLeod gets married this September, she says she's looking forward to a completely equal marriage with her fiance, Dave McDonald. That includes an even split of household chores and, she says, "helping build each other up. I teach him what I know, and he teaches me what he knows."

Mr. McDonald says he's committed to equality. "I want a marriage in which we would both work together to achieve what we really want," he says. "The key thing is respect for each other's needs and desires."

McLeod says the one place she wishes she could be "more of a feminist" is at work. She's one of two women in a group of 13 investment advisers and says comments are made about women that she doesn't always appreciate. "In order to get by, you need sometimes to not say what you're feeling.

"To a certain degree, in order to really make a statement," she says, "it's better not to pipe up, and to just do a better job, get promoted, and let that speak the truth."