ASHINGTON - Vice President Al Gore acknowledged yesterday that he hired feminist Naomi Wolf for a $15,000-a-month consulting fee, saying the author and columnist is a ''valued adviser'' who has helped him target younger voters.
Wolf, who has written extensively on women as sex objects and advocates teaching teenagers masturbation as an alternative to intercourse, has been dispensing advice to the vice president on everything from fashion to public speaking, several aides said. Working closely with Gore's message team since last year, Wolf has encouraged Gore to ''speak from the heart'' to connect better with voters, said one strategist.
Her unique role - and her status as one of the highest-paid consultants - in the Gore operation was first reported by Time magazine.
Gore has gone to great lengths to conceal Wolf's role, funneling her payments through other consulting firms so her name would not appear on financial reports.
A frequent contributor to political magazines, Wolf is one of the most talked-about feminists of her time, though her ideology is not easily labeled. In her first book, she attacked cosmetic companies for infusing women with inferior views of themselves, but in later writings she accused women of complicity in accepting that status by failing to seize power.
Wolf's ''Promiscuities: The Secret Struggle for Womanhood'' is written in ''the first-person sexual,'' as she put it, and argues that the best way to strike a balance between abstinence and intercourse is to teach teens ''sexual gradualism'' or masturbation, mutual masturbation, and oral sex. It is, Wolf wrote, ''as sensible as teaching kids to drive.''
Gore's aides were hard-pressed to say why the vice president turned to a woman with so many provocative views for such high-priced guidance. Many who had only learned of her role in recent weeks acknowledged that news of her behind-the-scenes influence has created tensions in an operation that has already struggled through several rounds of housecleaning.
Yesterday, appearing on ABC's ''This Week,'' Gore said Wolf has worked closely with his eldest daughter, Karenna Gore Schiff, on a project she heads to recruit young people to his campaign. But a half-dozen sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Wolf's influence stretches far beyond that. Wolf has participated in strategy meetings at the vice president's home, assisted in writing speeches, and spent three days last week with Gore as he prepared for his joint appearance with rival Bill Bradley.
