Love the article. My issues with mechitzas is that in my experience they tend to exacerbate the talking problem, especially on the women's side. Shul becomes an unabashed gossip zone, where almost no one is davening. Plus, when the women can see into the men's section there's the added, "Which one of them would I like to marry?" distraction factor. At the synagogue in Dublin the women's balcony was up so high that the women generally felt free to speak at their normal volumes during davening, and frequently poked me, saying, "You know, he's single..." Then there's the couples who meet at the mechitza and pass the baby over it, or just chat for five minutes during davening. It's conspicuous and annoying as hell.

Not that I'm bitter or anything...