Mechitzot--separation during prayer

For this pre-Shabbat post, my husband showed me Cross Currents, which has a post about mechitzot. I tried to comment on it, but somehow it was rejected.

This is what I had tried to send:

I was raised in a Conservative shul until the age of 13 when we moved, and the most practical for various reasons was Orthodox; later I become Torah observant.At first, before becoming religious, the separation bothered me, but once synagogue attendence became spiritual, rather than social, the mechitza became very welcome.

When I was about 17 and already well on my way to Orthodoxy, a friend from my old shul called and told me that she wasn't going to go to shul any more. I asked her why and she said:

"I'm sick and tired of everyone making a big deal about which guy I'm sitting near."

A good mechitza reduces distractions. Unfortunately, especially in Modern Orthodox shuls in the states, the mechitzot are rather farcial and don't prevent men and women from having full visual and even verbal contact.

Do other people see it like this? I go to shul for a more inspiring prayer than I can get at home. I bought myself a seat by the wall, so there would be less distractions. And I have no desire to "participate" from the "bimah."

Shabbat Shalom and Shannah Tovah