LEARNING

SEIG

WILL THE HEALTHCARE PACKAGE BE GOOD FOR WOMEN? Her hands are now at rest. Once they were bound. Both by her and by the strong arm of her government.

Falima Ibrahim. A A speaker. A union lender for Sudanese women's rights. Her husband won an international

Peace Medal. At the same moment he was executed, she was imprisoned. Denied food and medicine, Fatima fell into a coma. Yet few details of her ordeal are forgotten. Today, because of Amnesty International, and people like you, Fatima is considered lucky. She is alive'. Today, she is president of the Women's International Democratic Federation.

Let no one tc our hands are bound. Pick up a pen and raise your voice for those who can't. Join Amnesty and become a Freedom Writer. Call 1-800-55-AMNESTY, It's your human right.

M N Y N R N T I O N Summer 1993 Contents FEATURES 12 They Could Not be Moved: The Anti-Nazi Heroism of the White Rose by Fred Pelka 18 Healthcare for All — Will It Be Good For Women? by Elayne Clift 23 Communiques From the Front: LEARNING FROM Young Activists Chart Feminism's Third Wave MALCOLM X by Bonnie Pfister 27 29 Update: Inches From Freedom — Forever? The Prolonged Oppression of the Sahrawis by John W. Bartktt 29 What Women Can Learn From Malcolm X by Flo Kennedy and Irene Davall

44 The Deadly Denial An Interview With Feminist Author Susan Griffin by Heather Rhoads

SPECIAL SECTION WOMEN UNDER SIEGE 32 For Irish Feminists: Activism=Imprisonment, Strip Search and Death by Betsy Swart The Message in the Murder of Sheena Campbell 34 Like The Phoenix We Rise: Irish POW Bronwyn McGahan Speaks Out 36 Let's Finally Right the Wrongs: Rape is a War Crime by Jean Bethke Elshtain 40 Bosnia: No Place to Hide - No Place to Run The Balkanization of Women's Bodies by Jill Benderly

COLUMNS DEPARTMENTS Merle Hoffman—3 Front Lines—2 The Text Behind That Cover Girl Smile Win Some»Lose Some—9 Elayne Rapping—5 Choice Books—48 How the Media Distorts Women's Progress Feedback—58 12 Phyllis Chesler—7 An Update on Aileen Wuornos

About the Cover: "Using a Blueprint from Malcolm X" Cover Photo: by David Plakke/Art Ink ( Plakke's photography is exhibited internationally and his award-winning direction can be seen in the documentary "Necros: An Aftermath") (Background; The Pathfinder Mural 410 West Street, NYC) IIUJIIIIIIIU»JJJJJ1M:HJ.MII11 Front Lines

VOL.11 NO.3 SUMMER 1993

PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF Torture, Rape, Gynocide Merle Hoffman EXECUTIVE EDITOR Beverly Lowy EXECUTIVE EDITORIAL CONSULTANT Linda Gutstein and Silence ASSOCIATE EDITOR Laurie Ouellette Throughout the world women's bodies are being ASSISTANT EDITOR Karen Aisenberg used as battlefields, but you'd never know it if your EDITOR AT LARGE news sources are the major media. Phyllis Chesler It was mid-August, 1992 when I first read of the CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Eleanor J. Bader mass rapes and gynocides in Bosnia. To my knowl- Jill Benderly edge, at that time Neiv York Newsday was the only Charlotte Bunch newspaper to feature the horrors, which they did Vinie Burrows Naomi Feigelson Chase in a four-page spread. Months went by before the Elayne Clift rest of the media followed. Why? Irene Davall bell hooks On the eve of International Women's Day, Roberta Kalechofsky March 2, 1992, a strip search of such violence was Flo Kennedy conducted on women political prisoners in Fred Pelka Elayne Rapping Maghaberry jail in Northern Ireland that 42 of our own Congresspeople sent a letter Helen M. Stummer of protest to the British Embassy. The strip searches included severe beatings and ART DIRECTORS sexual assaults. Did you read about it? Did you see it on your nightly news? I didn't. Michael Dowdy Julia Gran In Spain, in Basque country, women are being subjected to "anti-terrorist ADVERTISING AND SALES DIRECTOR legislation," where they are being detained and tortured: Raped, penetrated with Carolyn Handel objects, electrodes affixed to their breasts and genitals, cigarettes extinguished on their CIRCULATION/BUSINESS CONSULTANT Warren Braren breasts. Not a word of this has appeared in our media. MUSIC/ARTS ADVISOR In the U.S. we have our own ways of torturing women prisoners. In 1989, On the Carrulle M. Barbone Issues reported on the conditions at the Women's High Security Unit at Lexington, ON THE ISSUES The Progressive Woman's KY, where women political prisoners were subj ected to random full-body cavity strip Quarterly: A feminist, humanist magazine of critical searches, kept awake for long periods, denied medical treatment and kept under thinking, dedicated to fostering collective responsibility for positive social change. constant surveillance by male guards, even while they took showers. Not one ON THE ISSUES The Progressive Woman's mainstream news outlet has ever done an expose on the brutal treatment of women Quarterly (ISSN 0895-6014) is published quarterly as an prisoners in this country. Why? informational and educational service of CHOICES Women's Medical Center, Inc., 97-77 Queens In this edition of On the Issues you will read the firsthand accounts of women in their Boulevard, Flushing, NY 11374-3317. various besieged countries. You will be told of the cold-blooded murder of a 29-year- Unsolicited Manuscripts: All material will be read by the editors. For return, enclose self-addressed, old Irish feminist as Bernadette Devlin Me Aliskey reveals the underlying reasons why stamped envelope with proper postage. Articles should this young woman was singled out. You will learn the true story of the horrors of not be more than 2,000 words. All editing decisions are Maghaberry prison from the lips of a prisoner barely out of her teens. What you read at the discretion of the editors. Feminist cartoons are also acceptable under the same provisions. ON THE here will not be found in the major media because those who make the decisions on ISSUES does not accept fiction or poetry. what is newsworthy reveal the act of gynocide only when it becomes genocide, and Advertising accepted at the discretion of the publisher. sometimes not even then. Acceptance does not necessarily imply endorsement. PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The opmions expressed by It is up to us women to network throughout the world, wherever we can and by contributors and by persons interviewed are not whatever means possible to shed light on what is happening to women everywhere. necessarily those of the editors. ON THE ISSUES is a forum where women may have their voices heard It is up to us to join together, to raise our voices in protest, to use whatever means without censure or censorship. we can to stop this scourge enveloping the women of the world. Subscription Information: 1 year S14.75; 2 years In the words of Marge Piercy: S2S.75; 3 years S34.75. Institutional rate: Add $10 first year; }5 each additional year. Add $4 per year for "Strong is what we make each other Canadian orders; $4 per year foreign (surface mail) or Until we are strong together." $20 per year foreign (airmail). Send to ON THE ISSUES The Progressive Woman's Quarterly, PO Box 3000, Dept. OTI, Denville, NJ 07834. Second-Class Postage Paid at Flushing, New York and additional mailing office. Newsstand: Distribution by Eastern News Distributors, Inc., 2020 Superior St. Sandusky, OH 44870 Beverly Lowy Postmaster: Send address changes to ON THE ISSUES The Progressive Woman's Quarterly. PO Box Executive Editor 3000, Dept. OTI, Denville, NJ 07834-9838

ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 I S S E S n the morning any notion of power when it came to that I would be women, was conspicuously absent in posing for pho- these purely traditional female poses. tographers for When presenting women, power was an upcoming projected as a prop, much like a costume profile in Lean that can be put on and taken off. Now magazine I of that we have a First Lady who has real course dressed power, a female Attorney General, a myself with more than my customary Supreme Court justice, senators, gover- attention to detail. The issue of what to nors, Cabinet members and more women wear — slacks suit or dress, basic black or in positions of corporate and political color, what color, how to do the makeup, power than ever before, I was struck by the hair, how to control the presentation the fact that women's magazines persist of self — became a far more serious in presenting these and other women in undertaking than usual. variations of the classic feminine submis- Then as I sat in my office awaiting the sive posture. It is a presentation that photographers, I began to muse on how signals accommodation and vulnerabil- the images of'women in women's maga- ity — and it shows us that even when it zines are not merely a question of photo- comes to women with power, we are graphic aesthetics, but are laden with portrayed as merely "women" with a political and social significance. Consid- power that dares not show its face. ering the amount of money spent to Particularly compelling was the De- advertise, publish and purchase them and cember 28, 1992 issue of Neivsweek which the number of women who read, sub- pictured Hillary Clinton on the cover scribe to and buy into their message, their smiling broadly, her head resting on a importance went far beyond the com- closed hand. The cover line read mercial. I began to deduce a sub-text "Women of the Year" and the inside behind the bland beauty of the women story went on to present the top women pictured in them. in the new Clinton Administration. Prior to and immediately after the pre- Under the title "Power and Glory," sidential election, we had been bom- Hillary was posed for the cameras dressed barded with magazine photos of the new comfortably in sweaters and slacks, half women in "power" and I noticed how reclining on the floor, bolstered by a living-room chair. Both the cover image Mandy Grunwald and Hillary and the one within the magazine could Rodham Clinton: The power that be characterized as "user friendly," very dares not show its face. much like the broadly smiling models and photos of women in traditional "women's magazines." In so many of these photos, there is often an implied male presence. He is watching. The woman's facial expression, makeup, body pose and clothing communicate this. Whoever she is, whatever she has be- come, or whatever she may be doing in the world, she must be presented to us through his eyes, eyes that require that she appear in girlish, welcoming, non- threatening postures. These poses are what sociologist Irving Gofrhian postu- lates are the nonverbal communication of photographic images. Goffrnan notes that female models of- ten exhibit what he describes as "head- and-body-tiltingcantingpostures." These are postures — the lowering of the head for instance — that communicate an acceptance of a subordinate role with respect to the viewer of the picture. Goffinan sees the posturing of childlike

ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 PHOTOS:THEO WESTENBERGER/GAMMA and playful poses as minimizing the seri- She appears head down, hands crossed tively playing the object of the action ousness of women; he calls these "ritual- under chin with her eyes childishly look- while in reality she is clearly the subject. istic mollifieK." The bashful "knee-bend" ing up towards us — the cover line above She is the subject of that ubiquitous male pose that models exhibit and that can be reads: "Sex Report — Are your orgasms onlooker, and our and even her own described as childlike and trusting, sug- normal? Exciting new findings." gaze. We are not quite sure what she is gests that they are vulnerable to, and ITEM: BBW(Big Beautiful Woman), looking at, she seems to be looking past dependent on, those who are viewing February 1993: A wind-swept blonde us forever in what Goffrnan calls an them. turns towards us with the expression of a "anchored drift," a pose which shows What does power look like in a woman, deer that has been caught by headlights women mentally drifting away from the I puzzled? Whatever it is, I was sure it did — the cover line reads: "Are you too situation at hand and which is also con- not come in the packaged smiles of cover sleepy for SEX?" veyed by the absent, unfocused gaze of girls who so artfully exhibited vulnerabil- ITEM: American Woman, February many of the cover girls. ity, dependence and playfulness. I was 1993: A broadly smiling blonde, low The same piece pictures Mandy determined not to exhibit any of these decolletage, hands coming up towards Grunwald, a media consultant who is postures for the readers of Leans and I lost chin — cover line reads: "The One Hour described as a "fearsomely smart woman no time in telling that to the photogra- Orgasm — Erotic techniques that pro- who is not afraid to be tough and is not phers from the magazine who walked afraid of success." However fearsomely into my office. smart she is, she is presented looking "I'm not doing any of that traditional downward leaning on what seems to be female stuff," I said. "What stuff?" "You a couch containing bed pillows. One know, cute, playful things — like this" shoe is off and a television set is tuned — I then proceeded to parody the clas- into Bill Clinton's face. Her body is sical cover girl pose: wide-eyed smile posed in such a way that his TV image is with chin cupped in hands. looking directly towards her crotch. "Well, shall we dress you in a King Has her fearsome smartness been mol- Kong outfit and hangyou from the top of lified, effectively rendered harmless? the building — or how about some Sandra Day O'Connor, the first and jockey shorts?" I was not amused as they only woman on the Supreme Court, is began to take stock of my office and set photographed walking down a grand up. "Listen," said the other, "you know marble staircase. She descends in her if you want a traditional male power shot black robe, one hand on the ballistrade, you can always place your hands in the one against her breast wearing an open triangle pose," which he then demon- Tipper Gore: Object or Subject? smile, while her legs assume a particu- strated by putting the fingertips ofboth of larly female posture — ankles gracefully his hands together in front ofhim. "That's long your pleasure (and his)." And to touching. She looks like the ultimate power in male form?" I asked. "Yes, insure that evenso-called "career women" hostess about to greet her guest at a that's what they always do," he said as he are not exempt from the homogeniza- dinner party, "so good of you to come." looked around my office for props to tion, GoodHousekeepinghas Maria Shriver, One after another the images assault us, pose me with. He was immediately drawn a successful media personality, on the always smiling, ever ready to accommo- to the large black desk and beckoned me cover in a classical "bashful-knee" pose. date. They are good girls all, exhibiting to sit behind it. Not satisfied with adopt- The cover line reads: "Maria Shriver talks a characteristic a "friend" described Zoe ing the male power pose of the 10 finger- about Arnold, their daughters, and why Baird as having: "She gave good daugh- tips locked in a tent of powerful thought, she wants to quit her TV job." ter." Good daughters are good girls and I decided to try and find an honest and The images of models and cover girls don't make trouble or revolutions and direct way of showing who I am. that stare out at us so engagingly attempt they don't have power. At least not a First smiling, then half smiling, then in to sell us images of ourselves, images power that is visible — not one that can profile, then full faced, with books, with made by photographers and advertisers. be recognized and respected. artwork, until two hours into the shoot, The warm, welcoming cover girl is, When power comes dressed in tradi- while I was sitting against the window, he ironically, the most aggressive and pow- tional female roles it remains in the asked me to pull my legs up and place my erful advertisement a women's magazine closet. The question is, when will women arms around my knees. I started to do it can muster. It silently promises us that we define their own images — come into by rote and found that I was automati- too can look like this, can be this if only their own definitions of power? Some cally assuming one of the most traditional we would follow the advice within and feminists have all too easily accepted the positions — the playful little girl. "Let's buy the products advertised on its pages. definition of power as male, while accu- take a break," I said as I sat up and walked Back to the Women of the Year and the rately locating its abuses both within away. power and the glory in Newsweek. Tipper individuals and institutions. But power Once again my mind went to the Gore is pictured photographed from be- has many faces — not all of which are magazines, the ones I had recently col- hind —holding a camera underneath her authoritarian, deadly, violent or exploit- lected to illustrate my point. chin as she gazes a in a mirror, seemingly ative. It is up to us to express them — to ITEM: The ultimate female submissive about to photograph herself. The image create and define them so that we come pose is portrayed by Princess Di on the itself is a play on the observer observing to recognize ourselves in them and boldly cover of New Woman, February 1993. the observer. Tipper seems to be effec- show our faces. •

ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 I S T

^^^^^^^^m °l°r me confused. Times finally admitted in a two-page ^j ^\ Things change so report that single women in their 40s and K quickly and radi- 50s are far happier than their male coun- cally in today's me- terparts and mostly chose not to marry. ^B dia-dnven world While the individual facts, in each of ^^L that I'm having these "Year ot's ...," may be valid, any ^^k ^ trouble keeping up instant conclusions drawn from these ^^ with the Official contradictory configurations of data Feminist Program. Last year, if I re- should mostly be ignored. They are member correctly, was "The Year of the "here today, gone tomorrow" effluvia, Backlash," when things could not have born of the postmodern media's need to looked worse for women. We were distort, trivialize and sensationalize social supposedly losing every significant battle reality in an endless quest for instant, — with the media, the government, the ever- changing, ever-sexier stars and head- corporate structure, and the courts. Best lines. seller and talk show guest lists were top It is always possible to pick and choose heavy with doom-and-gloom sayers as- among facts and events relating to any suring us that the score was Feminism: social phenomena or issue to demon- Zero; Rich Old White Men: All. What- strate convincingly that it is either The ever successes and advances we Second best of times or the worst of times. If you Wavers imagined we had achieved 'were are working within the confines of the proven to be mirages — tricks played media's time-space parameters for creat- upon our minds to distract us from the far ing sensational snapshots of reality more powerful and malevolent forces of out of two or three faces and a handful the Beauty Myth, the Glass Ceiling, the of simplisricaUy interpreted "events," Old Boys' Network and other reaction- that is. ary forces. So last year it was Susan Faludi and And then, suddenly, the headlines Gloria Steinem looking dour and de- changed. The clouds broke, the boot feated on the cover of Time. This year, lifted from our necks and we emerged as it's been the far-from-dour faces of phoenixes from the ashes in full Wonder women like Carol Mosely Braun, Hillary Woman regalia. It was now, we were Rodham Clinton, and Ann Richards told, "The Year of the Woman": The proclaiming that suddenly, while no- year we stormed Capitol Hill; the year body was looking, what seemed like three new studies by female economists abject defeat had been miraculously trans- showed that women's incomes had risen formed into victory. significantly in relation to men's in the I could list endless, paradoxical ex- 1980s after all; and the year the New York amples of how quickly and dramatically the media view of women's situation has The Year Of. . .' Women like "Roseanne" have come a changed in the last few months. But long way on TV. there is one — the overnight shift in our common understanding of the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas affair—that most clearly points up the folly of paying too much attention to the tabloids and pun- dits. Last year it was decided that Hill was a loser, a hopeless victim of the "obvi- ous" forces of backlash, so quickly and definitively that three new books are filled with this overly simplistic "truth" of the moment. Today, in a night-to-day shift in perspective, she has emerged as a winner after all: A woman who single- handedly changed the course of women's history. And so it goes. We ride the tides of media "reality," allowing "The McLaughlin Group" and Times Best Seller List to tell us how to feel about ourselves and how to interpret our own long-term, collective experience accord- ing to sound bites and photo opportuni-

ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 ties. How will 1993 rank for women? times to public notice, mostly invisibly Will we go forward or backward? Will — to whom we owe honor and grati- Madonna's newest incarnation be a' 'posi- tude for pushing the struggle forward. tive" or "negative" image, a sign of our Nor is the much-maligned media as continuous rise or precipitous decline? free of heroic stories of feminist struggles Personally, I have never put much and occasional victories as the backlash stock in the backlash hysteria. In fact, I am theorists would have us believe. Dan on record in several places as among the Quayle, I'm sorry to say, was more on few cockeyed optimists who insisted, target on that score than feminists cared against the tide of political fashion, that to admit. In an effort to make a black/ things were actually going much better white case — the kind the media itself than anyone was noticing. Perhaps it is a loves because it plays so well on mistake, I said, to wallow in hopelessness "Crossfire" and "Nightline" — we lost FREE BILL and defeat at a time when women — the opportunity to claim our rightful especially younger women — were al- credit for that true emblem of feminism's ready so overwhelmed by cynicism and successful struggle to infiltrate primetime: CLINTON. victimization narratives as to be immobi- "Murphy Brown." In fact, Monday lized with despair and depression. nights on CBS—from Barbara Corday's It seemed to me that whether we were, "Cagney and Lacey" to Linda HELP FREE our government from the like me, veterans of the Second Wave, or, Bloodworth-Thomason's "Designing grip of special interests—just by like my daughter and my students, in- Women" and Diane English's "Murphy heritors of that legacy, we were doing Brown''—have long been testaments to talking on the phone. ourselves a disservice in not recognizing the quiet power of feminists working and giving credit to the many women invisibly in media jobs of the lowest and We're Working Assets Long over the last quarter century who, out of highest order to change the way gender Distance. Every call you make on sight of the TV cameras, have been quietly working hard to change the world continued on pg 55 our fiber-optic lines sends money to for women in profound and permanent ways. Women's history is not made by feisty groups working for the public superstars or documented in glitzy head- ON THE ISSUES interest. (So far we've given over $2 lines. It is, and has always been, made by armies of both organized and indepen- Subscriber million to Public Citizen, Children's dent women everywhere — in high Service places and low — fightingt o change the P.O. Box 3000 Defense Fund and scores of others.) definitions, images and conditions in and Denville, NJ 07834-9838 with which we live. I I Change of Address: Please allow And that's not all. Every In fact, to use the case of Anita Hill and — three weeks. 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ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 I PI Y VIEW

or the first time in U.S. walkie-talkie. "You're a halfhour early" history, a woman stands he says accusingly. accused of being a serial "I was advised to arrive at 12:30 to killer—ofhaving killed allow a halfhour to be processed. Can I six adult male motor- wait inside?" ists, one by one, injust He stares straight ahead and, after awhile, over a year, after ac- shrugs as if to say "guess you can." companying them to I walk to the end of the room to the wooded areas ofFHighway 75 in Florida, glassed-in enclosure. A receptionist tells Fa state well-known for its sun, surf and me I'm too early, and that her only escort serial killers. is busy. Eventually Sergeant "X," a I first heard about Aileen (Lee) Carol woman wearing a brown uniform and Wuomos in December of 1990, when heavy black men's shoes, is buzzed into Flonda newspapers and national media the waitingroom. She says: "Well, Lee is announced: "Two women are being being difficult. Moody as hell. Uh-huh. sought as possible suspects in the shoot- That's how she got with the BBC crew. ing deaths of eight to 12 middle-aged She just didn't want to see them." men who were lured to their deaths on Sergeant X and I wait. And then, the Florida highways...These women suddenly, she says: "Well, c'mon, let's are armed and dangerous and may be our go. I told you she changes her mind. nation's first female serial killers." She'll see you now." The Sergeant told me no such thing. It's a 35-minute drive from the Ft. But her job is to keep prisoners off An Update Lauderdale airport to Death Row at the balance so that you stop thinking for on Aileen Wuornos Broward Correctional Institute. I drive yourself and simply do what you're told up to the last building on the property. A with no questions asked. Also, you don't male guard-in-uniform, armed with a argue with a prison guard when you're in gun and a walkie-talkie, is sitting in an her territory. open-doored van, observing whatever I'm not a prisoner in the Broward there is to observe. Me. I start walking Correctional Institute, but I'm not about over to ask for directions. to do anything that will allow them to "Stand back," he orders. I freeze in my justify canceling my visit or punishing tracks. He calls my name in on his Lee for my "uppity" behavior. Prison bureaucracies are formidable Aileen IVuornos on Death row. paramilitary endeavors, fraught with humans caged, or lined up like school- children, heart-stopping metal bars, ear- splitting metal detectors. Will an insur- rection-in-her-heart metal detector go off? There's so much force and punish- ment on display — all of which can and will be used against you if you do any- thing to suggest that you're not properly defeated, or at least intimidated. Move too suddenly, or too colorfully, and you're challenging the rule of inertia, messing with the system, they'll bury you alive: In lawsuits and investigations, or in solitary. Who wants to risk it? The Broward bureaucracy has made its point; I'm al- ready super-alert and somewhat docile. Lee: You hit the ground running before either Thelma or Louise came to town. You're the real star of that movie; it's about you, about what you've done, about what to do, when men, you know, ordinary married men, the mainstay of

continued on pg 56

ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 PHOTO PHYLLIS CHESLER 7 'Best in the malodorous Business for piece of Investigative Limburger..." Journalism."

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5AFD In an era of junk-food journalism, here's a magazine you can sink your teeth into. Win Some & Lose Some A Compiled Adaptation of News Items with Editorial Commentary by Beverly Lowy

INVASION OF THE Among problems cited: BODY SNATCHERS *In Thailand, the forced Combined news dispatches: recruitment of children seems "Child catchers, ""searchers," to be systematic, with "child and "cats" are out looking for catchers" roaming rural areas, children and adults to lure buying or taking children from into slavery. poor families to be put on sale Despite laws against forced in cities. labor around the globe, *In Haiti, labor contractors millions of human beings still known as biismncs, orsearchers, are working in bondage, ply the hinterlands for workers, according to a report released including children, to be by the International Labor shipped off to the Dominican Organizations, a United Republic for forced labor on Nations survey team. sugar plantations. London-based Antislavery *In Brazil, men known as International says accurate gatos, or cats, prowl poor estimates of people in slavery communities with promises are impossible but the number of good wages that evaporate could be as high as 200 million when child and adult workers working under conditions are taken hundreds of miles outlawed by international from their villages, given agreements. Many have been meager wages and charged for captured or enticed into travel and food, leaving them servitude by slave raiders who no •way out. roam impoverished or war- torn regions of Asia, Africa Here we use illegal aliens to fill and Latin America, ILO says. the bill.

LOW-COST RAPE tified, was placed under a A YEAR OF LIVING white supremists, Klanwatch News dispatch: Angry British three-year supervision order DANGEROUSLY said racial bias was the politicians attacked a judge but was not jailed for raping News dispatch: Hate motive in at least 21 homicides for allowing a teenage boy to the 15-year-old when she re- crimes involving racial, last year. The group said the go free after raping a school- fused to give him a birthday religious or other kinds 31 hate-related deaths in mate. kiss. The judge at a court in of bias increased 1992 compared with 27 The boy, who was not iden- Newport, South Wales, or- nationwide in 1992 and documented in 1991 and 20 dered the boy to pay his vic- were linked to at least 31 in 1990. tim $720. He suggested she killings and 322 acts of And by Robert Der, NY use the token compensation vandalism according to Newsday: For the third year to take a holiday. an antiracism monitoring in a row, New York City group. led the nation in antigay Tlie judge is the one who needs The Southern Poverty hate crimes with 662 a holiday — from the Law Center's Klanwatch incidents reported in 1992, bench permanently. unit said in Atlanta that announced the New York heightened racial conflict, City Gay and Lesbian Anti- especially from the Rodney Violence Project. The King case in Los Angeles, figures represent a 12 made 1992 the "deadliest percent increase over 1991. and most violent year" Bias crimes range from since it began monitoring verbal harassment to bias-related crimes in 1979. beatings. In an annual report documenting hate-related If you've got to be taught to violence and activity by an hate, there must be sonic pretty estimated hard-core 25,000 potent tutorials going on.

ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 IIUSTCATIONS SUSAN GREENSTBN 9 DISSING WOMEN IN she said. In 1942, her sister THE MILITARY and other female pilots also Gus Dallas, NY Daily News: towed targets for ground Brig. Gen. Mildred Bailey, runners. Her plane was hit who retired in 1976 as head of many times but she was the Women's Army Corps, never injured, the woman told a reunion of World War told the vets. II women veterans that "When two of her friends the first enlisted were killed on duty, they were women were not entitled to burial fees," the pilot's sister said. "The squadron chipped in to bury them."

As usual, women are good enough to sen v and be killed but not to acliiet'c first- class status. I sworn in by Ithe Navy and"' [Marine Corps in"" /orld War I, but create a pornographic picture horrified Congress ther and not have a victim," said passed legislation barring* Catherine Sanz, the special women from the services." agent in charge of the investi- The women stayed on duty gation. until the end of the war, when tion Long Arm, the ongoing Sanz, who heads a team of "they were sent home case is the most extensive in customs agents who investi- without any benefits." It U.S. history and the first to gate child-pornography traf- was not until May, 1942, specificaUy target child-porn ficking, said many of the tar- that Congress approved swapping over computers, gets of the raid were sophisti- women's enlistments, Bailey DESKTOP KIDDIE federal officials said. cated computers users, among said. Another woman spoke PORN Increasingly, home comput- them a large number of pro- of her deceased older sister Joshua Quittner, N\ Newsday: ers are being used as desktop grammers and technicians who ferried bombers to Federal authorities, inspect- darkrooms; relatively inex- who managed company com- England and across the United ing the contents of dozens of pensive equipment allows us- puter systems. "This case only States for two years during the computers following a na- ers to scan photos into their targeted a specific type of in- war. Though the many female tional child-porn raid in computers and alter them. For dividual, that is, people who ferry pilots risked death on March, face a new problem in chi]d-pom collectors, the abil- were computer literate," she kevery flight, they were the porn-busting business: Are ity to splice a legal photograph added. "None of the targets jiot entitled to military the images real or are they of a child with a legal photo- were what you would con- benefits, fabricated by computers? graph of adults engaged in sider the dirty old man hang- U.S. Customs Service agents sexually explicit conduct could ing around the school yard." seized or inspected comput- be a way to circumvent fed- ers and related equipment in eral statutes. No, just dirty computer literates 18 states. Known as Opera- "The technology exists to hanging around.

SEX ABUSE ISN'T and her lawyer attacked as Department of Social Services, allegations of sexual activity. CHILD'S PLAY "ridiculous" the state report which showed the boys But many ofth e activities were Bob Liff, !\Y Newsday: An declaring the claim of sexual escaped several times with the not entered in the agency's eight-year-old retarded girl abuse "unfounded." The girl to a nearby building, where official log, which die modier's was repeatedly sexually abused abuse reportedly occurred at they engaged in sexual activities. attorney, Bruce Young, said by five boys, all age 11 or St. Joseph's Services for The six children lived in a constitutes evidence the child's younger, in a Brooklyn, NY Children and Families. residential section of die agency, welfare was endangered. In psychiatric diagnostic center, While records of complaints which oversees children in foster her report, Robertson wrote but investigation of the are routinely expunged after care and other programs. "each sexual contact was complaint was dropped after a being dubbed "unfounded," The state investigator - initiated by [the girl].. .lasting caseworker said the girl Leichter and the girl's mother, identified in court documents only a brief time." initiated some of the activity. Shirley Greenaway, obtained as Sandra Robertson — said State Sen. Franz Leichter (D- a copy of the report by the staff members at the center We'd like to know: \1to was Manhattan), the girl's mother investigator for the state's knew about some of the clocking it?

10 IIUSTRAT1ONS SUSAN GSEENSTEIN ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 BENCH-PRESSING PLAYMATES? Los Angeles Times: The women who pose nude as Playboy magazine centerfolds are strapping on ski boots, lacing up tennis shoes and, yes, buckling on . race car helmets. The Play- mates — in a provocative sports marketing venture — will be competing in athletic events aimed at at- tracting new advertisers, corporate sponsors and consumers. Behind all this is a bid by Chicago-based Playboy Enterprises to remold its image into something more politically correct for the 1990s. Playboy is also press- ing to improve its shaky bottom line — net income was down 22 percent in fiscal year 1992 compared to 1991 — and to cash in on corporate America's burgeoning interest in the, $2 billion -world of sports marketing. ing skiers a chance to ski with two biggest male preoccu- land, president of the Na- Playboy executives are ag- the Playmate ski team. And pations in this country into tional Organization for gressively courting companies the Playmate equestrian team one highly marketable Women. "No one attend- and trade groups willing to is about to link up with Hol- package," said Brian ing these events is going ante up to $10,000 a day so lywood Park, where it will Murphy, publisher of the there so they can see the that one of the 22 Playmate take part in a number of the Sports Marketing Letter. "But Playmates' athletic abili- sports teams will spend the Inglewood, CA racetrack's all it really is is sex dis- ties." day at their gig. Several ski promotions. guised as sports." resorts attracted throngs of "It's inevitable that some- "It's an easily transparent Guess it depends on your defini- customers last winter bv eiv- one would try to mix the facade," said Patricia Ire- tion of "athletic abilities."

TO BE FEMALE, tor Black women. film, sometimes people get as development. "You get GIFTED AND BLACK Debra Robinson, an At- themselves off the hook by a little vigilante when Bronwen Hruska and Gra- lanta-based independent film- using that film. It's kind of you're in the front of a line ham Rayman, NY Times: maker, tookfburyears to com- like taking out an N.A.A.C.P. that doesn't seem to be Black women still lag far plete her second film, "Kiss membership or sending moving," she says. behind other under repre- Grandmama Goodbye," be- money to charity." In an action reminiscent of sented groups in Hollywood, cause she got even less grant Even Debbie Allen, the the controversy over "The like Black male and white money than she did for her director and producer of Color Purple" — in which a female directors. In 1991 and first film. Robinson's next the top-rated "Cosby Show" white male, Steven Spielberg, 1992, nearly 30 films directed problem was getting the film spinoff/'ADifferentWorld;' directed a film about Black by Black males were nation- seen. She called two theaters, has yet to see a feature movie women — Disney Studios ally released. In 1991, there one in Charleston, SC and deal. Allen, who first earned recendy hired another white were at least a dozen by white one in Dayton, OH. "They recognition for her work male, Brian Gibson, to direct women — still less than five each said they had shown one on the television series its production of "Tina," percent of the year's total. Black film, 'Daughters,' so "Fame," is probably the whose central figure is a Black Independent filmmaking, they didn't need to show an- best-connected Black fe- woman, the pop star Tina the only viable option for other," says Robinson, who male director around. Turner. unknown directors who want has won awards in European Yet her projects have lan- to prove themselves, presents and American film festivals. guished for six years in that Wlute men don't have to jump its own obstacles, especially "If one film is cited as 'the' studio dead-zone known — they own the team.

ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 11 They Could Not Be Moved: The Anti-Nazi Heroism of RosfSWhitee There is a single room in the German "Really, it was a Resistance Memorial Center on Bendlerstrasse in Berlin dedicated to "the resistance of life, of White Rose." It's a sparse exhibit, con- truth, of warmth and sisting of a small number of black and white photographs of the group's princi- most of all of spirit I pal members, along with some text ex- plaining how, in 1942 and early 1943, am convinced that these few university students tried to confront their fellow Germans with the what the Scholls and truth about the Nazis, the war, and the Holocaust. The faces are young, most in their friends started— their early 20s. Collecting information from Poland and the Russian front, these especially Sophie, as a students printed and distributed a series girl—is still at work. of underground leaflets, and painted slo- gans like "Freedom" and "Mass Mur- It is still pulsating derer Hitler" on public monuments and walls all over Munich. The White Rose in the air." hoped, ultimately, to provoke an anti- Nazi uprising. — Use Aichinger The exhibit also includes copies of their leaflets, exhorting Germans to think, to feel, to resist. Thousands of these were scattered in train and bus stations, in theaters, classrooms and phone booths. Hundreds more were mailed to promi- nent intellectuals, physicians, and minis- ByFredPelka ten, as well as to ordinary people chosen

12 PHOTO OF SOPHIE SCHOLL: SCHOLl FAMILY COLLeCTION ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 at random from the phone book. Mem- Scholls' "spirit," their call to human now the distinction of being a woman, bers of the White Rose traveled across decency, is also still "pulsating in the air" symbolized by menstruation. Later on, Germany by train to distribute and mail were strengthened in Munich last De- though, she suffered from painful men- their leaflets, never knowing if they'd be cember, when 300,000 people turned strual cramps...also, she felt it was unfair stopped by the authorities, their papers out to protest the neo-Nazi violence. that girls had to bleed and boys did not." checked, their bags examined. Sophie once wrote, "To me, justice The family moved to Ulm when Sophie "It is certain today," they wrote in their takes precedence over all other attach- was 14, and soon afterwards the Scholl first leaflet, "that every honest German is ments." In her diary she confided how it children had their first problems with the ashamed ofhis government. Who among is "better to suffer intolerable pain than to "folkish" state. Hans and Sophie were us has any conception of the shame that vegetate insensibly. Better to be parched both accomplished musicians: Hans a will befall us and our children when one with thirst... than to feel empty, and to guitarist, Sophie a flutist. Both were well day the veil has fallen and the most feel so without truly feeling at all. That I read, and Sophie was also a gifted artist. horrible crimes — crimes that infinitely mean to resist." When the Hitler Youth prohibited all outdistance every human measure — "Good, splendid young people," Tho- but "Aryan" music, Hans continued to reach the light of day?" mas Mann called the Scholls, while Ger- sing his favorite Slavic folksongs . When The group composed six leaflets in all, man writer Erich Kuby, 10 years after her a BDM leader came to Ulm from Berlin dispersed at intervals from May 1942 death, explained how "Sophie Scholl, to make "suggestions" on what proper until February 1943 within the occupied though younger, was more mature and German girls should read, Sophie de- territories. InMunich, Hamburg, Vienna, more sober than her friends...[her] rea- fended her love of Heinrich Heine — a Berlin, Freiberg, Saarbrucken, Salzberg, soning was rational and would not be German Jewish poet. At school, Sophie in occupied Norway and neutral Swe- misled by her emotions. But neither did went out of her way to befriend two den, the White Rose spread its message it harness her emotions. The two poles of Jewish girls ostracized by teachers and of defiance against the Nazis. clear logic and visionary sensitivity were classmates; and Hans and Sophie both "They helped many of the dying, much further apart in her than in most began to share their father's aversion to helped them to die in hope,'' wrote poet people." the Nazis. Use Aichinger, remembering what the Sophie Scholl was born May 9,1921 in Hans' free spirit eventually drew the White Rose meant to Jews in Vienna, Baden-Wurttemberg. Her father Rob- attention of the authorities. Resigning in where she, a half-Jewish young woman, ert had been a conscientious objector, disgust from the Hitler Youth, he be- was living at that time. "They helped serving in an ambulance corps during came a leader in the "D.J. One Eleven" others to live — in spite of everything. It World War I; afterwards he became — a youth club organized around the was like a secret radiance that spread over mayor of Forchtenberg in Bavaria. Her appreciation of music, nature and the land, like a happiness. I remember mother Magdalene had been trained as a comradery. The club's non-political meeting an acquaintance on the street Diakonisse, or Evangelical Sister in the agenda didn't exempt it from surveil- one day, and he said to me, 'Don't beam Lutheran Church. Besides Hans, Sophie lance and suppression. Since all "non- so! They'll arrest you for beaming.' That had a younger brother Werner, and two Nazified" youth organizations were is how it was." older sisters, Inge and Elisabeth. banned, organizing a simple overnight By mid-1943 the White Rose lay Sophie was 11 years old when Hider hike was by definition a subversive activ- crushed, its leading members beheaded, came to power, and she and Hans were ity. Hans was arrested in 1937 for "devia- its collaborators sent to prisons and con- at first enthusiastic about the new order. tion," and spent five weeks in prison. centration camps. Germans read in their To many middle-class German children Sophie was also detained, but then re- newspapers of the executions of five the rise of National Socialism meant leased. Because of her clothing, hairstyle students and a professor at the University youth clubs, camping trips, uniforms and and demeanor, the Gestapo had assumed of Munich, among them Hans Scholl, flags. Hans joined the Hitler Youth, she was a boy. 24 years old, and his sister Sophie, not Sophie the League of German Girls After graduating high school Sophie quite 22. These two students, the (BDM - for Bund fur Deutscher Model). did her stint in the Arbeitsdienst — the Geschwister Scholl— the brother and sisterHans, athletic and popular, was soon a compulsory labor program for German Scholl — have been called "the heart of Hitler Youth leader. Their father disap- teens. After the onset of the war she was the White Rose." proved, and this caused some tension in also obliged to do several months' work This year marks the 50th anniversary of the family. in a munitions factory. She described this their deaths. Today, with Germans again Inge Scholl recounted what she re- period as one of "mindless and lifeless confronting what Gunter Grass has la- members of Sophie's childhood in labor, the empty mechanics, the tiny beled "the inadequately fenced-off Hermann Vinke's The Short Life of Sophielittle piece of a fractiono f work with its abysses" of their history, the story of the Scholl Early on, she recalls, Sophie showed sum unknown, with its horrifying Geschwister Scholl seems especially rel-a rebellious spirit, a concern for others, purpose.. .physically exhausting and even evant. "Everywhere and at all times," and a precocious self-assurance. more so mentally." For a time Sophie says the fourth White Rose leaflet, "de- "When her menstrual period came, she worked side by side with slave laborers mons have been lurking in the dark, was proud as a queen. How interesting — most of them women kidnapped waiting for the moment when man is and characteristic. Sophie, who was so from Russia. In her diary she recorded weak..." The truth of this is confirmed deeply involved in the life of the mind how she felt more sympathetic to these by recent events: the firebombings of and the heart, had such strong feelings Russians than to her "Aryan" workmates. refugee hostels and the assaults on and about her physicality. She relished sleep- In May 1942, just before her 21st murders of auslanders. But hopes that the ing, lying in the grass, swimming, and birthday, Sophie enrolled as a student in

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ON THE ISSUES PO Box 3000 DENVILLE NJ 07834-9838 biology and philosophy at the University Only life engenders life, or have they means war, and when he blasphemously of Munich, where Hans was studying seen a dead woman give birth to a child?" uses the name of the Almighty, he means medicine. Moving into his apartment, "As for politics," Hartnagel reported the power of evil...For Hitler and his Sophie quickly became part of Hans' after the war, "Sophie was the one that followers there is no punishment on this circle of friends, particularly Christoph set the trend. We often debated, and at earth commensurate with their crimes... Probst and Alexander Schmorell, who first I did not agree on anything. Only since the conquest of Poland three hun- had just finished distributing the first after much hesitation and reluctance did dred thousand Jews have been murdered White Rose leaflet. Hans at firsttrie d to I find myself ready to follow her ideas. in the most bestial way...Jews too, are keep this a secret from Sophie, hoping to What a tremendous plunge for me to human beings..."The second, third and shield his younger sister from danger. take — to say in mid-war, 'I am against fourth leaflets, printed in July and August Sophie, though, was not to be put off. this war,' or 'Germany has to lose this 1942 and January 1943, called for a "There's something new here for me war'...Step by step I had to admit her campaign of "sabotage in armament plants to digest every day.. ."she wrote her friend attitude was right." and war industries, sabotage at all gather- Lisa Remppis at this time. "I've an urge ings, rallies, public ceremonies, and or- to act on what has so far existed within ganizations of the National Socialist Party me merely as an idea..." ...sabotage in all the areas of science and In their letters and journals the Scholls On January 13,1943, scholarship which further the continu- obliquely referred to the psychic cost of the University of ance of the war. ..sabotage in all cultural living in a totalitarian state. They mourned institutions which could potentially en- their inability to speak freely, to keep Munich became the hance the 'prestige' of the fascists among diaries or write letters or even record the people... dreams without worrying whether these scene of the first and "We will not be silent. We are your bad might at some future point incriminate only student uprising conscience. The White Rose will not them, their friends or family. Germans of leave you in peace!" that era commonly assumed that tele- in the history of the Some have judged the White Rose a phone conversations were tapped, that Third Reich naive and romantic failure which did letters were opened (and, in fact, after nothing to shorten Hitler's terror re- 1937 Hans' mail was routinely inter- gime. German historians Steinhoff, Pechel cepted). Each street had its own "block and Showalter, for example, have gone warden" who reported to the police any One of the best examples of Sophie's so far as to call the White Rose and suspicious activity. University lectures skill in compression comes in a short similar anti-Nazi student groups "mere were monitored, libraries and book- letter to her father. Robert Scholl had way stations to martyrdom." Compared stores emptied of "subversive" literature, been denounced by his secretary for to the partisan campaigns in the occupied and many Germans, aware that the cen- muttering that Hitler was "the scourge of countries, or the "Rote Kapelle" (Red sored newspapers contained only lies, the earth." Sentenced in August 1942 to Orchestra) a politically-oriented resistance stopped reading them altogether. One of four months in prison, he was allowed to movement, the White Rose — circulat- the more serious logistical problems faced receive two letters a month. ing its leaflets and painting its anti-Nazi by the White Rose was the acquisition of "Many of the friends I wrote to about slogans — seem to these critics almost paper and postage stamps for their you send their regards," Sophie wrote on inconsequential. According to historians leafleting campaign, since the purchase September 7,1942. "They're all at work Annette E. Dumbach and Jud New- of either in any quantity was likely to on the wall ofthought s surroundingyou. born, the very name "The White Rose" solicit inquiries from the police. Conse- You can sense you're not alone, I'm sure, is itself a "poetic" or artistic symbol rather quently, the words Sophie Scholl wrote because our thoughts can breach any than a political one...intended to repre- and the images she drew or painted were gate or wall: Thoughts are —!" sent purity and innocence in the face of often carefully coded, and it is likely that The "wall of thoughts" was a reference evil," and Hans Scholl, according to the only in the White Rose leaflets could the to the banned writer Ernst Wiechart, and gestapo report of his interrogation, said Scholls and their friends truly express an essay in which he thanked his friends he'd chosen the name "arbitrarily," after reading a novel by that name by B. themselves without reservation. and readers who were "standing around Traven. Dumbach and Newborn have my house [as] a dark, faithful, steadfast... Sophie's correspondence with her fi- trouble accepting this explanation, as if ance Fritz Hartnagel is a good example of wall of love." The incomplete sentence Hans, in that remark, were conceding this coded eloquence. Hartnagel was a "thoughts are —" alluded to a folksong the absurdity of trying to explain "inno- professional soldier, an officer in the Sophie and Hans often sang for their cence" and "purity" to the gestapo. Wehrmacht. After 1939 Sophie spent a father: Die Gedanken sind jrei — good deal of her energy trying to con- "Thoughts are Free." During his impris- It's important to remember though vince him to repudiate his vow to the onment, Sophie would sometimes stand that, unlike other European resistance Fuehrer. in the street below her father's cell, and groups, the White Rose was not oppos- "The supremacy of brute force," she play the melody on her flute. ing a foreign occupation but its own wrote to him at Stalingrad on October The White Rose leaflets, by contrast, government, and this fact complicated 18, 1942, "always implies that the spirit are blunt and to the point, and nothing is its appeals for public support. Anti-Nazi has been destroyed or at least banished left half said. groups in Norway or Greece fought for from view.. .Oh, those lazy thinkers with "Every word that comes from Hitler's their nation's victory and liberation, the White Rose sought Germany's defeat their sloppy notions of life and death! mouth is a lie. When he says peace, he

ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 15 and probable occupation. Though one people with disabilities. One year later an dards, was not to be deterred. "And if of their leaflets stressed that "the White Evangelical Diakonisse visited the Scholl some of the girls lack sufficient charm to Rose is not in the pay of a foreign family in Ulm, and described to Sophie find a mate," he leered, "I will assign each power," its members were no doubt in some detail the gassing of disabled of them one of my adjutants ... and I can regarded by most Germans in 1943 as children in her native Wurttemberg. It is promise her a thoroughly enjoyable ex- traitors, not patriots. Allied insistance on no wonder that in the face of such perience." an "unconditional surrender," and the atrocities the fourth leaflet urged a The balcony exploded with boos and memory of the peace imposed on Ger- "struggle against the demon, against the heckling, and Geisler was unable to con- mans after they'd overthrown the Kaiser, servants of the Antichrist..." tinue his speech. The police started ar- provided ready excuses for those seeking Effective or not, their work put the resting the offenders, using their billy- to justify their inaction. Unarmed and Scholls and their accomplices in mortal clubs when the women resisted. Seeing isolated amid a populace that continued danger. Ten members of a Berlin student this, the men on the floorjoine d in the to idealize Hitler, there seemed little the group organized by Werner Steinbrink battle, and in the ensuing riot the police White Rose activists could do but bide were executed on August 18, 1942 for were disarmed and the Gauleiter and his their time,disseminat e information, urge distributing anti-Nazi literature; 17- year- "thoroughly enjoyable" S.S. adjutants "passive resistance," and hope to con- old Helmut Heubener was guillotined forced to flee. The protesters rallied in vince as many Germans as possible of the that same summer in Hamburg for lis- the street, then marched on downtown need to overthrow the Nazis. The group tening to the BBC and distributing leaf- Munich, while the authorities imposed was also involved in smuggling food to lets based on what he heard. There was, martial law and shut down telephone concentration camp prisoners and pro- in fact, an entire department at State service in and out of the city. Even so, viding assistance to their families, and in Security Headquarters in Berlin devoted word spread, and there were small dem- organizing student groups in other cities. exclusively to tracking down dissident onstrations in support of the Munich "We had to be careful, to lie low, to youth and student groups. students in Frankfurt, Mannheim, survive," explained Inge Scholl. "This The Scholls won a chilling sort of Stuttgart, and the Ruhr. kept the group small, and limited its recognition in mid-1942 when the Ge- These events apparently convinced the activities." stapo formed a commission with the White Rose that a mass uprising was As a result, the Scholls have often been express purpose of destroying the White now not only possible, but imminent. described as pacifists, but this term hardly Rose, and publicly offered a reward to And so, instead of laying low, the group seems applicable. Indeed, Sophie once potential informers. In November, Hans rushed into circulation two finalleaflets : told a friend, "If Hitler were to come was warned by his friend Hans Hirzel in "A Call to All Germans" and "Fellow toward me right now and I had a gun, I Ulm that his name had come up in Fighters in the Resistance." would shoot him. If the men don't, well, conversation with a known Gestapo in- "A new war of liberation is about to then, a woman will have to." Along former. On February 17, 1943, Hirzel begin. The better part of the nation will these lines, in the last weeks of his life was summoned to the Ulm Gestapo fight on our side..." "German women Hans tried establishing links with army headquarters, interrogated, and then re- students at the University of Munich officers plotting to assassinate the Nazi leased. Fearing the worst, he sent the have given a dignified reply to the be- leadership. He and Sophie both seemed phrase Machstaad and Utopie (The Abso- smirching of their honor, and German convinced that the Nazis could be over- lute State and Utopia) to their common students have defended the women... thrown only through force: by an army friend Otl Aicher in Munich, who re- that is the beginning of the struggle for coup, a mass uprising, or both. layed the coded warning in person. our free self-determination...For us The Scholls were clearly motivated by On January 13,1943, the University of there is but one slogan: Fight against the strong religious as well as political con- Munich became the scene of the first and party!...No threat can terrorize us...This victions. Though their leaflets contained only student uprising in the history of the is the struggle of each and every one of us hints of a vague sort of socialism, pro- Third Reich. While the White Rose for our future, our freedom, and our claiming, for instance, that "the illusory agitation obviously laid the groundwork, honor..." structure of autonomous national indus- the immediate instigators were a group The final leaflet ended with a line sung try must disappear," and "the imperialist of very angry young women. What by Germans of the previous century in ideology of force, from whichever side it provoked them was a speech by Paul their rebellion against Napoleon: "Up, comes, must be shattered for all time," Giesler, the Nazi Gautleiter (party chief) up, my people, let smoke and flame be they focused much more on metaphysics of Bavaria, on campus that day to give a our sign!" than ideology. (In fact, there was no lecture on the wartime duties of German On February 17, 1943, the same day political consensus within the group, students. Like most official events, this Hans was warned, Sophie wrote to her beyond the need to fight the Nazis.) one was segregated by gender: Women friend Lisa Remppis, "You can't help Hans and Sophie both took solace and in the auditorium balcony, men on the rejoicing and laughing, however moved inspiration from a Christianity informed floor below. Giesler, looking up, was or sad at heart you feel, when you see by the anti-Nazi Confessing Church of evidently dismayed at seeing so many springtime clouds in the sky and the bud- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and the sermons of female students. The role of women, he ding branches sway, stirred by the wind, Bishop Clemens Count von Galen. In said, was to breed male children for the in the bright young sunlight. I'm so fact, the White Rose leaflets were at least Fuehrer, "an automatic process" requir- much looking forward to the spring..." partly inspired by Galen's sermon of ing little education, and he urged them to By next afternoon Sophie would be in August 1941, circulated underground, get to it. There were some hisses, but the custody of the Gestapo. which denounced the Nazi euthanasia of Geisler, dull-witted even by Nazi stan- In retrospect the behavior of Hans and

16 PHOTO OF SUZANNE WESTENHOEFFER- JIM FISCHER ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 Sophie Scholl on February 18 seems Sophie Scholl with her brother Elisabeth was kept for two months, unbelievably risky, if not suicidal. Arriv- Hans (left) and Christoph Inge and Magdalene for six, and ing at the main university hall while Probst, July 1942. Robert served two years at hard la- classes were in session, they scattered bor. Werner Scholl escaped prosecu- leaflets along the stairways and corridors, died against it." tion because, by this time, he had making little or no effort to hide their "Her great worry all through those been drafted into the army. He would actions. A custodian namedjakob Schmid days," Inge Scholl remembered, "had die later in the war, on the Russian called the police, locked the building been one question: How would her front. gates, and then grabbed the two, yelling mother bear the ordeal of losing two It was apparently sometime after the "You're under arrest!" The Scholls were children at the same time?" executions that Inge Scholl was able to taken to Wittelsbach Palais, the Gestapo Sophie and Hans, together with examine the indictment Sophie had been interrogation center, and Schmid col- Christoph Probst, were executed on shown in her prison cell. According to lected his reward. February 22,1943, only hours after their her cellmate Else Gebel (also a "politi- At first the students refused to admit trial. Sophie was first. The warden wrote cal"), Sophie had read this document anything, hoping to bluff their way in his report that "she went without with great interest, muttering "God be through, even after sheets of postage batting an eyelash." thanked" when finished, perhaps grate- stamps and stacks of envelopes were The other members of the White Rose ful not to read the names of any other found in their apartment. They switched were quickly arrested and tried. Profes- members of the group, thinking they tactics when it became impossible to sor Kurt Huber, Alexander Schmorell, might still be safe. There, on the back of deny their activities, confessing to every- and Willi Graf were also guillotined. one page, Inge found scribbled in pencil thing but insisting there were no other Eugen Grimminger, HeinrichBollinger, what was no doubt the last word written conspirators. The Gestapo, however, was Helmut Bauer, Hans Hirzel, Franz by Sophie Scholl: able to track down Christoph Probst Muller, Heinrich Guter, Gisela Freiheit. through his handwriting on the draft of Schertling, Katharina Schuddekopf, Freedom. • a new White Rose leaflet they found in Traute Lafrenz and Susanne Hirzel were Hans' coat. all sent to prison. In December 1943 the * Most quotes in this article come from three The Scholls were interrogated for three "Hamburg branch of the White Rose" main sources, all translated from German: At days, after which they and Probst were was struck down, and eight more people the Heart of the White Rose: Letters and tried for treason. The trial was presided were executed, forced to commit sui- Diaries of Hans and Sophie Scholl, edited over by the infamous Roland Freisler, cide, or died in Mauthausen concentra- by Inge Jens, Harper and Row, 1987; Hitler's favorite hanging judge, who tion camp. Students Against Tyranny: The Resis- would go on to try the military conspira- The rest of the Scholl family was tance of the White Rose, by Inge Scholl, tors of July 20,1944. It took five hours sent to prison under Sippenhaft, or Wesley an University Press, 1.952 (the re- to find the students guilty and deliver a kinship detention. Inge Scholl re- vised 1970 edition contains the complete text sentence of death by guillotine, with members a Gestapo man telling her of the White Rose leaflets, plus court docu- Sophie shouting, "Your heads will roll that we "really belonged in a con- ments and testimony by prisoners in Wittebbach too!" Later she calmly explained to the centration camp. Of course, we were Palais); and The Short Life of Sophie guards how "with all these people dying glad to be allowed to stay in prison — Scholl, by Hermann Vinke, Harper and for the regime, it is high time someone anything but a concentration camp." Row, 1980.

ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 PHOTO: COURTESY SCHOLL FAMILY COLLECTION 17 "If I could have a magic wand tomorrow and do one thing for this economy," then President-elect Bill Clinton said last December,"I would bring health costs in line with inflation and provide a basic insurance package to everybody." It will take more than a magic wand to resolve America's healthcare crisis; reforms are needed — and quickly. Health costs are rapidly consuming Americans, as well as "blowing the lid ofF the federal government's budget," said a recent Washington Post article. According to the Post, healthcare will devour one in every seven dollars spent by the federal government this year. With costs doubling every six years, the increase in federal government spending on healthcare over the next four years will exceed increases in all other categories of spending combined— one in every five dollars — more than the Pentagon and nearly as much as Social Security. Against that reality, and the fact that 37 million Americans remain uninsured (with an additional 10 million underinsured), health planners and policymakers are scurrying to draft acceptable legislation designed to brake the escalating crisis. 18 Will It Be Good for Women?

19 A variety of plans have been proposed. aged competition plans would establish a two specialty centers. It is cooperative, Central to most of them is the concept of collective purchasing authority [see with a comprehensive package of ben- "managed care" and/or "managed com- sidebar]; create managed care model efits which encompasses Medicare, Med- petition." health plans operated by large insurance icaid and large employer groups. For a Just what do the terms mean; particu- companies or medical facilities; set stan- $25 fee, members vote on policy deci- larly, what would they mean, if imple- dardized rules and requirements regard- sions, including physician turnover, and mented, for women as healthcare con- ing benefits and performance; and limit are assured a fixed insurance rate. sumers and providers? payments and tax subsidies to the pre- "We offer a fully integrated delivery Managed care has been defined as an mium charged by the least cosdy health system and financial system," O'Connor attempt to control utilization, cost, and plan in a given region. says.' 'There are incentives for the patient quality of healthcare in a setting where a The most important differences among to stay well and disincentives for practic- healthcare provider or organization ar- proposed managed competition plans ing defensive medicine or for over-treat- ranges or coordinates all care, with the include such issues as whether enrolment ing. I really believe this kind of model healthcare consumer relinquishing some would be voluntary or mandatory and improves access to healthcare which is freedom to choose providers. Managed how costs would be contained, some consistent and of higher quality, and care is seen as a restructuring of the arguing for "spending caps" and "global which transfers us from an emergency provision of care in the hope that such room mentality to a primary healthcare restructuring will lead to more cost- approach while it improves cost effec- effective care. The concept generally Does tiveness." enjoys the support of the business com- MaryJan e England, M.D., President of munity, the American Medical Associa- managed care the Washington Business Group on tion, the American Hospital Association, Health and a specialist in the area of the insurance industry and state govern- contain, or mental health and substance abuse, agrees ments. Ideally, managed care is good for that if carefully designed, managed care patients, payers and providers. But there merely shift, and managed competition will help to is room for concern, and in light of re-order a system badly in need of re- current proposals for health reform, that costs? form. "A care-management approach, concern must be addressed. Many indi- which we call Organized Systems of viduals, as well as organizations such as budgets" while others argue that it is the Care (OSCs), integrates financial and the Children's Defense Fund and the only way to respond to a system cur- delivery systems and holds them ac- National Medical Association, are raising rendy out of control. Opponents view it countable to the consumer. We believe questions. Specific considerations include as "wrong medicine," a misguided effort there should actually be report cards for such issues as reduced access to care, in which Americans will end up paying OSCs. We need to be sure they provide reduced scope of covered benefits, re- more for health services than they do access to choice of quality providers, that duced coverage for certain treatments, now with less choice, and in which they speak to women's needs, and that insufficient mechanisms for reaching dif- employers rather than employees will they are culturally competent, like com- ficult-to-serve populations, inadequate choose what plans to buy from insurance munity health centers." controls for quality assurance, lessening companies and which hospitals and phy- Like many others who favor managed of regulations which now help to con- sicians their employees must use. Ac- care, England is cautious about Utiliza- strain the insurance industry, and a ten- cording to critics of managed competi- tion Review proposals which look to dency to emphasize short-term cost cut- tion, a national health program similar to outsiders for quality assurance. "Quality ting rather than long-term savings. Canada's is the only way to go. assurance should come from within," Managed competition is a newer Mary Beth O'Connor, Director of she asserts, and she believes strongly that and more unruly concept. The term is Federal Relations for Group Health care should be given according to indi- used to describe a number of proposals Cooperative of Puget Sound in Seatde, vidual need rather than by formula. "If with dramatically different cost contain- disagrees. "We've had an abysmal expe- we look at functional outcomes, the ment, coverage, benefit and quality pro- rience with government regulation,'' she rationing of healthcare should be re- visions. However, most definitions share says. "The bureaucracy gets in the way. duced, not increased, as some critics two basic assumptions: 1) That the cur- Managed competition reduces govern- suggest." rent tree-market approach to healthcare ment intervention and allows the mar- England also believes that managed reform is unworkable because of the ketplace to be more effective and effi- care and managed competition will be imbalance of power between sellers (in- cient in delivering healthcare." good for women providers and women surance companies and providers) and O'Connor is optimistic because of the patients. "Women are the majority of purchasers (businesses and individuals); experience of the model HMO for which primary care providers," she points out. and 2) that there is no incentive for she works. Established in 1947 by doc- "They want to function within systems consumers to shop among health plans tors and union members seeking more that allow them to provide comprehen- because Americans are insulated from affordable healthcare after World War II, sive care." the true cost of health insurance since Group Health Cooperative of Puget The Washington Business Group on job-based insurance is deductible by em- Sound offers medical care on a capitated Health sees managed care as contributing ployers and not treated as taxable income [per head] prepaidbasis. Itserves 500,000 significantly to health promotion and to employees. people in Washington and Idaho and disease prevention among women. It To respond to these issues, most man- operates 27 clinics, two hospitals, and believes that the focus on quality care will

20 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 mean that women, who are primary Ruzek, a well-published health policy cial model places women's core needs at caretakers, will have improved access to analyst who teaches Health Education at the center of analysis and focuses atten- information for sound health decision Temple University in Philadelphia, be- tion on the diversity of women's health making. There should also be a new lieves that HMOs have a good record of needs over the life cycle," she says. "Why emphasis on lifespan issues and preven- providing preventive health services and do we not routinely designate low in- tion, so that women are not confined to that they have made a real effort to reduce come and education as risk factors for gyn care only during their reproductive unnecessary medical care. She believes poor health and the underutilization of years. Such preventive measures as that they deal with the phenomenon of medical care? Where are the compre- mammography and pap smears should excessive access to medical interventions hensive and basic prevention services become more available, and issues such and that managed care is basically a good that are so desperately needed?" as osteoporosis and estrogen-replace- thing, although, like many other public Ruzek's approach provides resound- ment therapy will ideally become a health professionals, she favors a federally ing clarity to the concerns of practitio- routine part of health assessment. Un- funded single-payer system rather than ners like feminist psychotherapist Laura necessary surgeries such as hysterec- employment-based plans. At the same Brown. In a recent letter to Hillary tomy and C-sections should be reduced. time, Ruzek offers a different, and more Rodham Clinton, Brown, who prac- Women providers agree that managed- feminist, framework in which to grapple tices in Seattle, had this to say: "Psycho- care systems could be good for them and with health-policy issues relating to man- therapy is the orphan child of the women they serve. Marian aged care. In a recent editorial published healthcare....relegated to third-class sta- McCartney, a nurse midwife who co- in the Americanjoumal of Public Health, she tus in the form of arbitrary caps and limits founded the Maternity Center in points to the "inseparability of public on number ofvisits or dollars allowed per Bethesda, MD says: "If you look at heakh from women and children's health," year. These are restrictions of a kind outcome measures and costs, managed and laments that "after a quarter century applied to no other sorts ofbasic healthcare care will be good for women providers. of struggle, health activists' goal of placing benefits. Unfortunately, some of the pro- I'd be smelling like a rose!" women's health on the national agenda is posals for healthcare reform circulating Others take a wider view. Among only partly realized." Ruzek proposes around Congress include these or similar them is medical sociologist and epide- that planners adhere to a more inclusive irrational restrictions on coverage for miologist Sheryl Ruzek, long involved social model ofhealth and well being than mental health." Brown sees these restric- the traditional biomedical model. "A so- in the women's health movement. tions as symbolic of the stigma attached

THE JACKSON HOLE "designed and managed to coun- small employers "to take advan- MODEL OF MANAGED teract important sources of mar- tage of economies of scale and COMPETITION ket failure." ability to spread and manage risk." 'The demand side of this market • An Outcomes Management The "Jackson Hole Group," a (i.e., consumers and purchasers of Standards Board (OMSB) would Wyoming-based think tank com- service) would be empowered and be responsible for establishing prised of health-industry leaders, restructured with "appropriate "generally accepted health ser- public officials, and health-service incentives." Small employment vices accounting practices" and researchers which has met since groups would be pooled into pur- would establish a framework for the 1970s, drafted a healthcare chasing cooperatives. Tax code evaluating AHPs. initiative in 1991 which has be- changes would limit public subsi- I A Health Standards Board come known as the "managed dies to the costs of economical (HealSB) involving providers, con- competition" approach. These health plans. sumers, insurers, medical scien- are the essential elements of the • An "authoritative public body" tists, and others would undertake roposed plan: would make collective determina- technology assessment and ben- aI A reformed system based on tions of which health services should efit plan design. Technologies and organizations that integrate fi- be included in the uniform basic treatments would be assessed for nancial, clinical, managerial, health benefit coverage. Such de- "sufficient effectiveness." and preventive aspects of terminations would be based on • A Health Insurance Standards healthcare, that are publicly outcomes research and judgments Board (HISB) would establish un- accountable for their cost, about value for money. derwriting practices, "ensuring health outcomes produced, and • U niversal coverage ofbasic health that competition can take place patient satisfaction. These or- benefits should be possible through on the basis of health services' ganizations are called Account- AHPs. cost, quality, and patient satisfac- able Health Partnerships (AH Ps), tion." and would replace traditional fee- The Jackson Hole Group model of for-service models of healthcare. managed competition calls for the President Clinton is said to favor • These AHPs would compete establishment of several bodies: the Jackson Hole Group model of on value for money among well- Health Insurance PurchasingCo- managed competition. informed, price-conscious con- operatives (HIPCs) would act as sumers in a restructured market collective purchasing agents for Source: Heakh Economics, Vol. 1: 149-168 (1992)

ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 21 to mental healthcare, and as a reflection healthcare in a given medical situation or on the fact that women are the most crisis? Will there be more or less emphasis common users of mental healthcare ser- THE JARGON OF on prevention and wellness? Will man- vices. "Alongside other women's MANAGED CARE aged competition slow, or accelerate, the healthcare needs, mental healthcare has "medical arms race" and its accompany- ing high technology? Should healthcare been ranked as an unimportant 'frill' by Health Maintenance Organi- insurance companies and legislators alike," be linked to employment, or is some zation (HMO) - the most form of socialized medicine inevitable? Brown's letter said. She worries that organized form of managed mental health coverage will take a beat- Ultimately, who will shape healthcare care, in which a clinic or group policy? ing "because 'crazy' people are not an of clinics provide virtually all These and other pressing questions attractive constituency," and that free- care by a medical staff work- plague healthcare providers, pol- dom of choice in providers will be re- ing as a team. Consumers are icymakers, and consumers. As one stricted. She is also concerned that an charged a fixed monthly rate. policy analyst put it, "We're still at increasingly biological construct of psy- Kaiser and Group Health the fuzzy end of the lollipop. Both chological problems will lead to the Association are examples. greater use of psychotropic drugs and the pro and con arguments are very electroshock therapy. powerful, and everyone agrees that Independent Practice Associa- we need to revise the current system. Women leading other constituencies tions (IPAs) - Sometimes But we need to be extremely careful. have similar concerns. Joan Kuriansky, called HMOs without walls, Executive Director of the Older IPAs are groups pf physicians We may only have one shot at this, Women's League (OWL) in Washing- who work out of their own and we can't afford to get it wrong." ton, DC, says that OWL will not be able offices to provide comprehen- Some analysis suggests that managed to endorse any managed-care proposal sive care through appropriate care and managed competition have al- which does not include long-term care referral on the basis of your ready proven themselves untenable. in its design and which is not mindful of primary doctor's say so. In Many HMOs are moving towards the older women's place in the workforce. this model, your doctor more profitable models of IPAs and "Unless managed competition is very functions as a gatekeeper or PPOs [see sidebar], and there is data to carefully constructed, it could have ma- care manager. suggest that competition for managed jor flaws,"Kuriansk y says. "There is the care contracts can contribute to higher risk of high- and low-option plans, for Preferred Provider Organiza- health costs. In testimony to the House example. Older women in the workforce tions (PPOs) - are more Ways and Means Subcommittee in Feb- would be forced into low-option plans loosely organized. PPO plans ruary of this year, Robert Reischauer, because they have the lowest paid jobs provide a list of doctors and Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and often work for small businesses. hospitals and pay more Director said that "after a few years, Older women outside the workforce benefits if you use a "pre- [managed competition] would leave na- certainly can't afford high-option plans. ferred" provider. tional health expenditures at approxi- We will need careful planning in terms of mately the same level they would reach accessibility or we will see the develop- Utilization Review - an insur- otherwise. Initially, however, national ment of a tiered system which keeps ance plan mechanism aimed health expenditures would increase.'' The women in the lowest tiers. What we at cost saving which enables CBO believes that over the long term, need is health assurance, not health insur- an outside review company or growth in per capita health expenditures ance." individual to determine level would gradually slow, assuming high Similar concerns are expressed by those of service. A utilization review enrolment in the lowest priced HMOs. health professionals working with the could, for example, determine Others think that managed care and chronically ill and the disabled. Such that a surgical procedure is managed competition are the only way "non-modal constituents" are simply unnecessary, or that out- out of the present quagmire of expensive ignored by many reform proposals which patient treatment should be and dysfunctional healthcare. And al- advocate universal participation without used in place of hospital most everyone would agree with Marian really grasping how service needs vary admission. McCartney's assessment: "If this is going for different conditions. to work, we (healthcare providers) need The issues yet to be resolved go far to get in and slug at it It will take time, and beyond the concerns of individual con- As of January I, 1992, an there are no miracle solutions. It's scary, but stituencies, however, and they run the estimated 60 million workers it's also a wonderful opportunity." gamut from economic considerations to and their dependents were That opportunity extends to America's questions of service delivery. Does man- enrolled in one form or women, who are the nation's primary aged care contain, or merely shift, costs? another of organized man- health consumers, its caretakers, and the Will consumers really have a choice of aged care such as HMOs, majority of its healthcare providers. Now providers, and are there enough qualified PPOs, and IPAs. more than ever, monitoring and con- providers to go around (a particularly stant vigilance are called for, as women important question for those living in help to shape a policy with extraordinary rural areas)? Will healthcare be rationed? Source: Washington Post, 9/15/92. implications for ourselves and for our Who will decide what is appropriate children. •

22 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 From the loose coalition of punk rock women of color and poor women and by COMMUNIQUES teens calling themselves Riot Grrls to the broadening single issues — like abortion recently reinvigorated Students Orga- rights — which many women under 30 FROM THE FRONT nizing Students, the past year has seen a feel were the greatest failures of such parade of vibrant new young women's Second Wavers as NOW. groups. Young women, it seems, are no So far, the three best-known new groups Young Activists Chart longer afraid of the word "feminist": carrying the torch of feminism's latest With the same spirit of gay activist groups incarnation are WAC (Women's Action Feminism's Third Wave like Queer Nation and ACT-UP or rap Coalition), theThirdWave, and WHAM groups Niggaz With Attitude (or for that (Women's Health Action and Mobiliza- matter, Bytches With Problems), young tion). All three are based in New York women are appropriating both the name City, where the supply of activist women and the women's movement. has always been higher than the rest of And no wonder: Twelve years of the the nation. Each has redefined the mean- repressive, women-hating Reagan-Bush ing and tactics of the women's move- era, the erosion of Roe v. Wade, and the ment, and each has developed unique treatment of Anita Hill during the con- strategies for action that appeal to young firmation hearings of Clarence Thomas women in particular. At the same time, have all sown the seed for the new all three are grappling to chart the terri- interest in feminism. Add to this the tory of a truly diverse and inclusive widespread perception among young feminist movement. women that the so-called embodiment The Third Wave, taking its all-encom- of American feminism, the National passing title from a theme one of its By Bonnie Pfister Organization for Women (NOW), is founders, Rebecca Walker, uses fre- either dormant or in bed with the Demo- quently in her writings, has successfully cratic party (or both), and the result has gathered women of varied racial back- been an eruption of direct action and grounds under its banner. However, its creative activism that appears to be inaugural project alienated many partici- feminism's Third Wave. In contrast to pants so deeply they said they would common stereotypes, droves of new never work with the group again. While young feminists pride themselves on being WAC continues to thrive with thou- young and trendy, beautiful and radical, sands of women eager to be identified smart and very, very media-sawy. They with it, it is also the personification of the are trying, if not exactly succeeding, to progressive American dilemma: When assert their issues more broadly than their the media says "feminist," what it usually feminist foremothers by including means is white women's feminism,

ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 PHOTO. MERYL LEVIN/IMPACT VISUALS 23 WHAM is closing in on its four-year ticipants in the group's first project, and helped us to perpetuate our message," anniversary with a rich tradition of direct even members of the advance commit- she said. "I'm not afraid ofth e media, and (read: Illegal) action and regular defense tee were fired at the end. I don't think it cheapens me." She does of women's health clinics, but with a "At the last meeting we had, it came feel that it can be problematic when the scraggly membership and low morale. across that Rebecca and Shannon were media singles out one individual to speak paying us four, and they needed nothing for everyone. "I am not a post-feminist feminist; I more to do with us," said Amy Richards, While only a fraction (25,000 voters) of am the Third Wave." a member of that committee. "At the last the proposed goal were registered, not With the goal of building a national stop in DC, it was just like, 'This is it; we everyone felt that publicity rather than network of young women, Harvard don't have to talk again if we don't want mass registration was such a bad goal, alumna Shannon Liss, and Yale graduate to.' It wasn't clear what would come even if it differed from the Third Wave's Rebecca Walker, both 23 years old, next." original plan. "We inspired a lot of founded the Third Wave in March of Walker admits that while the mandate communities," says Sandra Mills, a rider 1992. Liss, who worked after college ofth e organization may have been blurred with a long history of civil rightsactions . with legendary feminist/politician Bella because of the haste to get the group on She recalled a man in Cleveland whom Abzug, had just finished coordinating a the road, making participants feel a part her group approached to register, after standing-room-only sexual harassment of the Third Wave as an organized young watching him buy drugs. He scoffed at conference in New York featuring Anita feminist movement was never her goal. them, and some of the young women in Hill. Walker is the daughter of Alice "The Third Wave is not a membership her group in frustrationsai d they wanted Walker, godchild of Gloria Steinem, and organization. That is something we said to go back home to Philadelphia. "He one of the youngest contributing editors at the beginning. We do projects....This heard us and said, 'You came all the way to Ms. magazine. The organization was from Philadelphia? And you're not get- just beginning to coalesce around the ting paid? Give me that paper; where do idea of publishing an anthology of young I sign?'" feminists' writings when the Rodney New young One of the oldest riders at 34, Mills King trial and its violent aftermath seemed feminists pride chalked up the tensions to the inexperi- to demand a more active, immediate ence and ego of the leadership. "I had the response. With the confidence born of themselves on tolerance a lot of these younger women their personal tutelage under some of the didn't. I've learned not to miss the mis- most famous feminists in America, Liss being young and sion for dealing with the Man, or in this and Walker raised $100,000, recruited trendy, beautiful case, the Woman." 120 participants from diverse economic Despite its rocky start, the Third Wave and racial backgrounds, and within two and radical, smart has triumphed in one area where the months set off in three buses for "Free- other new feminist groups WAC and dom Summer 1992," a 23-day, 20-city and very, very WHAM, flounder: Racial diversity. Forty nationwide tour aimed to register 500,000 percent of "Freedom Summer" riders new voters. media-sawy were people of color, accordingto Kristen Every rider interviewed called the Free- Golden, a former member of the Third dom Ride an amazing experience — Wave's steering committee, and some registering people they otherwise never way the base is broader. You don't have were recruited from low-income, inner- would have even met was thrilling and to construct a party line that members city communities rarely represented in rewarding. At the same time, many rid- have to maintain," said Walker. feminist activities. ers felt alienated with a hierarchical deci- While many ridersma y have believed This founding commitment to diver- sion-making process and uncomfortable a '70s'-style consensus model would be sity is the promise of the Third Wave. with the "parent-to-child relationship" used during the trip, Walker says it was Marjorie Fine, a veteran feminist and established by Liss, Walker, and the four too impractical for the kinds of decisions executive director of the progressive paid members in charge of the project. she and Liss were making, such as what North Star Fund, has seen numerous "People would ask me what was going time to stop traveling to eat or rest. white women's groups struggle to be- to happen that day, and I routinely did "I had the same kind of vision: That we come diverse — and she has never seen not have an answer. They didn't provide would all sit around in a circle and decide a group that begins with a mosdy white for the kind of atmosphere where riders things. But it doesn't work, which is leadership successfully integrate itself. had a say and felt part of the project," said sad," Walker said. Walker now believes Picking and choosing who will be in- Maria Torre, who was a bus captain. "To a corporate model is more effective for volved in a group may be the only way me, working communally is what femi- social and feminist movements. to insure diversity, says Fine. Ironically, it nist organizing is all about. I know that Many riderssai d they were uncomfort- is this exclusive method that has yielded time constraints were a big factor, but I able because the trip seemed more a the Third Wave criticism fromth e Free- didn't see very much effort to try to reach media spectacle than a mass registration, dom Riders. out to the riders." and were especially troubled by the me- Many riders were stunned and upset to dia frenzytha t surrounded Walker alone. WAC: The "NOW of the 1990s"? learn at the end of the trip that they were Walker, however, was untroubled by The Women's Action Coalition (WAC) not actually part ofth e Third Wave: The the level of publicity to the trip: "I think was formed in January 1992 when some riders were told they were merely par- the media we used, and that used us, 100 artists in Downtown Manhattan

24 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 gathered for a panel discussion on women founding, a WAC committee to address If white women's groups are really in the art world. What resulted was a this problem was formed, now called the serious about diversity they have to claim spleen-venting session over the then- Committee on Diversity and Inclusion racism in the same way they claim sex- recent Anita Hill/ Clarence Thomas scan- (CODI). ism, and spend as much time and money dal and the backlash against American While all WAC women interviewed on racism as sexism, said Gwen Braxton, women in general, and a call to action. said dealing with the diversity question a member of the New York Black Meetings continued on a weekly basis, was a priority for the group, only seven Women's Health Project. drawing more and more women to to 10 people out of the 250-plus who "Find out what Black women and exchange information, ideas and sup- attend WAC meetings come to the women of color are doing in their re- port. CODI's weekly meetings. Several white spective communities and support it. WAC began to attract media attention women, when asked to talk about diver- Give us money, find us space, give us around New York with creative actions sity, referred those questions to CODI. publicity, become clear about what our that mix anger and wit with stunning This, many African-American feminists issues are, and make them priorities in visual images. The group made a visible say, is part of the problem: White women your own organization. Instead of just presence at rape trials, picketed art galler- believing only women of color can talk saying, 'yes, we should provide childcare ies that underrepresent women and held about racism. so these women can come to our meet- a spectacular Mother's Day action that "A number of women of color who ings,' identify all the isms, and make featured a loud and visible WAC drum had been in the feminist movement them your own," Braxton said. corps at Grand Central Terminal, where previously were used as ornaments and These kinds of struggles can decimate a the group protested the billions of dollars window dressing, brought in after the group without the massive drawing owed to women by men in back child decisions were made, and it created an power the New York WAC chapter support. By summertime of the so-called "Year of the Woman," amid the Democratic National Convention, WAC had be- come a national media darling boasting several thousand members. A year after its founding, Tlie Nation compared WAC to NOW in the 1970s: An all-issue women's organization. Today, WAC has emerged as the most prolific of all new women's groups. With members ranging in age from early-20s on, WAC women have the media acumen of having grown up in the communications era coupled with on-the-job experience, often in the America's Pro-Choice Majority communications field, and the connec- America's tions and personal income to use their Pro-Choice Majority expertise. WAC not only accesses the media, it exploits all the devices of the The erosion of Roe v. Wade has generated new interest in feminism. information age. The group's telephone voice mail offers timely information on unequal relationship," said Janet Henry, enjoys. In the WAC chapter in Wash- nearly a dozen upcoming actions. Mem- a WAC and CODI member. "Some ington, DC, for example, the disaffec- bers produced a slick slide show to dis- [white women] didn't see what the prob- tion of several women over what to do tract women at the Republican National lem was. It's really debilitating to have to about the lack of diversity in the group, Convention, and have taken over spend your time explaining things to coupled with the defection of other editorship of a section of the feminist people who are that kind of comfortable women over the circular motion of the newspaper New Directions for Women with that level of ignorance. It puts your debate on this topic, has taken its toll. called "WAC Talk." own growth on hold." After several exciting actions last fall, the Despite this success, however, diversity Being the "NOW of the '90s" comes once 100-strong group barely existed by remains a problem. "A group like WAC with as much stigma as it does honor, for February, WAC-DC members say. already has this cardinal problem, in that it also recalls a tradition which many "While everyone felt racial diversity it didn't start out [with a diverse racial women of color read to mean white was worth working towards, there were makeup]," says Marjorie Fine. While women's feminism. a lot of different ideas about how to go notable in New York for the mass num- "It's always sort of been two move- about it," said Katherine Isaac, a founder bers of women it mobilizes, WAC claims ments: The one that is called "the femi- of WAC-DC. "Some women felt we only a handful of women of color in its nist movement" and then there are the should look within ourselves and first ranks. The group felt internal pressure other women, who are just struggling solve our own racism, while the opposite about its relatively homogenous make- along," said Wilma Montanez, 42, coor- view was to go out into the community up since soon after its formation, many dinator of the Latina Roundtable on and demonstrate that this was an organi- members said. Two months after its Health and Reproductive Rights. zation committed to work against rac-

ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 PHOTO HARVEY FINKLE/IMPACT VISUALS 25 ism. It became a Catch-22." face of the Statue of Liberty, organized tical company in New Jersey. numerous office takeovers of pharma- Some say WAC stole some of WHAM: Radical identity crisis ceutical companies recalcitrant in the WHAM's thunder with its ascendance WHAM, three years older than WAC, study of breast cancer and HIV-related on similar issues last year. But the twinge has already begun the road to diversity, illnesses, and mobilized around herbal of envy some WHAM members feel and has found that even the baby steps are healing and self-help healing. Saturday toward WAC is coupled with disdain for painful. Last fall 15 WHAM members morning clinic defense is still a staple of mainstream attention the group has har- participated in an eight-session "Resist- the WHAM diet, but weekly meetings vested (due in part to the years of thank- ing Racism" workshop to come to terms now draw far fewer members than they less work WHAM did before). "Ifsome- with their individual prejudices. Many of did a year ago, and energy for big, one called us the 'NOW of the '90s,' we the women who participated in these elaborate demonstrations is low. "I think would freak," said one WHAM mem- angst-inducing sessions say the results ber who asked not to be named. "We're were life-changing. much further left than that." One of the participants, Sandy Morris- Perhaps that statement best points out Snyder, said she's seen the results on the the contradictions facing these media- WHAM floor. During a meeting when oriented groups—particularly if they some members were wondering why want to retain their edge. While the WHAM should take up the issue of media spotlight WAC and the Third Haitian refugees rather than topics per- Wave have basked in is a milestone, these taining to "American women," several groups also have to worry about the participants from the workshop spoke up degree to which actions cease to exist if to explain and defend the links between they don't generate press. WAC demos, the struggles, something they may not America's for all their zippy spontaneity, can still be have done in the past. simplified enough for a soundbite: They Some of the decisions have led other Pro-Choice Majority wouldn't get press otherwise. WHAM women, particularly women of color, can easily be accused ofhaving an "abor- away from the organization, to work tion fetish." After all, women organizing instead with women's groups in their "If someone called around complex welfare reform argu- own ethnic community, said Patty ments and access to healthcare — major Murillo, a former WHAM member who us the'NOW of the concerns of many poor women and helped to organize the workshops. '90s' we would women of color — don't get the atten- Murillo herself became frustrated with tion of MTV or the major networks. the group last fall when her early efforts freak," said one to make a demo more racially inclusive Steering the future offeminism were reduced to last-minute bickering WHAM member As they grapple with these issues, over whether to print flyers in Spanish WHAM, WAC and the Third Wave translation. the lower turnout is an historical acci- are each reflecting on what it has WHAM first grew out of the direct dent, the result of a number of key accomplished so far, and planning for action committee of the now-defunct people going to school, moving away, the future. The Third Wave has re- Reproductive Rights Coalition, which or just becoming politicked out," ex- turned to its plan for an anthology of was founded to build a response to the plained Marion Cole, a long-time women's writings, to be published Supreme Court's Webster decision in WHAM member. Bill Clinton's elec- by fall 1994, and Walker and Liss will 1989. WHAM has a profile similar to tion has also calmed the nerves of some determine future actions beyond that. WAC's, although the women tend to be would-be activists. WHAM is continuing its Resisting younger and less career-oriented and Today, WHAM is redefining direct Racism trainings and working to- organize actions that more often tend to action to include more research-based wards exposing the links between be illegal. There's also a difference in the activities — such as keeping up on racism and sexism. WAC is continu- feeling one gets on the floor of the healthcare proposals and forming a work- ing its attention to the rapes in former group's general meetings: At WAC, the ing group of WHAM and ACT-UP, Yugoslavia, and grappling with the large attendance sometimes gives a sense which is publishing a voting guide to mantle of being the new NOW, WAC- of a few stars playing to a very receptive identify religious right "stealth" New York's Karen Bernstein said. audience; speakers stand in front of a schoolboard candidates for local office, "I see this organization as a huge van stage and make dramatic presentations said Stephanie Creaturo, a WHAM careening very quickly down a high- about upcoming actions, expectant of member since 1991. way," saysBemstein. "We want to main- applause. Speakers at WHAM meetings, "The Statue of Liberty was a fabulous tain that energy, but we also have to start which recently draw between 30 to 60 action. Doing research is not as glamor- to steer it. Ifw e don't do that in a way that people, remain in a circle and frequently ous or as sexy as that, but we're working people feel comfortable about it, we'll couch their ideas in self-deprecating hu- on this very seriously," she said. But end up fishtailing and skating out of mor. Praise seems to embarrass or even illegal actions are still inherent to control." I annoy some members. WHAM's fabric, Creaturo said, point- In its heyday, WHAM draped a "No ing to the number of WHAMers ar- Bonnie Pfister is a journalist living in New Choice, No Liberty," banner over the rested at a recent action at a pharmaceu- York City.

26 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 UPDATE INCHES FROM FREEDOM — FOREVER? The Prolonged Oppression of the Sahrawis

ByJohnW.Bartlett

In 1989, the Tenth Annual Bryant Spann Algeria. Moroccan jets repeatedly bombed, all ofits major cities and coastal areas, and Memorial Prize, awarded by the Eugene V. napalmed and strafed thefleeing Sahrawis its valuable phosphate mines. Early in the Debs Foundation, went to Major Carlos from the beginning of their escape until conflict, the Moroccan military erected Wilson for his article "America's Secret Afri- they were able to find safety in a desolate a three-meter-high wall which stretches can War, "published in On the Issues, Fall patch of desert located just inside the more than 2,400 kilometers and divides 1989. The article disclosed the widespread Algerian border, a moderate distancefrom Moroccan- and Polisario-controlled re- U.S. involvement in Morocco's savage war Tindouf. Thousands of Sahrawis fell vic- gions. At least 165,000 Sahrawis still live against the people of the Western Sahara. tim to the bombings along the way, in- in refugee camps near Tindouf. Wilson had twice journeyed there, living cluding very large numbers of women and A United Nations (UN)-sponsored among the Sahrawis and taking innumerable children. In many cases, entire families peace treaty signed by Morocco and the photos that document both the outrages of the perished. Polisario in 1988 calls for a cease fire, war being waged against them and their It is a wonder that any of the Sahrawis followed by a referendum on self-deter- indomitable spirit. survived. Besides the fact that there was mination. The referendum has been nowhere to hide from fighter jets, the postponed indefinitely, and the future of Wilson wrote: Sahrawis were a naive, nomadic people the fragile peace in western Africa has "In 1915, Spain withdrewfrom itsformer whose culture at the time was unversed in been brought into question again. colony, the present-day Western Sahara. even the definitions of words such as Moroccan military forces continue il- Spain assured the local peoples, the 'napalm'and 'genocide'." legal flights and troop movements within Sahrawis, total independence and self- the region, and new high-tension elec- determination in their homeland but soon Unwinnable. That's what the U.S. State trical wires connect front positions to gave in to pressure from Mauritania and, Department called the longtime guerrilla power supplies in Morocco. "If the UN especially, Morocco, and divided the [rich] war fought over the inhospitable sands of tries to stop [the violations]," says UN land between the two. [In 1978, the Western Sahara. For over 15 years, consultant Jarat Chopra, "the Moroc- Mauritania withdrew and forfeited all the area has been a battleground between cans just point their guns at them." One claims to the region.] When the division Morocco and the Polisario (the Popular peacekeeper was killed and another was announced, Morocco immediately Front for the Liberation of Saguia el- wounded in D ecember when their UN- followed with a savage, armed occupation Hambra and Rio de Oro), the resistance marked vehicle was run over by a Mo- which continues today. movement and national government rep- roccan army truck. resenting most of the Sahrawis. Chopra, a research associate at the The invasion triggered an exodus, un- At present, Morocco controls about 80 ThomasJ. Watson, Jr. Institute for Inter- dertaken by foot, by many thousands of national Studies at Brown University, Sahrawis across the Sahara Desert into percent of the Western Sahara, including 27 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 says members of the UN Mission for the the ability ofth e United Nations to adapt Smith, former UN Special Representa- Referendum of Western Sahara to its changing role in the post-Cold War tive for the Western Sahara Johannes (MINURSO) are held as virtual prison- world. Manz "quit on principle" when he dis- ers in the Saharan capital of El Ayoun. In January, UN Secretary General covered that Boutros-Ghali had been "MINURSO officials...drive from their Boutros Boutros-Ghali presented op- meeting with the Moroccan govern- closely supervised hotels to their offices tions in a report to the Security Council. ment without notifying him. and back. Checkpoints and the vigilance One is to withdraw MINURSO and Ambassador Mouloud Said of the of Moroccan security forces prevent... abandon the peace plan (which demon- Sahrawi Republic (the SADR, recog- any freedom of movement," says strates the sense of failure and desperation nized by 74 countries and a full member Chopra, who was arrested for attempting surrounding the Western Sahara). An- of the Organization of African Unity) to meet with UN officials. other, to expand the criteria for partici- agrees with Smith's assessment: "Mr. pation in the referendum to include Boutros-Ghali is confusing his position Who is Sahrawi? anyone who claims even intermittent as Egyptian foreign minister with his The UN peace plan has based eligibility residency in the region after 1962, re- current position as Secretary General of for participation in the referendum on a peats a recommendation made by former the UN." As foreign minister, Boutros- 1974 Spanish census of the region. Al- Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar Ghali supported Morocco and opposed though it agreed to these conditions in in late 1991. The Security Council re- SADR membership in the OAU for 1988, Morocco has recently presented a jected Perez de Cuellar's proposal at that many years, says Said. list of 120,000 additional "Sahrawis" time, as did the Polisario; only Morocco Said claims Moroccan oppression in which it claims have been refugees in found the expanded criteria acceptable. the Western Sahara has increased in re- Morocco since civil unrest shook the Under this plan, says Yogesh Chandrani cent months. Hundreds of Sahrawis were Spanish Sahara in the 1950s. "disappeared" during recent demonstra- Chopra asserts that Morocco has taken tions against the Moroccan occupation, advantage of the cease fire by moving he said, and many others have been held tens of thousands of these supposed Moroccan by Morocco for several years. At the Sahrawis into Moroccan-controlled ar- same time, Morocco refuses to accept eas. He describes these "settlers," housed military forces 200 prisoners of war released by the in temporary tent cities under Moroccan Polisario in 1989 as a gesture ofgoodwill . military control, as "people from south- em Morocco who have come to vote in continue Time For A Change? the referendum, [and] to claim the Sa- Despite Morocco's vast military superi- hara for Morocco. Most are either physi- illegal flights ority and new fortifications, the Sahrawis cally forced to move here, threatened appear willing to resume hostilities iftha t with losing whatever jobs they have and troop is the only path to independence.' 'There's elsewhere, or are left with no alter- now an entire generation that has grown natives. There is no evidence that they movements up in the (refugee) camps," says Chopra. will stay." In violation of the UN peace "They are not likely to accept a Moroc- plan, residents of the Moroccan-con- can fait accompli." trolled portion of the Western Sahara of the Western Sahara Awareness Proj ect Said is hopeful that the new Clinton were allowed to vote in municipal elec- (WESAP), "anyone could come and say administration will take a more active tions last fall, putting the validity of the 'I'm Sahrawi,' and they'll be eligible to role in the region and pressure Morocco election and its results in doubt. Accord- vote. They don't even need to provide to abide by the original peace plan. He ing to Moroccan figures,onl y six people proof." calls Clinton's statements on human rights in the entire region voted against a "re- Despite its strong support of Morocco "good signs. We hope they will trans- gional plan" proposed by King Hassan II — including upwards of $60 million in which target the Western Sahara as a lated into actions." "priority development area." economic and military aid each year — Weary of political posturing and inter- the United States opposed the second national passivity, Said and his nation proposal. await their freedom. • UN On Trial "The U.S. has kept its eyes closed to a "UN credibility is on the line right lot of atrocities," says Gare Smith, senior (Numerous efforts to reach the Moroccan now," says Chopra. UN peacekeeping foreign policy advisor and counsel to Embassy for comment were unsuccessful.) forces have reached what Chopra calls Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), "the second generation," where they go "but it has always supported only those For more information: beyond traditional observation and peace- efforts that both sides agreed to." WESAP, Inc. keeping roles. In the past, UN forces According to Smith, "the upper ech- 179 College Avenue have held a supervisory role while local elons of the UN have not even presented Somerville, MA 02144 authorities retained responsibility for the appearance of neutrality with regard tel. (617) 625 8921 policing. In the Western Sahara they to the Western Sahara." As Egyptian have been mandated to enforce the law, foreign minister, Boutros-Ghali had ex- John W. Bartlett, a freelance writer in Provi- and have exclusive authority in the ter- tensive diplomatic contact with the gov- dence, RJ, authored "Blood On Our Hands" ritory. MINURSO's victimization by ernment of Morocco before his tenure at (On the Issues, Winter 1992) about Indo- Moroccan forces brings into question the UN began last year. According to nesian oppression in East Timor.

28 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 WHAT WOMEN CAN

It seemed a sure FROM problems from bet that "Malcolm the git-go. For X" would not be nearly two decades the favorite feminist the idea for a biopic film ofl 992. Forstart- aboutMalcolmXsim- ers, with a "cast of thou- mered on Hollywood's sands" it has only two back burner to become, prominent roles for over time, one of women — neither of Hollywood's "most fa- which, as written, could gen- mous unproduced movies.'' erate the enthusiastic response Wherever filrnmakers gath- women had for the characters ered, the conversation turned in "Thelma and Louise" or even to "that g.d. movie." Who "A League of Their Own." Only should produce it? Who should one, the part of Malcolm's wife direct? Would it have public ap- Betty Shabazz, comes off as more peal? Should it be produced at all? than woman-as-sycophant. The other In 1967, Marvin Worth acquired female role is that of a conniving blonde the rights to The Autobiography of who seduces Malcolm with bed and Malcolm X from Alex Haley and

breakfast, then helps him rob wealthy k Malcolm'swidow, Shabazz. Worth had homes, a career which rewards him, MALCOLM met "the man" on New York's 52nd with a 10-year jail sentence. Shabazz, Street where Worth was managing on the other hand, is a tall, dark- jazz groups and clubs. Malcolm, skinned woman, a trained nurse and not yet 17, was selling grass, a devoted Muslim. Shabazz mar- hustling, pimping — anything ried Malcolm, bore him six girls to make a buck—never dream- [including twins born after, ing that in a few years he Malcolm's death] and held him g would be a world-famous in her arms as he died, assassi- preacher, recruiting hun- nated, on the floor of the dreds of new members to Audubon Ballroom in the Nation of Islam. Na- tion of Islam members Harlem. During his check- are not led to expect a ered career, Malcolm X life of ease and luxury, had to overcome scores but are taught they of seemingly impos- must live by Muslim sible obstacles. The rules of "discipline, same is true of the sacrifice, clean liv- movie which bears ing, honesty and his name. The film , chastity." was fraught with; BY IRENE DAUALL AND FLO KENNEDY

ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 29 At Fruit oflslam weekly meetings, men and reflect that that protest began through are taught judo, karate and military drill. a woman, Rosa Parks. This local action That training helped Malcolm face down inspired civil rights activists nationwide. white policemen at the Harlem precinct. But paying heed to other Muslim teach- When word went out that a Temple ings about pulling yourself up by your member was brutally attacked by two bootstraps means little when you have white policemen with nightsticks and no boots. Women must study the dis- the wounded man jailed without medi- proportionate number of jobs held by cal help, it took only a half hour for 50 of men, especiallyjobs paid for by city, state the Temple's men to line up in ranks- and federal taxes to which women are formation outside the precinct. This scene major contributors. We must unite and is one of the most riveting in the three- tell the City Fathers(!) "Women pay and-a-half hour film. taxes too." We must ask them: Watching those disciplined Black men Why are most city buses driven by silently facing the station house full of men? Why are street sweepers always gun- toting white cops, suddenly, to our men? Ifwome n can sweep kitchen floors for free, why not have them sweep streets for weekly paychecks? Why are the WOMEN SHOULD SEE majority of minimum wage jobs held by "MALCOLM r AS A females? Women serve coffee and do- nuts at the local McDonald's, but your BLUEPRINT ID FOLLOW dollars to their donuts the franchise is owned by a man and he doesn't work for IN OUR FIGHT FOR $5.00 an hour. EQUALITY In a recent article in the New York eyes, another scene was superimposed Times, New York City Police Commis- on the screen: Congresswomen Barbara sioner Raymond Kelly announced "the Boxer and Patricia Schroeder leading percentage ofBlacks planning to take the other Congresswomen across the Capi- department's test this year has signifi- tol grounds and up the Senate steps, cantly increased." Nowhere in a long, demanding a fair hearing of Anita Hill's self-congratulatory article about recruit- charges against Clarence Thomas. Pon- ment techniques, does the white male der what might have happened that day Commissioner mention the word had a thousand, or Jive thousand, femi- "women" nor does he tell Times readers nists marched up those steps behind the how many women police are now on Congresswomen, prepared to stay on the payroll or how many have applied to those steps until their demands were met take the next exam. Why don't we form by the all-male Senatorial panel and a delegation, march to his office and ask Senator Alan K. Simpson (R-WY) him these questions? learned the true definition of sexual ha- ' 'Malcolm X'' continues to draw crowds rassment. and many people who have yet to see it Women should see "Malcolm X" at least say they intend to. "I hear good things once, not only as entertainment, which it is, about it," is a favorite reply, and the but as a blueprint for women to follow in movie has stimulated sales of the book on our fight for equality. When Malcolm which it was based. Tlw Autobiography of tells his audience how to become inde- Malcolm X, with the assistance of Alex pendent by starting and patronizing only Haley, published originally in 1965, has Black-owned businesses and boycotting been reissued, zooming to popularity, those run by whites in the Black com- appearing on the best seller list for months. munity, women should hear him saying The movie "Malcolm X" cost $38 "Patronize only women-owned and op- million dollars to make, which may have erated businesses, (jirkot allmale-ownedbusi- made Warner Brothers shake in their nesses in your community." custom-made boots, but Spike Lee, the Imagine what would happen if women Black Bard of Hollywood, lays it out this refused to go to the movies until at least way: "It couldn't be a good film, it had half of all movie franchises were owned to be a great film. We only come to the by women. Smelling all that unsold pop- plate one time, and we have to hit a corn and looking at all those empty seats home run." night after night, industry moguls might We women who see the film and adapt cave in to women's demands in a matter its teachings to solving our problems may of months. Remember the Montgom- find it easier than we expect to hit that ery bus company capitulation in 1955 — winning run for equality. B

30 PHOTO: DAVID PLAKKE/ART INK

FOR IRISH FEMINISTS: Activism^ Imprisonment, Strip Search, Death New Targets And New Terrorism In Ireland: Two Portraits THE MURDER OF SHEENA party. Sheena 'was dedicated to exposing CAMPBELL human rights violations in the North of n October 16,1992, Sheena Ireland and to furthering the struggle for Campbell, a 29-year-old self-determination there. The Ulster activist and feminist, was Volunteer Force (UVF), an outlawed wantonly murdered by a Loyalist paramilitary organization, masked gunman who claimed responsibility for her murder. singled her out as she sat with friends at More than a thousand mourners at- a restaurant in the Queens University tended her funeral in the small town of area of Belfast. Lurgan, about an hour outside Belfast. Sheena, a law student at Queens Uni- Afterward, the funeral cortege, led by a versity and the mother of a 10-year-old lone piper, was accompanied by more By Betsy Swart son, was a leading figure in the Sinn Fein than 500 walkers on its mile-long jour- ney to the cemetery. Along the way, her coffin was flanked by more than 20 activist women in a dramatic show of support, strength, and solidarity. Sheena's friend Dodie McGuinness said ofher: "Sheena was an articulate and astute woman. I used to enjoy watching her deal with people who tried to pull the wool over her eyes. Sheena took no nonsense, and if there was a job to be done, it had to be done properly — that was the only way Sheena knew. "She traveled to England, the United States," and as far away as Korea to promote the Republican cause and bring the truth about the situation in Ireland to many peoples. She dedicated her life to the struggle for freedom and democracy in Ireland. She carried a heavy workload in addition to raising her son Caolan. "Sheena inspired the people she worked with. Everywhere she went, to do

PHOTO BETSY SWART ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 whatever job she had been given, she on the table. Fein Councilman), had already been became part of a team. She was always You might ask "How can people who've shot and survived it. And he had not been available with support and advice, not lived through 25 years of this violence scared off by it. You know, if they don't only for work problems but personal suddenly become frightened?" They can kill you, you just get up and go on. So in matters as well." and they are, because they know some- murdering Sheena, the Loyalists were Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams put how that this is different. What's happen- also saying to Curran, "Well, ifw e don't partial responsibility for Sheena's death ing now is not just living with and round get you, we'll get what's precious to you." on the British propaganda machine and through a war that you're not actu- It's going to be a bad year. I can see it in which "demonizes or silences Republi- ally a combatant in. This is more terrify- the increase in the number of frightened cans." Legal censorship exists in Britain ing than that. The Loyalists have made it people who come to me. At an indi- and Ireland and Sinn Fein members may clear from their actions and their state- vidual and family level, there is increased not be interviewed in the electronic ments that what is happening now is a fear; there is intensified need for reassur- media. Two days after Sheena's funeral, widening of the range of the people who ance that somebody's going to hang in observing the fourth anniversary of the are going to be killed. there; and there is a growing nervousness broadcast ban, Sinn Fein councillors This change in strategy doesn't make a that the political leaders will back off. I staged an occupation of a Belfast radio lot of difference to people like myself, don't know what will happen. I don't station, demanding that the ban be because when you widen the range of think the political leadership is •wobbly, lifted. Simultaneous demonstrations people who are targets, you lessen the risk but the people •want to make sure that it were held in London where Mary for those of us who were always tar- isn't. So the message that is going to go Pearson, spokesperson for the Troops- gets. We used to be one of a hundred; out to the Social Democrats is that of a Out movement, said that "until the views now we're one of a thousand. But for massive groundswell of grassroots pres- of all parties are allowed to be heard, we other people, their chances of surviv- sure on Sinn Fein to hold firm. will never have peace in the North of ing have suddenly been greatly mini- What they will see is that this core has Ireland" and murders like that of Sheena mized. not been forced into subjection. It has Campbell will continue. You see, targets like Sheena are very been driven on down the road and is I talked with longtime activist Bern- carefully chosen. They are chosen to going to stand. But I think this is going to adette Devlin McAliskey (see On the represent a whole class of people who be a terrible year before that message Issues, Winter 1992) about the wider imp- hadn't been shot previously. The media gets through. I think we're going to lications of Sheena Campbell's murder. continues to talk about "random sectar- see the gut core of republicanism that ian killings," but there is nothing random has come down to us from hundreds BDM: The Loyalists have a strategy of about them: Sheena was chosen for a of years basically standing with its effective terrorism at the minute. Ter- number of reasons. Politically, she repre- back to the wall and taking on what- rorism is a word like fascism that has been sented the new Republican woman — a ever comes. bandied about for so long people forget bright, working-class woman who, as a I think we'll spend the year burying what it means; but when I say in this mature student, was going back into people. And I think we'll come out of it context "effective terrorism,"that's what education. Sheena represented a new at the other end. I mean. The Loyalists are looking at a depth in the struggle. Her career signified I personally believe that we have it situation in which the Southern govern- that after 25 years — instead of getting within our power to turn the wheel. ment is totally pliable and would con- tired — the movement was producing a What will save us is the Constitutional cede the struggle. The Social Democrats new breed of woman — one who is a position that has to be fought over Ar- are broken. The Irish government is single parent, an activist, and a soon-to- ticles 2 and 3.* It has to go to referendum broken. But in the North, we have a core be attorney. Obviously, this is not what and that gives us the opportunity to fight group in the Nationalist population which the British had in mind at all! the issue openly and campaign for it in has sustained resistance for 25 years. Sheena was also a key organizer in terms the South — and to raise the whole What is actually stopping the Social of structures. She was a strategist and yet question of the British relationship and Democrats from signing and sealing the her politics were broad. She wasn't an imperialism in the Southern state. That's whole struggle as finished is that the electoralist. She could master the elec- where the main battleground will be Social Democratic Liberal Party (SDLP) toral system....but she wasn't dependent shifted. ..to fight in that referendum. And is limited in how many concessions it can on it. She was totally open to saying at I think we can win it. I definitely think make without losing necessary electoral times "All right, the system doesn't we can win it. support. work...let's do the job ourselves." "But won't working on that campaign So it stands to reason to the Loyalists Furthermore, from a military point of put your life in danger again?" I asked her. that the next phase has to be to terrorize view, she was a maximum target with "Yes," she laughed. "Back to the front the Catholics into believing that anything a minimum risk. Because she had to of the queue." • is better than what they've got. That was go to Belfast to study, she was out of the policy in the 1920s and it worked her area. She wouldn't have known * Article 2 defines the national territory as quite successfully. By demonizing the instinctively where she was safe and including the whole island of Ireland. Republicans as a political representation, where she wasn't. So she was an easy Article 3 basically states that until there is they intend to literally bludgeon the target for them logistically. reintegration of the "national territory" and Catholic population into saying "Look, Then there was also the personal vi- without conceding the right to govern the whole just stop." At which point the SDLP will ciousness of the decision to target her. nation, the Irishpeople willjust legislate for 26 be able to simply settle for whatever is Her partner, Brendan Curran (a Sinn counties in the meantime.

ON THE ISSUES • 33 LIKE THE PHOENIX, I was not permitted to have a tape things — sticking their tongues out and WE RISE: A Conversation recorder or any writing implements. wiggling them really close to my face; With Irish POW Three female guards stood at the podium holding up their middle fingers. Then Bronwyn McGahan near our table as we talked, clearly listen- they picked me up and literally threw me ing to our conversation. Sometimes into the cell next door. There five women Tliey took us by force Bronwyn lowered her voice to a whis- guards ripped my clothes off, spread my and tied us with oppression. per, in a futile attempt to exclude them. legs, searched me, andleft me lying there They divided us with bigotry Her eyes were gentle; her manner in- naked. and their class system. tense. Here is what she told me. Tliey thought they could bury us, Were you badly hurt? ... our culture, our pride... Betsy Swart: Last year, on the eve of Everyone was hurt, some worse than But like the phoenix we have suivivvd. the International Women's Day, there others. The injuries ranged from serious —Women's Poetry Workshop, was a brutal strip search of the women bruises and sprains to broken and frac- Maghaberry jail POWs here. Wliat happened to you on tured bones. We were totally battered that day? — and then, of course, prison officials he first tiling I noticed Bronwyn McGahan: When we punished us because they said if we about Bronwyn was the heard there was going to be a strip search, hadn't resisted, we wouldn't have been gold charm around her my cellmate Geraldine Ferrity and I bar- hurt. neck — a phoenix rising ricaded ourselves into our cell. You see, from the flames. Against we refused to voluntarily submit to the Do you fear another strip search soon? her plain blue denim shirt and pants, strip search. It isn't done for any security These strip searches have been going on the phoenix stood out brightly — a purpose at all; it's only done to intimidate for years. It's one way the prison officials small but significant symbol of hope and demoralize us. It is the most awful use our sexuality — our very woman- inside the otherwise oppressive walls of kind of insult to us as political prisoners hood — against us. There are women Maghaberry Female Prison in Lisbum, and as women. In fact, the process is so prisoners here who have been strip Northern Ireland. ugly and brutal, it's an assault to all of searched hundreds of times! And noth- I had come to Maghaberry jail that womanhood. Geraldine and I pushed ing is ever found. We actually went to morning through sheets of rain, search- our beds up against the cell door. We court about the last strip search, but we ing my way along narrow rural roads, were the last cell in the corridor, so for 10 lost the case. The judge found that we winding through small villages half-ob- hours we could hear the other women had no right to resist the search. And so, scured in mist and fog. being assaulted — being dragged out of yes we do fear other strip searches. That When I finally found it, the prison their cells and stripped. All day we lis- is part of the torture of our situation — looked out of place in the gentle rural tened to the sounds and waited. Then it never knowing when the next one will context — a modem sprawling building, was our turn. Male guards in riot gear come. Sometimes we hear a strange grey and low, with gates topped by rolls were doing the work of actually breaking sound or see something unusual and we of barbed wire. From the roadside, a sign down the cell doors. They had dogs, tear think "It's happening." Some women announced that I was entering "Her Ma- gas, guns, plastic bullets, clubs. But still have nightmares about being strip jesty's Prison." Even the sign was ugly. we fought as long as we could. The searched. Yes, we fear it, but that does I was there to meet Bronwyn McGahan, guards laughed at us and mimicked us; not mean we will ever submit to it! We a 21 -year-old Republican prisoner, who they imitated our screams and our cries. will always resist it and we refuse to let it would that day be acting as spokesperson They shouted obscenities at us. I kicked break our spirits. for the other two-dozen female political and kicked for what seemed like hours— prisoners. We hoped that through our bracing the bed against the cell door so Are political prisoners discriminated conversation we might let women in they couldn't get in. Finally they got against in other ways here at Maghaberry? America know about the condition of Geraldine's arm between the bars and the Yes, we are treated differently from the Ireland's women POWs. bed and forced their way in. Eight men male "non-political" prisoners. So we Bronwyn is a prochoice feminist, tackled me at once, knocking me to the are discriminated against on two levels: strongly committed to the struggle for floor. Some held down my arms and my As women and as political women. On Irish freedom. She is serving a 10-year legs; others lay on me with the full weight the male side of the prison, they get sentence for the alleged possession of a of their bodies. I was face down on the longer visiting hours than we do and booby-trap device. To be serving such a floor and I thought I would suffocate. I they also have childcare facilities avail- long sentence at such a young age is not couldn't breathe; I couldn't see. All I able for visitors — something we have unusual in Northern Ireland. In fact, could feel was their weight and the pain been repeatedly denied. The Northern condemning young prisoners to unnec- of it. And they started stroking my thighs Ireland OGice (NIO) has hypocritically essarily long prison terms is one way the and my buttocks and saying dirty things. said that they thought women would British authorities are attempting to re- It was so demeaning. Finally, they stood prefer to have their children with them move an entire generation of young me up and immediately I grabbed onto during visits. But sometimes the chil- people from the political landscape; the the bars of cell. But they twisted my arms dren who come on visits are not the other is through outright murder. Shoot- -"lock one; lock two," they said as they prisoner's own children. And even when to-kill cases in which the British military bent them back — till the pain was so they are, the prisoner should have a murders Irish civilians are frequent and great I couldn't resist it. When they had choice — she should be allowed to have increasing. me so I couldn't move, they did obscene some time without the children present

34 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 for serious or private talks. We are also Ireland means living with a constant thing. That is just one of the ways we've often denied our exercise privileges — military presence all of your life in every adapted to the stress and the harassment. we will get maybe one hour in the aspect of your life. Even as children, we We young women put ourselves on the "yard" a day while the men get six or are harassed by soldiers. We are stopped line to protect the young men. Some- more. And our education is severely on our way to school; we are made to times we actually make it to the disco as limited too. We're supposed to have open our coats (and if you're a girl, you well...if we're lucky! classes three times a week, but often on can expect some comments about your the day of a class, they will simply teD us body); we're made to take off our shoes What happened when you were arrested? it's cancelled due to a staffshortage. The on freezing cold days or in the rain; we're I was taken to Gough Detention Center men's classes are rarely cancelled, though, called names; we're followed. You get so and kept there for seven days. The mili- so it's easy to see that the staff shortages used to it, you start to consider it "nor- tary is legally allowed to keep someone are selective. And then also we are de- mal." No one complains much unless — even ajuvenile — for up to seven days niedinter-wing association, anotherprivi- you are physically injured. And we've without charge. You can't see your fam- lege that the men have. That means that actually come up with some ways to live ily or make a phone call. You have no we women prisoners are never allowed with the harassment and the danger. right to remain silent. You are totally at to associate as one large group. We can Like, for example, if a group of young the mercy of the military authorities. only associate with the other women in people wants to go to a disco in a They kept threatening to pull my pant- our wing, so I only see the other seven neighboring town. First of all, we always ies down to "see if I had a boyfriend." women. And then, of course, our mail is go in a group; and second, we always They slap you, pull your hair, threaten censored in silly and unnecessary ways. make sure some young women are in your family. Boys and men are treated Magazines and letters are held up for each car containing young men, because worse: Burned with cigarette lighters, weeks. Photos are not sent through to us. then if we are stopped by soldiers, there hooded, beaten. Sometimes they keep And silly excuses are given: Once I was is less chance that the young men will get you for the legal limit of seven days; let sent a photo of a friend of mine being hurt or killed. You see, soldiers have the you out; then immediately come and married — she was in a bridal gown and right to make young men get out of the pick you up again for another seven veil. I was not allowed to have the photo car and they can search them and so days! People think that the British aren't because I might use it on a fake passport. forth, but they can't take the women out capable of this kind of abuse, but here it A picture of a woman in a white veil is of the cars for a search without a female happens every day. hardly a representative passport photo! police officer beingpresent. So the young women can sit in the cars and watch; we You see, if they can't punish us any How has being in prison changed you? become the witnesses to what the sol- other way, the prison officials will settle Being in prison hasn't been easy. But it diers do so there is less chance that the for petty harassment and humiliation. In definitely made me stronger and more young men will be shot dead on the the areas of visiting conditions, educa- independent. It's been a learning and roadside. Soldiers can't say they were tion, exercise, association and censor- growing experience to be here with a "trying to escape" if there are young ship, we are repeatedly denied privileges community of other feminist women. women in the car watching the whole which other prisoners are freely given. We support each other; we learn from Because we are political prisoners—and each other. We refine our own political also women — we are treated less well opinions. than male sex offenders in the other side of the jail. Prison officials maintain that What do you hope to do in the future? the women are not I'd like to attend university. But it's hard What was your life like before prison? "internally" searched because to plan for the future. When you are part I was a teenager when I was arrested; I no "instrument" is inserted of the Republican community in the lived at home with my family — on a into them during the North of Ireland, you have to seriously farm in rural County Tyrone. We had searches. In other words, their consider that you may not live long seven dogs — and other animals as well. anal and vaginal passages can enough to attend university. There is a I attended school and did well. I played be held open and pried into concerted effort here to eliminate my on a women's Gaelic football team — with hands and fingers — and generation. and it was a pretty great team, if I do say that does not technically so myself! My interests were music and constitute an "internal" Will the fact that you have been in prison reading. And I'm a strict vegetarian, too. search. prevent you from leaving Northern Ire- It just makes my blood boil when I hear In March 1992, male guards land in the future? some of the things people do to animals! were permitted to watch the I don't want to leave the North oflreland. strip searches from windows The way I look at it is: This is my home Do you get vegetarian food in here? in the wings — and they broke and I love it. Why should I be intimidated No. I eat a lot of banana sandwiches! into choruses of "Happy Days into leaving it? And I have great hope for the Anyway, as I was saying, my life in some Are Here Again" when the future, whatever my place in it is. • ways was like that of any teenager. But in women's genitals were other very important ways, my life was "searched." For more and continuing information on different from what any American teen- —B.S. women in the North of Ireland, contact the ager could ever imagine. Living in a Committee on Women and Ireland, P.O. nationalist community in the North of Box 53255, Washington, DC 20009. 35 ON THE ISSUES LET'S FINALLY RIGHT THE WRONGS: RAPE ISA WAR CRIME

he Bosnian story is one of ravished without any consent on her terror, and tragically that is part." Augustine saw himself as defend- an oft-told tale. Female vic- ing the bodies and minds of ravished timization at the hands of women, protecting them, in part, from enemy soldiers recurs as a the standards of "honor" of their day. motif in epic poems and humble remem- For the prevailing doctrine among the brances. In his fourth-century master- Romans held that a woman raped in work, The City of God, St. Augustine time of war had to do the "right thing" urged women violated in time of war not in light of her dishonor — and kill to punish themselves, for they did not herself! Augustine claims this victimized "consent to the wrong." Guilt, he con- the woman twice — first at the hands of by Jean Bethke tinues, "attaches only to the ravishers, her tormentor, and then, by her own Elshtain and not at all to the woman forcibly hand in the name of Roman honor. How sad that this story should be at once ancient and contemporary. The current scenes of horror arise from the fighting in Bosnia-Herzegovina. We read of detention camps turned into forced brothels; of women—and girls as young as five or six—raped as their fathers, husbands, or brothers are compelled to watch, helpless to act; of forcible im- pregnation ot Bosnian Muslim women at the hands of their tormentors with an eye to ethnic dilution as part of ethnic cleansing. It has never been easy to get a handle on the facts in time of war, especially when reliefagencie s and inde- pendent investigators have so little access to what is happening "on the ground." But as pieced together from eyewitness

Refugees (right) huddle in a shelter in Bosnia—Herzegovina. (Left) Surveying Sarajevo's main street in the aftermath of battle.

36 PHOTOS.IRIGHT] MARTIN NANGLE/AP/WIDE WORLD [ABOVEI DAVID BRAUCHU/AP/WIDE WORLD ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 accounts and testimony by United Na- killing of civilians. The Israeli army, heirs gathered steam in the 19th century and tions Rapporteurs and representatives as to this ancient tradition, are scrupulous in became a reality with the Hague Con- well as independent human rights orga- prohibiting their soldiers to rape. vention Number IV of 1907 and the nizations this much seems certain: The The British and United States armies, as Geneva Convention of 1949. These mass rapes taking place as the world well, have not been armies to whom rape represented major efforts to write previ- watches the death throes of Bosnia are a was routinely "permitted," with officers ous customary, or unwritten, laws of war centmlfeature of Serbian i par-fighting strategy. looking the other way, although British into a codified body of law. The Hague That is, the rapes are not an example of and American soldiers have committed and Geneva conventions established re- disciplinary break-down or freelance ter- "opportunistic" rapes. straints on property seizure and destruc- ror but part of a knowing policy of Even in the Vietnam War, where inci- tion but, most importandy, provided for depredation aimed at destroying a cul- dents of rape, torture and massacre the protection of civilians during war- ture and its people. emerged, raping was sporadic and op- time. Article 27 of the Geneva Conven- We know, of course, that all sides are portunistic rather than routine. That is tion states that the wounded and sick behaving heinously in die fighting in why stories such as Daniel Lang's Casual- must be cared for and "women must be former Yugoslavia. Women caught on ties of War have made a powerful impact. protected from attacks on their honor," all sides of the conflict have been raped. Lang recounts the abduction and re- including "any form of sexual assault." What makes the action of Serbian forces peated gang rape of a young Vietnamese Defiling the "personal dignity" of non- in the field especially repellent lies in woman by a five-man reconnaissance combatants, "inflicting humiliating and the fact that the mass rapes, documented patrol in the Central Highlands of Viet- degrading treatment" on such persons, is by United Nations investigators and oth- nam. The year was 1966 and the girl was labeled a "grave breach" of law. ers, appear to be part of their strategy of taken from her remote hamlet and forced Such breaches are further spelled out in war — in direct contradistinction to the to accompany the patrol. Four of the Section 45, Article 120, of the Uniform rules of war. More often than military soldiers, following the lead and at least Code of Military Justice. The text is analysts would like to believe — al- tacit command of their sergeant, raped unambiguous: "Any person subject to though the stories and evidence are there the young woman repeatedly. One sol- this chapter who commits an act of — rapes have been permitted in war- dier, called "Eriksson" by Lang, refused. sexual intercourse with a female not his time, seen as part of the "booty" of war. Before returning to base, the sergeant wife, by force and without her consent, But there are important distinctions be- decided the woman should be "wasted," is guilty of rape and shall be punished by tween what various armies historically in the fierceling o of the time, and she was death or such other punishment as a court have' 'permitted'' themselves in this regard. shot and her body dumped. Eriksson was martial may direct." Penetration, "how- In his important work, Just and Unjust haunted by the incident and brought ever slight," is sufficient to "complete" Wars, Michael Walzer recounts the rape charges—despite the advice of a number the offense. In the explanatory section of of Italian women carried out by Moroc- of higher-ups in his unit to "forget the the text, the always controversial matter can soldiers fightingwit h the Free French whole diing." Eventually, with the help of consent is raised. The fact that a forces in Italy in 1943. As he reports, of a chaplain, he did succeed in getting woman may not have resisted her at- "These were mercenary troops who charges brought; the others were tried, tacker does not constitute prima facie fought on terms, and the terms included convicted, and sentenced. Eriksson re- evidence of consent, the Uniform Code license to rape and plunder in enemy ceived a commendation from the com- insists, for "if resistance would have been territory....A large number of women manding officer of his division praising futile,"or "where resistance is overcome were raped; we know the number, him for "seeing that justice was done." If by threats of death or great bodily harm," roughly, because the Italian government justice was done in that case, one must no presumption in favor of consent can later offered them a modest pension." surely assume that there were rapes that or should be made. The maximum pun- Walzer points out that giving soldiers went unreported. ishment for rape is death. Thus, interest- "privileges" to rape and plunder is no In order to understand why the current ingly, rape is a capital offense under the doubt as old as "the right to sack" a city. Bosnian situation is so horrible and what Uniform Code of Military Justice, by But, he says, this ancient "right" is over- might be done about it, a further bit of contrast to most civilian legal codes. ridden by the rules of war that declare history is helpful. As I learned from my As with all crimes committed in timeo f rape a "crime, in war as in peace, because research on military politics and history, war, however, it is difficult to bring it violates the rights of the woman who war is not a freeform unleashing of vio- offenders to trial unless the leaders of the is attacked." Walzer traces the prohibi- lence; rather, fighting is constrained by military forces are themselves determined tion against rape in wartime back to the considerations of war aims, strategies and to ferret out and punish tormentors of Hebrew Testament and the Book of permissible tactics. Were war simply an civilian populations. Needless to say, if Deuteronomy in which the Lord thy unbridled release ofviolence , wars would the strategy is itself one of tormenting God Himself declares that if a man be even more destructive than they are. civilians, rapists are not going to be called desires a captive woman he must bring Over the centuries, nations in the West before a bar of justice unless, in the her to his own country and make her his devised unwritten laws and rules governing aftermath of the conflict, trials are held wife. With some understatement, Walzer the conduct of war. These became known as based on "crimes against humanity" — points out that although this may be the customary law of war; its basic purposthe e so-calledNurembergprecedent. The offensive to modern understanding be- was to limit suffering and destruction of genocide ofWorld War II brought forth cause the woman, a noncombatant, is combatants and to protect non-combatants. such revulsion that attempts were made made a captive, it does, however, begin Efforts to codify the customary law of to create a framework for the punish- to build in prohibitions on the rape and war—in place since the Middle Ages — ment of those responsible — their of-

38 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 fenses were so egregious that they consti- tales of rape is that they are being perpe- "dilute" their own identity through the tuted a crime against the moral sensibility trated even as negotiations continue. As identity of their offspring. This is the ofhumanity itself. This, too, is an ancient a special report to the United Nations on work of inflamed racists who seem to and honorable idea, going back to the "The situation of human rights in the believe that identity comes down, fi- notion of jus gentium, a more or less territory of the former Yugoslavia" nally, to race or ethnicity. The Argentine generic, universal moral code dating notes: "Ethnic cleansing does not appear torturers didn't go that far: Being from the days of the ancient Roman to be the consequences of the war, but "adopted" by one of them sufficed to jurists and legists. The United Nations rather its goal. That goal, to a large extent, guarantee one wouldn't grow up may well be laying the groundwork for has already been achieved through kill- "tainted" by being raised in the wrong such a possibility in light of the mounting ings, beatings, rape, destruction ofhouses sort of family. evidence that as part of the Serbian war and threats." Perhaps one 40-year-old In light of all that has happened, what effort rape and torture was ordered by Muslim woman's testimony may suffice should be done? The most important field commanders and sanctioned by to convey what happened during an step is to prevent further harm. A large "higher-ups." attack on her city when hundreds of body of opinion has favored lifting the These are the facts as they have thus far arms embargo to the Bosnians so that the emerged: An investigatory team of the Muslim population can at least partially European Community has estimated that We read of defend itself against total destruction or at least 20,000 Muslim women have women— and girls as displacement. Self-defense is a hollow been raped since the fighting began last hope unless one has something with April. The team concluded that the rapes young as five or six— which to defend oneself. were a strategy of the war. But, as Tamar Ever more energetic humanitarian re- Lewin pointed out in a piece in the New raped as their fathers, lief, including assistance to special cen- York Times, "The Balkans Rapes: A husbands, or brothers ters where raped and abused women can Legal Test for the Outraged" (January find asylum, share their stories, and get 15, 1993), "...as a legal matter, prosecu- are compelled medical, psychiatric and spiritual care is tion for war crimes is a difficult task. to watch essential. United Nations peacekeeping There is no international criminal court, forces should supplement the humani- and setting up an international tribunal tarian forces as soon as possible. The on war crimes, as the Allies did at women were forced into a school, and killing and rape must be stopped first. Nuremberg after World Warll, depends selected women were raped and tor- Once the hostilities have ceased, a special as much on favorable political winds as tured: "It was unbearable to watch girls tribunal on war crimes should be estab- on legal precepts." Those "political being raped in front of their fathers. I was lished. Public testimony from eyewit- winds" include, at present, widespread raped and tortured too, because they nesses and survivors should be taken international outrage, with human rights knew that I am a wife of a leader of the over a period of weeks. It is important to and ad hoc women's groups pointing the Muslim party....Many women and girls document what happened. A culture of way. The very real possibility of an ad who were pregnant remained in the memory is needed in order that the hoc war crimes tribunal is emerging as camp. They were transferred to a hospital victims not be obliterated in the after- one avenue for bringing those most and fed twice a day because, as the math as people hasten to "normalize." responsible for the rape strategy to trial. Chetniks (a Serbian paramilitary orga- With all appropriate legal protection, The International Court ofjustice in the nization most deeply implicated in the charges should be brought and the worst Hague is probably not the ideal "court of rape strategy) said, they had to bear offenders and those most responsible for appeal" in this instance. Not only has it their offspring." the tragedy in Bosnia be held account- never heard a genocide or mass-atrocity This story is reminiscent of those told to able. Law builds slowly, case by case. case, it has no real enforcement power. me by the Mothers of the Disappeared in International law and its enforcement is It would, therefore, take an act either of Argentina whom I interviewed in 1982, underdeveloped. It is difficult to know the United Nations Security Council or 1986 and 1991. Throughout the years of who is responsible for what. It is, there- the United Nations General Assembly to that country's torment (the so-called dirty fore, important to reinforce the principle create an international war crimes panel. war from 1976-1979), some 10,000 that the wholesale destruction of the lives of a people will not be permitted Before the Bush Administration left of- people—most of them between the ages and that this destruction includes mass fice, Secretary of State Lawrence of 16 and 24 and about 70 percent male rape and torture as well as genocide. Eagleburger not only raised the possibil- — were "disappeared," tortured, killed. Crimes against humanity should not ity of American support for such an Some women were raped as part of their have to culminate in death camps for the effort, he listed three Serbian leaders for torture. Others who happened to be international community to cry, "Nunca possible indictment — an act nearly pregnant at the time of their "being Mas." Never Again. • unheard of in diplomatic circles. But it disappeared" were kept alive only until takes sustained political pressure, and the child was bom. In order that the plenty of it, to bring the matter to a head child's upbringingbe "pure," the mother Jean Bethke Ebhtain is the Centennial Professor of and to keep the issue before the public. was then killed and the child "adopted" Political Science and Professor of Phibsophy at We are tormented daily with scenes of by a military family. If anything, the Vandeibilt University. Slieis the author of several the death throes of a society, with stories evidence coming out of Bosnia is even books, including Women and War (Basic of starvation and freezing and cruel pun- worse, for it seems Muslim women are Books, 1987). She has written widely on ishment. The particular horror in the being forcibly impregnated in order to just-war theory and feminist politics.

ON THE ISSUES 39 •KI»]=lL BOSNIA: NO PLACE TO HIDE-NO PLACE TO RUN: The Balkanization of Women's Bodies

orror and outrage have and the children they were forced to been the world's response bear. Difficulty confounds international to systematic mass rape relief efforts. Difficulty seems insur- and forced pregnancy of mountable for the devastated healthcare Bosnian women by the system ofBosnia-Herzegovina, as well as "Yugoslav" (Serbian) Army and Bosnian for the healthcare system in Croatia, Serb militias. Feminists, human rights which is strained to bursting by almost a groups, Muslims and others have million refugees. sought ways to document abuses, help Since last fall, foreign reporters have survivors and prosecute the war criminals. flocked to the refugee camps in Croatia In this war, with its devastating refugee to press raped women for the gory details problem, it has been difficult to meet the of their ordeal. But few reporters inter- by Jill Benderly needs of war-raped Bosnian women — viewed the women best able to help the rape survivors: Those feminists in the capitals of Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia who, long before the war started, staffed projects to aid women who were victims of domestic violence. Now, their mis- sion has taken on a grave urgency, for helping all women, of all nationalities, who are being brutalized by the war. In expanding their services, these femi- nists need direct support: funds, supplies, medical backup, training, more volunteers...and most of all, support for the feminist perspective that distinguishes them from the efforts of their govern- ments. These projects provide assistance to women by women, and in ways that will not use the survivors to further fuel the fires of nationalism burning on all

Belgrade: Women in Black at their weekly protest.

40 PHOTO.MONICA BEURER ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 sides in the conflict. their kids could find refuge. In 1987, the Belgrade Women's Lobby pressed groups in the three cities formed The the government for a Ministry ofWomen, 15 YEARS OF Yugoslav Feminist Network, which held a battered women's shelter, a quota of YUGOSLAV FEMINISM annual gatherings to share ideas and link women in parliament, laws against The former Yugoslav republics are home projects, especially the hotlines. marital rape, and decriminalization of to a small but outspoken independent The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 prostitution. In Croatia, a Women's Par- feminist movement, one of the strongest opened up the political process through- liament convened by feminists on Inter- in Eastern Europe. Yugoslav post-war out Eastern Europe. Although Yugosla- national Women's Day, March 8,1991, feminism dates from 1978, when an via had broken away from the Soviet proposed a similar plank to the drafters international feminist conference was bloc in 1948 and established a decentral- of the new Croatian Constitution. held in Belgrade. A majority of those ized federation of republics with an eco- Not all the efforts ofYugoslav feminists attending found that feminism explained nomic system based on worker self- were defensive. They successfully intro- much about why women's "emancipa- management rather than central plan- duced women's studies courses into the tion" — which was mandated by ning, the Yugoslav Communist Party university curriculum in Ljubljana and Yugoslavia's unique form of "self-man- still monopolized political power in each Belgrade. Lesbian and gay groups also aged socialism" — did not feel like republic and in the federal government. came out into the public presence in all freedom. Yugoslav women were free to Throughout Yugoslavia, as in the rest three big cities. In 1990 in Zagreb, Croatia, be workers, mothers, heroines of the ofEastern Europe, feminists joined other the city where Yugoslavia's first hotline partisan war and shoppers all rolled into alternative movements in feeling eu- protesting violence against women had one. But they were not free to ask the phoric about this sweet moment of pos- opened two years earlier, Women's Aid question, "What do we women want sibility, of change. But the alternative Now took the next step by occupying a our lives to be?" movements that started the changes soon large flat and converting it into a shelter Soon after the conference, feminists in found themselves sidelined, their energy for battered women and their children. Zagreb and Belgrade formed "Women and vision frustrated by "politics as usual." The shelter became known as the and Society" groups; the groups spon- The region preferred to turn the clocks Women's Autonomous House Zagreb. sored forums and published feminist texts back to pre-Communist days rather than About the same time, a handful of in mainstream magazines. The feminist forward to something new. Zagreb radical feminists formed a small critique hit a nerve: The ruling Commu- The year 1990 ushered in the first editorial collective which put out the first nist Party, through its official women's multi-party elections in each republic of issue of a magazine called Kareta. organizations, quickly reviled the femi- the Yugoslav federation. Feminists were nists as "bourgeois Western pawns." recruited as candidates for Croatian and WAR AND PEACE By the mid-1980s, a new generation of Slovenian local elections by Commu- Less than a year later, Yugoslavia disinte- women began to breathe a different kind nist, Green and centrist parties, but not grated. Slovenia and Croatia declared of energy into feminism. For them, the by the winning nationalists and Christian independence in the summer of 1991, women's movement was about action; Democrats. After the elections, the num- and were invaded by the Yugoslav Army, their primary efforts went into grassroots ber of women deputies in parliament commanded by Serbian generals. The activism and women's self-help pro- dropped to an all-time low in all Yugoslav Western powers' insistence on main- grams. They went to the open-air mar- republics. The nationalist revival in Serbia taining the territorial integrity of the kets and asked the women how they felt and Croatia sang hymns to women as Yugoslav federation supplied diplomatic about their lives. They opened their "mothers of the nation." The inaugura- ammunition to Serbian president doors to Gypsy women who came to tion of Croatian president Franjo Slobodan Milosevic and his generals. drink coffee, tell fortunes and speak about Tudjman climaxed in a ceremony in The Slovene war lasted only a week the difficulties of homelessness. which he tucked a feather into an empty before the Slovenes beat back the They dared one another to spray paint cradle to honor unborn Croatian babies. "Yugoslav" army. The Croatian confla- the walls of the housing blocks with In Croatia and Serbia, flurries of legis- gration began soon afterward in Serb- messages such as "Women neighbors of lation threatened to curtail reproductive populated enclaves and spread through- the world, unite!" rights. Bills proposed limits on abortion out the republic. Serb paramilitary bands, In the late 1980s, groups in the capitals and contraception. At the same time, backed up by Milosevic's army, attacked of the three biggest Yugoslav republics Serbian lawmakers sought to enforce Bosnia-Herzegovina in April of 1992. — Zagreb (Croatia), Belgrade (Serbia) population control on Albanian women Soon the genocidal horrors of "ethnic and Ljubljana (Slovenia) — started SOS in Kosovo, a province under Serbian cleansing'' and starvation were unleashed. telephone hotlines. Feminist volunteers martial law where 90 percent of the From the moment the war began, answered phone calls from women who population is ethnic Albanian and Serbs peace movements across the former Yu- had been abused, beaten, and raped. The want to reverse the demographic tide. goslavia had their work cut out for them. feminist counselors never saw the faces of Women throughout a changing East- Young men deserted the army in droves. these women, they only heard their ern Europe experienced political disen- Mothers of soldiers marched on parlia- voices. But they gave them uncondi- franchisement, legislative threats and ments and army headquarters to demand tional support. They counseled them disproportionate female unemployment. that their sons be sent home from army about how to get a divorce, emergency Yugoslav feminists responded by orga- duty. At first, mothers from Serbia, medical treatment, child support. Before nizingwomen's parliaments and women's Croatia, Bosnia and elsewhere held co- long, the hotline groups began plans for lobbies to publicize the state of affairs and ordinated antiwar protests. But as the war establishing shelters where women and influence the political process. In Serbia, ravaged Croatia, cooperation — and

41 ON THE ISSUES even communication — between anti- has grown tired of the war and of rapes. Have there been 20,000 rapes, as war efforts in the various republics Milosevic's government. A crazy quilt estimated by the European Community, dwindled. In Zagreb, wartime life was of marchers—students, feminists, royal- or over 100,000, as reported by the strangely schizophrenic. ists, intellectuals — has been ringing Croatian women's group Tresnjevka? While the "Yugoslav" army destroyed alarm clocks and bells in front of Parlia- (All of these figures are extrapolations the Croatian cities of Dubrovnik and ment to warn the regime to wake up to calculated by multiplying the small num- Vukovar, inhabitants of Zagreb slept in the truth. Cigarettes and gasoline have ber of women refugees who have re- their bomb shelters. But soon Zagreb life disappeared from the stores as interna- ported being abused, by the total number began to feel eerily normal — except that tional economic sanctions have taken of women refugees, or by the number of almost overnight Serbs had become con- hold. Weapons, however, are still on the women in the camps.) While it is critical querors and Croats victims. Children of market. to establish the magnitude of the crimes mixed marriages suddenly didn't know Here, too, the opposition media has — and evidence that they are systematic who they were. been stifled. In the December 1992 elec- — feminists are asking what is actually As the experience of a war replete with being done for the women? massacres and occupation shaped a de- The firstpriorit y of feminist groups was fensive Croatian consciousness, it be- to get out information about the war came easy for the Croatian government The former crimes. But many have now shifted gears to co-opt popular "peace" sentiment. to lay the groundwork for providing For example, a women's protest called Yugoslav republics long-term assistance to the war-ravaged "Wall of Love" (Bedem Ljubavi) was are home to a small women. Feminists in Zagreb have opened little more than a cheering squad on a Center for Women Victims of War. behalf of Croatian president Franjo but outspoken This center is a project of the Zagreb Tudjman. Women's Lobby, a coalition made up of The Croatian peace and feminist move- independent the Autonomous Women's House ments also suffered bitter divisions be- feminist movement Zagreb, the Independent Alliance of tween those who felt themselves to be Women (an offspring of the Women and part of a victimized Croatian nation and Society group), the Informative-Docu- those who still opposed all nationalism. mentary Center on Women, and women Those with the first view were more tion, the opposition candidates had no from the Antiwar Campaign-Croatia. A likely to cooperate with the govern- access to TV, and foreign observers wit- similar center was established in the ment. The non-nationalists, grouped nessed widespread voting fraud. Still, Bosnian city of Zenica by a German around the Antiwar Campaign-Croatia nearly 40 percent of the Serbian elector- feminist gynecologist. in Zagreb and its affiliates in other Croatian ate voted against Milosevic and for the A Belgrade coalition, including the cities, had more trouble gaining public self-described "candidate of change" Belgrade Women In Black, Belgrade exposure, as the government had done Milan Panic. Women's Lobby and the Group for an effective job of throttling "disloyal" Since the war began, a small band of Women Raped in War (some of the independent media. Belgrade feminists who call themselves women from the Belgrade SOS hodine), The issues of nationalism and non- the Women In Black have been protest- has proposed a center on the same model nationalism were further complicated by ing the war with silent vigils. as those in Zagreb and Zenica. Despite the spread of the war into Bosnia. While Standing in Belgrade's main street ev- the logistical difficulties in communicat- the Serbs have been the most blatant in ery week, they are spat upon and called ing, women from Zagreb, Belgrade and their plans for "ethnic cleansing" there, traitors and whores. Zenica are cooperating on the centers. local Croatian militias and the Croatian These feminists have been attending government have, as well, pursued their HELP FOR RAPE SURVIVORS training sessions; a team of two from thirst for Bosnian and Herzegovinian In the summer of 1992, when the news Zagreb visits a refugee camp twice a territory. In fact, envoys ofTudjman and of rapes, forced pregnancies and other week to talk to the women about their Milosevic agreed to carve up Bosnia- war-related crimes against women needs, and to help them establish self- Herzegovina at the expense of the Mus- emerged from the refugee camps, femi- help groups. When the groundwork has lims. Perhaps because Sarajevo, the capi- nist journalists were among the first to been laid, enough funds have been raised, tal of Bosnia-Herzegovina, has a mixed pursue the story. Croatian writer Slavenka and the women survivors indicate that population and a history of tolerance, the Drakulic called the rapes "a method of they are ready, small shelters additional to peace movement there has brought to- ethnocide." the existing one in Zagreb will be opened. gether Muslims, Croats and Serbs, even Despite international newspaper cov- Feminists also wish to provide counsel- under siege. erage of these crimes, it took two UN ing that will be culturally sensitive, espe- In Belgrade, the Serbian capital, the reports on human rights (the second cially to the needs of Muslim women. mood has been differently grim. The released in November 1992) before a Their plans to make abortion, gyneco- Serb conquerors run the government, global outcry was heard. Soon a stam- logical care, pregnancy assistance and they have an agenda but they feel the pede of fact-finders arrived on the scene. adoption services available are no small world misunderstands them. They jus- The European Community, human part of this endeavor. tify their actions by claiming to be pro- rights groups, the UN and the Bosnian A German group, Sisters in Need, works tecting endangered Serbs in other repub- and Croatian governments all play "the with women throughout the former lics. A significant portion of the populace numbers game" about the extent of the Yugoslavia. It has established feminist

42 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 guidelines for the best use of donations to movements in the former Yugoslav re- publics hold opposing views about who help the rape victims. Among them: publics, it is important that they resist is doing the raping and why. One view "Any direct or indirect influence of the over-simplifying a complicated situation, condemns men on all sides of the con- state or religious institutions must be and resolve not to leave U.S. policy on flict. The other singles out the Serbian avoided...Care for women rape survi- this matter solely to the "experts." It's paramilitary forces, and the "Yugoslav" vors must on principle be provided by interesting to note that even when it army that supports them, for perpetrat- women's groups which are not bound conies to rape, the experts are almost ing systematic rape and forced pregnancy by a nationalist ideology." They also call always male. When Time ran an article in the service of "ethnic cleansing. " for a training program to be developed on the rapes ("Unspeakable," February In fact, both of these positions reflect by women doctors, psychologists and 22, 1993), the correspondents interviewed aspects of the truth. International fact- counselors. only male professors and policy analysts. finding missions have gathered evidence Following these guidelines, U.S. "War is the continuation of politics by of war crimes against women on the part women have set up a fund to assist the other means," goes the famous aphorism of all armies in the conflict, but particu- Centers for Women Victims of War. larly the Serbian forces. Dr. Shana Swiss Funds can be made payable to MAD RE of the Women's Commission of Physi- (a non-profit organization working for Many feminist cians for Human Rights, who followed ten years in global solidarity with women), up the UN investigation, documented 121 W. 27th Street, Room 301, New groups have now 119 cases of pregnant rape survivors in six York, NY 10001, telephone: 212-627- hospitals in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia. 0444. A coalition of groups including the shifted gears to lay the She suggests that this is a very small American Friends Service Committee, groundwork for percentage of the actual number of Women Organized Against Rape, women. While Swiss saw cases of Serbian Women's Health Action and Mobiliza- providing long-term women raped by Croats or Muslims, tion, the YWCA, Women's Interna- "the overwhelming majority of the vic- tional League for Peace and Freedom, assistance to the tims are Muslim women raped by Serbian MADRE, and many others, have initi- war-ravaged women irregular soldiers," she reported. ated GATHER — Global Action to The EC's Investigative Mission into Help End Rape — whose goal is to raise the Treatment of Muslim Women in the $50,000 for the Center for Women Former Yugoslavia, led by Dame Anne Victims of War, Zagreb. of the 19th-century Prussian military Warburton and Simone Weil, sought As part of that fundraising effort strategist Karl von Clausewitz. Just as the specifically to "arrive at a view.. .whether MADRE sponsored a North American Yugoslav war is an escalation of politics or not the rape of Muslim women could speaking tour, "Mother Courage II," in by other means, so rape can be seen as the be properly described as 'systematic.'" March and April. The tour brought escalation of the control of women's Their December 1992 report found that together women from Bosnia, Croatia bodies by violent means. This can be a "repeated feature of Serbian attacks on and Serbia who are working on behalf of seen in the recent political history of the Muslim towns and villages was the use of •war-raped women. Their passionate wit- region. Controls made abortion illegal rape or the threat of rape to force the ness against war, rape and the atrocities and contraception utterly unavailable in population to leave their homes...The committed in the name of nationalism Ceaucescu's Romania. In Communist delegation saw examples of statements stirred audiences in seven North Ameri- East Germany, which used the carrot and documents from Serbian sources can cities. instead of the stick, it brought muttipolitik which very clearly put such actions in the Even the U.S. Agency for International (Mommy politics) — financial incen- context of an expansionist strategy... Development has acknowledged the tives for working mothers, which al- Viewed in this way, rape cannot be seen importance of the efforts of the women's lowed them to have their children and as incidental to the main purposes of the groups in the former Yugoslavia to help work, too, but mainly in dead-endjobs. aggression, but as serving a strategic pur- rape survivors. The agency will provide In Serbia, in 1990, it brought population pose in itself." small grants to hotlines, community cen- control for Albanian women and threats Amnesty International's January 1993 ters, schools and other programs. to curtail abortion for Serbian women. report "believes that the rape and sexual In Bosnia, in 1992, it meant rape and abuse of women, the great majority of forced pregnancy. A QUESTION OF STRATEGY them Muslims, by Serbian forces has The news about rape spurred a powerful Gail Kligman, a visiting professor of occurred in many places in Bosnia- response in the U.S. and the anger was government at Georgetown University, Herzegovina and in some cases has been focused most directly on the Serb fight- and an expert in reproductive policies in earned out in an organized or systematic ers, whose policy of "ethnic cleansing" is Southeastern Europe, puts the rapes in a way, with the deliberate detention of so abhorrent. Perhaps this is because a long-term perspective: "Political self- women for the purpose of rape and visceral response to what is a complicated determination in the region has always sexual abuse." situation is far easier to entertain than been linked to control of women's bod- The two positions have very different trying to sort out the twisted history of ies. That was true for the communists, strategic implications. As adopted by Yugoslavia and the dynamics of its and it is true for the regimes that have some feminists in the former Yugoslavia, disintegration. followed them. Rape is more than a war the position that war-related violence crime, it is a weapon of war." However, as women get involved in solidarity work with feminist and peace Feminists in the former Yugoslav re- continued on pg 52 43 ON THE ISSUES INTERVIEW

S Feminist Author /^ • (^'/**• usan Griffin When Orpheus sang and the stones wept, perhaps they wept because they wereby Heathe recordingr Rhoads history

and personal narratives, Griffin illustrates t is said that the close study of stone will reveal how private life — family history, child- 4 4 hood experience, gender and sexuality, traces from fires suffered thousands of years private aspiration and public image — assumes an undeniable role in the causes ago," writes Susan Griffin in her book A and effects of war. Exploring the secrets Chorus of Stones:The Private Life ofWar."l am and lies of her own past as well as those throughout the history of warfare, she I offers a sobering self-portrait of a society beginning to believe that we know everything, that all moving toward mass suicide. history, including the history of each family, is part of us, When Orpheus sang and the stones wept, perhaps they wept because they such that, when we hear any secret revealed, a secret about were recording history, she explains. "The central idea of the book is that we a grandfather, or uncle, or a secret about the battle of must know our history, we must know the real history," she says. Dresden in 1945, our lives are made suddenly clearer to us, Heather Rhoads: Is A Chorus of and the unnatural heaviness of unspoken truth is dispersed. Stones written in the same type of poetic prose as your past books? For perhaps we are like stones; our own history and the Susan Griffin: Woman and Nature is written in the form of a prose poem I history of the world embedded in us, we hold a sorrow don't like to use the word poetic— people think that means pretty or senti- deep within and cannot weep until that history is sung." mental. It's very carefully-wrought prose. The form it's closest to would be Author of more than 20 books — in- tion and analysis, creating mosaics of storytelling, but it's all true. cluding Woman and Nature: Hie Roaring contrasting images. Credited as a pio- There are things you'd expect more in Inside Her and Pomograpliy and Silence: neering founder of ecofeminism, Griffin fiction, there's narrative; then there's Culture's Revenge Against Nature—Susan exposes the multidimensional expres- meditative, reflective passages, for in- Griffin has profoundly influenced con- sions of misogyny and hatred of nature in stance, when I liken Himmler's psycho- temporary thought on women's issues, Western society. logical development to the lifting of a the environment, pornography, and Her latest book, A Chorus of Stones, missile off the ground, fighting gravity. violence. One of the most distinctive focuses on war and gender, and empha- Or I put myself in the place of a neutron features of her writing is her literary sizes the connection between private hurled out of the atomic world and style, which interweaves abstract thoughts suffering and public tragedy. Using in- bombarded towards another atom, which and feelings with historical documenta- terviews, diaries, historical documents, is what happens when an atomic explo-

44 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 sion is created with the chain reaction of Dresden, Germany 1941 in ruins after ture has very much to do with gender. nuclear fission. I enter into the mental firebombings. And then there's the system of child- state of the neutron, so there are very rearing, which makes children ashamed playful things that involve metaphor. very sad, and it spoke to me so deeply of of their bodies. That teaches self-hatred I interviewed many, many people who the female condition. Here -were these very early. These are all issues I deal with had some role in the history of wars in the Nazis, and this was the response. I was in the book through stories of actual 20th century, particularly the wars that really very interested in the Holocaust, it people. led to the development ofnuclea r weap- seemed at the heart of something I had to ons and the Cold War. I look at World know about. And indeed, the Holocaust What are some examples? You've men- War I as part of that development, be- is at the heart of nuclear history in our tioned the singing teacher who studied cause I trace the beginning of nuclear century in many different ways. soldiers' dying wails to expand his vocal weapons back to the military policy of Elie Wiesel pointed out — and I came range. How does that jit in? bombing civilians. An atomic bomb or to this same insight independently — He heard their cries. His name was nuclear weapon makes no sense unless that we use the terms "nuclear holo- Alfred Wolfsohn, and he was a stretcher- you're targeting civilians—it's not a very caust" and Nazi "Holocaust." It's not bearer in World War I. He was trapped good tactical weapon since it destroys happenstance that we refer to both as a in a foxhole one night, andjust ahead of the battlefield and your own soldiers. "holocaust." Now everybody has be- him there was a man dying. It was just come the Jew, the target of this murder- agony for him to hear these cries and be What led you to connect war with gender ous impulse. I take that one step further, aware that he could help the guy, but it issues? that the civilization we're living in is would mean his own life. It was a real crisis for him. I got drawn to this book of photographs really suicidal. It's a civilization of self- He realized hearing these cries that they of people being taken into Auschwitz. hatred, which gets engendered in many, were far outside what was supposed to be They were coming off trains from Hun- many fashions. the masculine range. The men would be gary near the end of the war, and nearly One is through the division of genders, which is not a natural division but a wailing in this high soprano that even all of those people were gassed. There super-imposed system. It ends up mak- some women can't reach. He formu- was a little girl there with a sweet little ing everybody feel like they're not quite lated a theory that the natural capacities face, and she was smiling in the way that right or not good enough, because none of the voice are constricted by emotions, women smile when we're afraid, a very of us fits those definitions. Family struc- and that our fear of death, of loss and submissive, obedient kind of smile. It was 45 ON THE ISSUES PHOTO: THE BETTMAN ARCHIVE/BETTMAN NEWS PHOTO mortality — keep us from reaching our population and probably more when the mills, and they'd tell the doctors, largest capacity. But when facing death, you count in the devastation of land and "We're sick and working there is mak- all of those constrictions release, and the plants and generations of genetics. ing us sicker." For years and years those whole capacity is available. We're raised in a system that teaches us things were denied, and the people who to respond to the earth by trying to were sick knew what the problem was. Is that what you mean by a breakdown inmentally conquerit. We feel we're above But to a certain extent, and this is also the notion of gender? nature if we have the illusion of power true now of radiation, it's money and Right, he believes women can develop and control. Our whole system of educa- insurance. The employers don't want to very deep tones and men can develop tion creates that illusion, from the minute admit they're causing the people in their very high tones; the separation of gender a child is diapered that's what it's about. workplaces and their neighborhoods to is imposed. That a lot of the characteris- Our socialization makes us unaware of get sick. But the other piece of that tics of gender are imposed. He devel- real physical danger. puzzle is that we live in a civilization of oped a method for teaching voice which denial. We just deny everything. is quite extraordinary. It explores all the Like pollution and dangers to our health? possibilities of voice, even letting people Right. For instance, at the hotel this How do you think this denial ties into make sounds that are not very musical or morning, I woke up and there was this war? pretty but that expand the voice. At the burning in my throat. I've spent years It's a very profound denial. We've all fed same time you're doing that with your trying to unlearn my miseducation, so I into the history of warfare. Warfare voice, suddenly you hit the very emo- called up and said, "What's going on requires denial, because for a man to go tional parts of yourself, that you didn't here, I know it's bad for me." They were to war, he has to deny a very organic even know were there. sprayingpesticides rightoutsid e my door! response to bullets aimed at him. Any Here's a hotel full of 300 people and normal, healthy organism facing a bunch What are some of the ways you "rethink"children, and nobody else probably called. of bullets or even a horse coming at it the nature of war? I'm sure the maintenance man didn't would run the other way. It's human, I'm very critical of the Allies in World want to hurt anybody. And the person you know. Frederick the Great had to War II even though I'm antifascist and behind the desk probably thought it was train his soldiers to march into a volley of glad we won the war against the Ger- a bad idea, but only after it was brought bullets. He developed a drill based on the mans. But we've never looked at the fact to her attention. We don't see the danger new mechanistic view of the universe. that we as Allies did this saturation- that's right there in front of us. Newton and the idea of the universe as bombing of Germany, even including a machine were the big thing then. Dresden, which was earmarked as a free So you're saying we're taught to ignoreFrederick decided to get his army to city for refugees. It was supposed to be things that are bad for us. march like a machine, and that's where protected fromaeria l bombardment, but We're taught to ignore our bodies. We the military drill comes from. So these it was chosen as a site to exhibit fire evolved over billions ofyears. The cells in things are all very tied together. bombing. There was no military target our bodies are made from the material of I also weave in denials in family. With there, there were not even railway lines stars. This is not a poetic metaphor, this the sexual abuse of a child or with in the old part of the city, and 135,000 is real. Any scientist will say that's true. alcoholism, there will be denial in the people died. The firestor y was the equiva- The cells in our bodies are very much family. We're all raised to live with the lent of an atomic weapon without radia- related to the plankton in the sea, which fact that everybody knows something is tion. So we developed atomic weapons are our ancestors. Human organisms true, but nobody talks about it, and as a kind of mental structure even before evolved in such a way that we are part of nobody acts as ifit' s true, nobody acts on the atom bomb was built. the environment, and our survival de- it. Nobody says, "Daddy is violent and The bedrock r>f our civilization main- pends on sensual reactions to the envi- abusive," or "Mommy really has a prob- tains that matter and spirit are separate ronment. lem with drinking too much." The best realms. Then higher energy physics comes We didn't evolve to push keys on a thing is to ignore it. along and says," Forget that, folks, matter computer and decide logically what to do Of course, we're trained in Western and energy are on a continuum." So according to what's in a book some- civilization to compartmentalize. Not spirit, the older concept for energy, is where. We evolved to be able to live or just to categorize — you have to have a really on a continuum with matter; they die according to smelling and seeing and certain number of categories and names aren't separable. Well, instead of chang- hearing and tasting, and even a certain to be able to talk about phenomena. But ing our theology or our psychological intuitional sense we've never been able when you have a category, it's not sepa- orientation to the world, we invented a to explain that we call a sixth sense, the rate from other categories; they all con- weapon that splits matter and energy and way tribal people can sense a leopard a verge on each other. But we compart- creates this terribly toxic pollution, ra- mile away. We have all these abilities, but mentalize and say, "Well, you're over diation. We created a new element un- for years and years, our whole lives, we're here in ecology and you're in economics known to the earth, plutonium, used in trained out of them. We're one of the and they don't have anything to do with the most toxic deadly weapons. A pound few cultures in the world that do not take each other." of it will destroy the earth. our dreams seriously. We don't listen to They have everything to do with each By the way, they're sending plutonium what we know. other! And so the history of war has up into space, and if there were ever You'd have people coughingfrom black everything to do with the history of another Challenger accident, kiss lung disease from working in the mines, private life. And the traditional structure goodbye to a quarter of the world's and brown lung disease from working in of the family has everything to do with

46 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 warfare. War would not be possible I see this civilization as suicidal. I believe and the Holocaust, and the family dramas without a certain kind of family struc- this civilization wants to do itself in. drawn out with radiation poisoning. And ture, and a certain kind of family struc- When we do others in, they are really yet, everything I learned, as painful as it ture wouldn't exist without war. They're stand-ins forourselves . I believe that anti- was — and I think it even affected my absolutely intertwined. Semitism and racism are an expression of health — it drew me closer to others, to self-hatred, as an aspect of the self pro- the sense that "others" seems not the And it's called the "nuclearfamily." jected out on the other. James Baldwin right word. It drew me closer to com- Yes, isn't it interesting it's called that? said years ago that the real nigger is the munion with everyone and all of life. white man; the "nigger" is an invention That was a very, very moving feeling, How did you incorporate family life into in the mind of the white man. I think the and it continues to be so. a book on war? same thing is true of anti-Semitism, that Basically, I justjuxtaposed stories. Some- the anti-Semite is really talking about It seems like a lot of people don't want to times I showed how they influenced himself or herself, and that's projected hear about environmental problems, for each other, but often I just put one next onto Jewish people. instance, because it just depresses them. to the other, and you can see how they The Holocaust was the apotheosis of That'sabsolutelytrue.Theythink, "What belong together. It changes the way you see — it changed the way I see as I wrote the book. Frederick the Great had to train his Are you offering a vision for society or a soldiers to march into a volley of bullets. model to work towards? The book really doesn't have any sort of He developed a drill based on the new program, saying we should do this or that. It's saying we need to stop now and look at ourselves, and in the light of this self- mechanistic view of the universe knowledge we can act in a positive way. Throughout the book there are various this habit of mind in Western civiliza- can I do about it anyway?" It's very people pictured as making self-portraits tion. Now we are directing this self- painful when you realize just how bad of one kind or another. Some of them hatred really towards ourselves, but we've things are. However, I feel that we can occur when the person has really looked invented this figment of an enemy. It make a lot more of a difference than we at themselves, but some are very shallow used to be the Soviet Union, and then we understand. It's kind of a serpent- biting- — they're not real self-portraits but an had to find new enemies, so we have the its-own-tail logic when people say "I attempt to shape the self according to a Arab world. can't make any difference." The reason prescribed idea of who you should be. We're trying to kill it off, but in fact they can't is that so many people believe Kathe Kollwitz was really painting her we're killing ourselves off. Of course, the they can't. face as it was, with lines and real emotion, self-destruction is not just coming from not as what a model should look like. nuclear weapons, it's also coming from Why do so many people believe that? That in the book is contrasted to Heinrich pollution. You would think that in a We're afraid of transformational pro- Himrnler, who kept a diary as a child but civilization where we are facing destruc- cesses in this society. It's not that I want his father would tell him what to put in tion of the biosphere from many, many, people to go around feeling pain, but the it. He required him to keep the diary and different angles, and they're all because of more you run from it, the more you stood over his shoulder to give him things we've created, we would begin to create a devouring, destructive, mindless directions. He was supposed to put in think, "Why are we so self-destructive?" monster that's going to meet you at the very specific information like "I went to Well, we don't even admit that we're end of your escape route. This is what it the park at this hour." All that's in there self-destructive, we still think we have means to be a man, not somebody like are very sentimental things like "I have this enemy outside of us. We're our own Sylvester Stallone who pretends he's all- such a lovely family." It's just riddled greatest enemy right now. powerful with these technological ma- with denial, and all kinds of stories not chine guns. To be a grown man or a told because his father wouldn't allow Reading your books it becomes glaringly grown woman is to rise up and say, "I'm him to tell the truth. obvious how intense the problems in our going to take care ofbusiness here. These society are. How do you keep from letting ghosts exist. Maybe I didn't create slavery myself, maybe it •was my great-great- Doyou thinkyourbook has become a self- the enormity of it overwhelm you? Seeing how we're on this course of destruction, great grandmother who participated in portrait, in as much as there are so many it, or my great-great-great-grandfather, personal stories? what are the steps we can take, or how do we even keep ourselves going? but I'm going to deal with it now, Yes, that's part of it. I look into myself because it's here. I'm a human being and In a way it's strange you asked that and my own family too. I use my own I'm connected with everybody." I personal history and the self-destructive question right at this moment, because pattern in my family with alcoholism on that's exactly how. For every inch of pain the one hand and my father never fully in this book — and there was a lot of it, Heather Rlwads has written on ecofeminism, living his life — he just went along because you can't write a book like this military and nuclear resistance, AIDS and passively, which I think is a kind of without feeling very deeply the suffering social justice issues. Her articles have appeared suicide that many, many people choose. of the people who were in Hiroshima in the Guardian and Feminist Voices. 47 ON THE ISSUES J2 ChoiceBooks • ChotceB HISTORY AND episodic counterpoint both brackets and o MYTH, HERSTORY AND punctuates more personal and specula- o REVELATION tive stories. Life's laws are constant: A CHORUS OF STONES: The Pri- The cells of our bodies...first vate Life of War by Susan Griffin appeared on this earth billions of (Doubleday, NY; $22.50 hardcover) years ago as plankton....[whose] progeny...still float in the sea, not too While once it was commonplace among close to the surface, nor too far from activists of many hues to assert that "The the light. personal is the political," now, the flip Warfare is ever-changing: side of that dictum seems more compel- The ideal city ofthe Renaissance is ling: "The political is the personal." For, conceived as radial in plan since this as Susan Griffin writes in her latest book, connects the defensive resources at A Chorus of Stones: Tlie Private Life of'War, the center ofthe city to the protective "The history of families cannot be sepa- outer walls at the periphery. a rated from the histories of nations...To Several billion years of evolution, several divide them is part of our denial." millenia of warfare, several decades of One of the most radically innovative human flight and the atomic age are aspects ot Griffin's poetic meditations on brilliantly condensed, for the count- modern history is a shifting dual focus down to the millenium. which weaves together narratives that are Griffin's book is about denial, in its seldom paired. She examines identity- many violent forms and consequences, defining events culled from the lives of and about the inherent, redeeming value "ordinary'' people (her own family mem- of bearing witness. Suppressed stories of HIGHLIGHTS bers included) and from "heroes" of war incest, and of soldiers fatally exposed to and peace that history remembers: radiation of atomic tests, are revealed Himmler, von Braun, Goebbels, Fermi, here, stories which shake the accepted Susan Griffin Hemingway, British Air Marshall Arthur order. Juxtaposed with these are stories Poetic meditations on Harris, Goring, Rita Hayworth, Hugh of her never-mentioned grandmother, modern history Trenchard ("father" ofthe RAF), Gandhi, her father's despair, her mother's drink- Wilde, Kathe Kollwkz, and the young ing; these are set against the background Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon. The of the Lost Generation. Holding back Toni Morrison lives of ordinary men — soldiers, miners, truth, she asserts, is abusive to children, Essays on Anita Hill, workers at atomic plants, and or their who in the absence ot explanation for a families — are, after all, shaped by a mood, gesture, or look will assume the Clarence Thomas definition of masculinity which has for blame, and carry inappropriate guilt. centuries been epitomized by the mili- It is Griffin's fervent hope that by des- Janet Malcolm tary hero. cribing events in a way that reveals their journalism and betrayal Blurring traditional separations — be- inner life, the pall of historical inevitabil- tween public and private life, chronology ity will lift and the course of events will and experience, judgment and empathy, be changed. Thus a soldier, like Israel scholarship and poetic insight — Griffin's Torres, dying from cancer caused by text is both brilliant and disquieting. Her exposure to the atomic radiation of an questions insinuate themselves into the early nuclear test, becomes obsessed with mental landscape, like widening concen- documenting both the cause of his dis- tric ripples. ease and the existence of grotesquely Mythical personae, too, have cameo charred bodies, shackled upright, in the roles here — Achilles as the model war- desert near the test site. Establishing rior whose bravery brings eternal glory; these things becomes his consuming Clytenmestra, a survivor who forgets past passion in the face of official denials wounds, then remembers and reclaims which threaten countless other lives until her rage. An additional unlikely pairing, the truth is exposed. in sentence-long installments, is an ac- Nowhere is there a record of all that count of cellular biology and evolution, has happened in human history, ex- and another ofthe history of weapons — cept in living consciousness. And the warp and weft on which the multiple does the truth each of us knows die narratives are woven. This sweeping, along with us unless we speak it? This

48 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 oks • ChoiceBooks • ChoiceBooks we cannot know. Only we know lated from their deeds. "To a certain kind the battle of Dresden in 1945, our that the consequences of every act of mind, what is hidden away ceases to lives are made suddenly clearer to us, continue and themselves cause other exist," says Griffin. as the unnatural heaviness of unspo- consequences until a later generation At this point, though, I begin to won- ken truth is dispersed. For perhaps we will accept the circumstances created of der about the small space given over to are like stones; our own history and these acts as inevitable. Unless instead this rage in these pages, the rage enshrouded the history of the world embedded in generation tries to unravel the mystery. by denial. Gnffin speculates at Himmler's us, we hold a sorrow deep within and "The telling and the hearing of a story is suppressed rage from taunts he suffered as cannot weep until that history is sung. not a simple act," Griffin notes. a child, a rage that entered history, but to Yet this remedy doesn't admit the possi- The one who tells must reach down which he was inured. "And," she writes, bility of aggression that is born of rage, into deeper layers of the self, reviving old "in this he is not so different from the nor does it squarely face the essential feelings,reviewingthepast...[giving] the civilization that produced him." I find question of our age: Can non-violent listener a path through these events that this insight unsettling. Doesn't it normal- protest counter that rage? leads to some fragment of wisdom. ize, if notjustify, monstrous acts? Perhaps Griffin's non-linear, metaphorically In the listener's consciousness, the story she believes, as the architectural historian resonant history is concerned less with subtly changes too, "augmented by re- Manfredo Tafuri has written, that we cause and sequence of events than with flection, by other memories...By such need to go beyond moralizing (and moral "the delicate dance in which events brush transmissions, consciousness is woven." outrage) "in order to see in the context of by, nod to and circle one another." As In fact, the awesome task Griffin has negative facts, what are the mistakes we the 20th century dawns, the old order begun here, is to reweave contemporary begins to shift. There's the first plane consciousness, and she does this by re- Nowhere is flight; the blurring of matter and spirit viving the sleuth within her and within with the discovery of atomic structure; us. Sharing terrible and cautionary tales there a record of all women's suffrage; the blurring of gender we haven't heard, and retelling ones we that has happened in boundaries in the trenches (technology's know with different emphases, she illu- assault on the ethos of heroism); the minates both the spirit-crushing effects human history, parody ofVictorian marriage by a known of secrecy — familial, military, corpo- homosexual; the atomic bomb. rate, scientific — and the regenerative, if except in living Paraphrasing the Ibo myth, described unlived, possibilities which full disclo- consciousness by novelist Chinua Achebe, she observes sure releases. that nothing stands alone; there's always Her technique for doing so is fascinat- are now paying for, and which are the another thing beside it. In Africa, during ing. "Writing of the past in the present new values nesting in the difficult and the Boer War, Hugh Trenchard, who tense, as if it were unraveling now, one disconnected set of circumstances we live will later conceive of firebombing cities, knows all along what the future will be in day by day." commands British regiments in Nigeria and this produces an odd tension," Grif- The United States initiated the atomic to set resisting Ibo villages afire. Also in fin explains. Her ability to convey the age, an act shrouded in secrecy, its impact Africa, Mohandas Gandhi, who has or- unlived possibilities of the past — to on the soldiers near the blast long denied. ganized an ambulance corps to accom- reinsert a suspenseful breathing space While still closely guarding nuclear "club" pany British soldiers, has a crisis of con- between the multiple options open to an membership it has downplayed the dan- science as he tends the Zulu men, women individual and the not yet disclosed out- ger posed by reactor accidents. Griffin and children fired on by the British. comes — is particularly imaginative. documents these facts in her stories, and Listening to his inner voice, he will If there's a fault with her empathic re- concludes non-judgmentally that great soon espouse Satyagraha, the principle of living of inner life events, it is that this danger breeds extreme denial, and illu- standing by the truth, which will alter his non-judgmental process also normalizes sion must protect itself with violence. I life and history. the unthinkable, defining individual understand the necessity of her prescrip- Chorus stops short of an ending, with transgression out of existence. "What tion for disclosure — the putting to- notes for a sketch toward a work in we know as goodness is not a static gether of all the individual stones; at the progress. Journal entries record dismay at quality but arrives through a series of same time, I wonder, pessimistically, if the GulfWar: at the cynical revival of the choices," Griffin writes. Does this mean bearing witness is enough to heal the old heroic ideal, when the warrior's role has been significantly degraded; at the that individuals are separate from their world and undermine old myths. Do I denial of death by making that war into acts? Heinrich Himmler, stricken by the underestimate the cumulative power of a TV video game. The century sighs. ugliness of the violent deaths he over- shared grief to influence history? Fear of annihilation mingles with hope sees, looks for a cleaner, more efficient I am beginning to believe that we of unforeseen changes. method. Thus, a mobile killing truck is know everything, that all history, in- devised, with exhaust piped into the cluding the history of each family, is — Diana Scott chamber, and a red cross painted on its part of us, such that, when we hear any Diana Scott, recently relocated to San Fran- side (to assuage the fear of those about to secret revealed, a secret about a grand- cisco, has written jor the New York Times, enter). Distressed soldiers are now insu- father, or an uncle, or a secret about METROPOLIS, and Dance Magazine. 49 ON THE ISSUES THE CHALLENGE THAT end of each essay serve as an excellent known for his role as a key player in the SEIZED THE FUTURE bibliography for a teacher or reader wish- Arthur Schlesinger multicultural back- ing to develop an even broader under- lash brigade. RACE-ING JUSTICE, EN- standing of the historical and contempo- While the hearings — televised to GENDERING POWER: Essays on rary influences driving these issues. millions — provided an opening for Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas, and From Chiefjudge Emeritus of the U.S. Black conservatives to gain significant the Construction of Social Real- Court of Appeals Leon Higginbotham, national visibility and to make new in- ity edited and with an Introduction by Toni Jr.'s "An Open Letter to Justice Clarence roads into the African-American com- Morrison (Pantheon Books, NY; $ 15 paper- Thomas from a Federal Judicial Col- munity, they also challenged key anti- back) league," to author and Visiting Professor feminist assumptions and exposed biases in the Afro-American Studies Program at that continue to fester. The hearings were Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, essayist Princeton Paula Giddings' "The Last also a missed opportunity for white femi- and literary critic Toni Morrison has Taboo," I found myself asking the ques- nists to have incorporated race and class assembled an historically compelling and tion, will the Thomas-Hill hearings serve into their thinking about gender, sex and ideologically challenging collection of as a fulcrum for long-term social change? power. In her piece, UCLA law profes- thought-provoking, sometimes provoca- In her introduction, "Friday on the sor Kimerle Crenshaw addresses the over- tive, essays written by academicians, legal Potomac," Morrison offers the reader lapping margins of race and gender as scholars and cultural critics. However, her incisive thinking about what is per- well as the spaces in between. The essay only two contributors serve on faculties effectively examines Hill in the roles she of institutions west of the Mississippi, the The calculated efforts has been placed in as both a victim of rest are from the North Eastern academic sexual domination and as villain. andjudicial corridors of the nation. Thus to disempower Hill With history as our witness and thou- the critical thinking and discourse of sands of sexual harassment suits filed southern scholars or faculty from histori- have been, instead, since October 1991, the calculated ef- cally black colleges is not represented turned into a rallying forts to disempower Hill have been, here. As the region where racism was instead, turned into a rallying cry that has spawned and where it subsequently be- cry that has inspired inspired millions of women across the came the historical focal point for the millions of women nation. Contributor and University of civil rights movements, the exclusion of Wisconsin law professor PatriciaJ. Wil- those voices leaves a real void in this across the nation liams refers to Hill as "the Rosa Parks of collection.* sexual harassment." Like Parks, Hill has While Race-ing advances the discourse haps the most powerful and intriguing become a legendary heroine whose ac- in the Academy, I'm not sure how far it national debate since Watergate. Her tions will leave a tremendous legacy for will advance that discourse in the wider piece lays bare the racist handling of Hill's future generations. community. Therein lies a fundamental sexual harassment charges against Tho- While some of the essays include a problem: When will community activ- mas. Her introduction clearly addresses critical examination of racial solidarity ists — many of whom also happen to be the fact that George Bush's selection of others, such as the essay "Strange Fruit," feminists as well as visionary liberation- Clarence Thomas to fill the seat vacated written by Kendall Thomas, professor of ists —join with academicians and public by Thurgood Marshall had nothing to do law at Columbia University, provide policy makers to put forward an agenda with judicial excellence or legal scholar- incisive analysis of the lynching meta- that will create real possibilities for eradi- ship; but it did have everything to do phor. As Clarence Thomas meanders cating racism and sexism from our na- with the cauldron of racism and sexism through an emotional whirlwind that tional diet? that's been boiling on the frontburne r of brings forth his now infamous high-tech Nevertheless, I was drawn to Race-ing the nation's historical stove for more than lynchingremark, Kendall Thomas speaks as an opportunity to gain a clearer under- four centuries. Several other essays in the to the fact that little or no attention has standing of the historical, ideological and book, including Margaret Burnham's, been given to the lynching of Black legal issues surrounding the Clarence address this as well. women. He notes that the former Ex- Thomas confirmation hearings and the In her essay Burnham, an MIT law ecutive Secretary of the NAACP, Walter charges of sexism leveled by law profes- professor and former judge, uses the Bork White, provided such a reference in his sor Anita Hill, especially as they were nomination to provide us with a com- book Rape and Faggot, which recounts articulated through the thinking of such prehensive overview of the process in- the lynching of a Black Georgia woman renowned academic and legal scholars as volved in the seating of a new justice. As whose husband was a sharecropper. The Comel West, Patricia J. Williams, A. it stands it would also make an excellent woman was bound byher ankles, hanged Leon Higginbotham, Jr. and Morrison contribution to a high school, college, or to a tree and motor oil and gasoline were herself. An abiding interest in the Su- law school curriculum. Burnham's writ- thrown onto her clothing. Her life also preme Court that dates back to the 1954 ing is clear, engaging, and well-suited to held another and the baby was ripped Brown vs. The Board ofEducation, coupled both a general and an academic audience. out of her womb and ground under the with my brother's service there as a page But I found myself a bit baffled by her heel of one of the lynchers. — which gave our family an intimate ear characterization of Dinesh D'Souza as While Morrison's masterful intellec- into the process — also acted as an part of the cutting edge of Black political tual and literary analysis of the confirma- incentive to examine the analysis pro- expression. D'Souza is a conservative, tion hearings and the sexual harassment vided in this collection. The notes at the Stanford-based East Indian scholar best charges served as the initial impetus and

50 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 connective tissue for this collection, I every journalist lies in wait for the moment to eroded the compliment: At the core "lies longed for contributors to address the savage ajanet Malcolm book,) Does honesty a profound antipathy to psychoanalytic impact of Hill-Thomas on future gen- demand confession to a clandestine ad- thought." Gotcha! erations. These complex issues will con- miration? (Let us nowpraisejanet Malcolm's The judgment is to be found in The tinue to be analyzed and discussed. But sublime gift for overstatement.) Purloined Clinic, a recent selection of I'm reminded of a Mexican folktale that Unless you have been golfing in Ant- Malcolm's writings; it's an odd, often could serve as a metaphor for under- arctica for the last few years, you should tasty olio, a miscellany of essays and standing the rampant sexism that fueled know that the cause of this personal reported pieces written for The New the flames of this wildfire on our national conflict is a widely-debated pronounce- Yorker, plus book reviews, some a decade landscape. It is the story of Borreguita ment that appeared in The foumalist and or more old, largely turned out for The and the Coyote. the Murderer, the 1990 book in which New York Review of Books. Borreguita, a seemingly shy and unas- Malcolm instructed us that "every"jour- Across 382 pages marches evidence not suming lamb, must contend with the nalist sets out to betray die subject of only of a well-nourished intellect but an constant attempts made by Senor Coy- "his" inquiry. Within the professional impressive dedication to researching her ote to devour her. He makes repeated community, the response was an amal- subject. A review of Milan Kundera's efforts to trap her and she always out- gam of fire,heat , hot air and denial. "Yes, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, for smarts him. At one point she convinces yes," some of us said. "Never. Well, example, bears internal evidence that she Coyote that the moon is a piece of hardly ever," others of us insisted. What has also recendy read — or re-read — cheese. He leaves her to pursue the four earlier Kundera novels. A damning "cheese" only to find that Borreguita is Joyously and examination of Tom Wolfe's jeremiad not there when he returns. Coyote comes against modern architecture, From Bau- to realize that Borreguita is simply too instructively, haus to Our House, suggests more tban a clever and too fearless to succumb to his Malcolm can be casual acquaintance with much of the wishes, and he is forced to leave her significant late 19th- and 20th- century alone. nasty, smug, sneaky literature on structural design. Morrison's book and Anita Hill's for- and even deceptively But I fear that it is Malcolm as provocateur midable challenge to Clarence Thomas diat has set my head humming. There and the nation could very well play a demure have been times when, as a reporter, I pivotal role in gaining a future free of have to fight the instinct and the social harassment and prejudice. Imagine some struck me then and even more now was pressures that still insist that a woman child of the future asking with profound Malcolm's brilliant strategy in delivering should try to be nice, or at least fair. perplexity, "Grandma, what was it like judgments as if they were Holy Writ. Joyously and instructively, Malcolm can when there was sexism and racism?" This is something anyone can do, but be nasty, smug, sneaky and even decep- —Daphne Muse few of us can do it well enough to make tively demure. She dissects Tom Wolfe's Daphne Muse is a writer and lecturer at Mills people crazy. Her pronouncements are aesdietic and concludes that he "writes College in Oakland, CA. Her reviews have untarnished by even the remotest possi- about modem architecture as if it were appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, bility that human motivation springs out something that had been put on earth The Hungry Mind Review and The of varieties of experience and wants and simply to irk him...." She opens a long Black Scholar. She is currently editing an purposes and is, therefore, larded with meditation on a classic Freud case with a anthology on racism andprejudice/orHyperion/ complexity. But consider this: who would tongue-in-cheek statement that can be Disney. have paid attention if she had merely appreciated only by analysands who have written that occasionally a journalist may waited in terror for the arrival of the month of August: "Today, everyone *This omission is redressed in the behave like a confidence man ("man" knows — except possibly a few literary book Court of Appeal: The Black Com- presumably is meant to include woman) theorists — that die chief subject of the munity Speaks Out on the Racial and and, having gained people's trust, will psychoanalytic dialogue is not the patient's Sexual Politics of Clarence Thomas vs. sometimes betray them? repressed memories but the analyst's va- Malcolm's history and style create un- Anita Hill, edited by Robert cation." In a chapter entided "The Quar- expected problems for a person paid to Christman and Robert L. Allen. It terly Affair" she delivers yards of detail contains a broad range of voices. report on her writings. In her we have a about an antique dust-up over an error- highly intelligent, accomplishedreporter laden book by Edmund Gosse, lists the with a brisk talent for the apt phrase; yet, glitteringliterary names ofVictorian Brit- GOTCHA! as one resolutely marches from page to ain who stood up for him, and declares page ofhe r latest work it is nearly impos- that their letters of sympathy "form an THE PURLOINED CLINIC: SE- sible (sure, a true believer would have aumoritative primer on how to write LECTED WRITINGS by Janet Malcolm written utterly impossible) to avoid keep- comforting bullshit on demand." In the (Alfred A. Knopf, NY; $23 hardcover) ing an eye out for the gotchal line. She same book, she discovers that the author always obliges. For a while now, I have of a book about die dust-up herself made The reporter who sits down to the key- been gnawing at her assessment of a piece exactly five errors in transcribing an ex- board to. parse Janet Malcolm's prose of work by a psychoanalyst, who wants cerpt of a letter by Gosse. This finding faces a harsh dilemma. Should she admit to remodel the Freudian system of treat- results in an instant diagnosis: "What to prejudice? {In vain have I struggled; allow ment. She found the book "likable, at- may look like mere sloppiness is in (un- me, dear reader to acknowledge at once that tractive, cultivated." Just one small detail 51 ON THE ISSUES MENOPAUSE, NATURALLY: conscious) fact a studied assertion of Preparing for the Second Half of Life personality." Updated 1992 VIVISECTION by Sadja Greenwood, M.D. How can she be sure? Don't ask, I try telling myself. The Purloined Clinic is AND DISSECTION This new edition, completely updated in strewn with reportage and reviews that 1992, addresses questions women have demonstrate a deep familiarity with IN THE about using post-menopausal hormones, and the conflicting opinions they Freudian and post-Freudian theory and encounter. New information includes practice, not to mention an intimacy CLASSROOM: screening tests for osteoporosis, new with the process that would suggest that A GUIDE TO ways to deal with hot flashes, what natural progesterone is, testosterone she has served time on the couch. Is the CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION therapy, exercise, diet, and how to report on the Gosse author's mistakes maintain Post Menopausal Zest. Send possibly an instance of Malcolmian pro- $16.95 postpaid, Volcano Press, Inc., jection? Could she be telling us that ifher By Professor Gary I. Francione P.O. Box 270 S, Volcano CA 95689. andAnna R Charlton, Esq. For free catalog, send name, address & work contained the same sort of mis- 29-cent stamp. takes, it would be her (unconscious) way of seizing attention, her strategy for de- manding, "Hey, look at me"? All one can do is wonder. "Bringing women's history to lift There isn't much autobiography in the sixteen pieces of the book until we reach the final work, The Window Washer, an is Emma Goldman in account of a visit to post-Communist fl MOST DBNGEROUS WOMflN Prague. It turns out to be a return to her and birthplace, the city from which her Jew- ish family fled more than fifty years ago Amelia Earhart « on the eve of World War II. In Prague, A. E. we see and learn a bit more about Janet JOT info, contact: Ovi. Colony Malcolm, but it never gets too personal. 669 CopCey $sL, Akjon.Otf. 44320 In fact, here as everywhere else, she is the (216) 762-8338 outsider, forever on the watch for an insight into who she is supposed to be. After her return home, Malcolm reports, she felt she had more reporting to do and "This book demonstrates made several calls to one of the subjects in a powerful way the of her visit. Once, the man jokingly connection between civil commented that she asked so many ques- rights and animal rights." tions, he was sure she was working for the CIA. Here was a gift, the kind of - William M. Kunstler, Esq. validation Malcolm seems to live for. "The foreign correspondent/travel Send $1 for our color catalog of writer/anthropologist," she instructs us, ORDER NOW! woman-identified jewelry in "is indeed a kind of spy. The direct Single copies $7.95 silver, amethyst, moonstone, & gold. questions he asks are only a facade behind Five copies or more, $5.95 per copy which the operation of covert watching LIZZIE BROWN and listening is mounted...." Gotcha\ FREE with New Membership P.O. Box 389-U Brimfield, Ma 01010 The latest essay of our IN FOCUS series (413) 245-9484 —Helen Dudar Helen Dudar writes about books and authors by Robert Sharp, author of for the Wall Street Journal. She frequently The Cruel Deception. T/Oomen JZ&abuf. writes about artists and museums for Smithsonian magazine. • Here are my membership dues $15 (Membership includes 11 issues/year of taeAV Magazine.) For a change in your life, we invite you to Student and Senior $5 try: THE WISHING WELL. Features cur- rent members' self-descriptions (listed by • Here's my additional contribution to fund code), letters, photos, resources, reviews, YUGOSLAVTA/rom pg 43 non-animal research. and more. Introductory copy $5.00 ppd. (discreet first class). A beautiful, tender, (Name) ~~ loving alternative to "The Well of Loneli- against women takes place on all sides has ness Confidential, sensitive, supportive, a particular meaning. In an environ- (Address) dignified. Very personal. 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Box 713090 cooperation between women of all The American Anti-Vivisection Society Santee, CA 92072-3090 nationalities. 801 Old York Road, #204 (619)443-4818 Jenkintown, PA 19046-1685 TEL (215) 887-0816, FAX (215) 887-2088 52 O Women in the U.S. are far enough The regime of Croatian president Franj o only Serb who attended, a U.S. citizen removed from the site of the conflict that Tudjman has consistently manipulated born in Belgrade, gave a moving speech, they can speak to the use of rape by all women's issues on behalf of nationalism. most Croatian women in the hall walked armies and yet underline the special A Zagreb tribunal on war crimes against out to protest her very right, as "an crimes of the Serbian forces. As Helsinki women, held February 7, was attended enemy," to speak! Watch's Jen Laber wrote in the March by 1300 women from Western Europe. Five Croatian women writers and jour- 25 New York Review of Books, "Although The tribunal was organized by human nalists who have questioned Croatian the rapes have been attributed to all sides rights activists in Berlin. However, the nationalism and its effects on women in the war, the Serbian forces appear to tribunal's independence was marred by have been targets of a hate campaign be using rape on the largest scale and pressure from the Croatian government whipped up against them in Zagreb's with impunity. Whether or not the which insisted that its representatives yellow press. These five "witches," who order to rape comes from the highest speak from the dais. Therefore, when the include well-known feminist writer authorities, the practice appears to be tacidy condoned, and even encouraged THE WISE WOMAN at the local levels of command. The fact 2441 Cordova Street that the rapes often occur before wit- Oakland, CA 94602 nesses indicates that the rapists have noth- (415)536-3174 ing to fear." A view like that makes it possible, for THE WISE WOMAN, a national quarterly journal, focuses on feminist example, for the Center for Constitu- issues. Goddess lore, feminist spirituality, and Feminist Witchcraft. tional Rights, a New York-based legal Includes: women's history/herstory, news, analysis, critical reviews, rights group, to single out Bosnian Serb art, poetry, cartoons by Biilbul, exclusive interviews, and original leader Radovan Karadzic as the perpe- research about witch-hunts, women's heritage, and women today. trator of war crimes against women and Subscription: $15 a year/$27 for 2 years, $38 for 3 years (U.S. funds). A to bring a class action suit against him in Sample copy or back issue: $4 (U.S. funds only). / \ a U.S. court. Published quarterly since 1980 by Ann Forfreedom. \~ y^ In the U.S., adopting a "rape on all A FREE 1-year subscription to each Women's Studies teacher thaw \. sides" position leads to problems. In sends in a copy of this ad. //\\ New York, the Women's Action Coa- THE WISE WOMAN, 2441 Cordova St.. Oakland. CA 94602. lition put together a January rally pro- testing rape on all sides in the former Yugoslavia. When young Bosnian HUTOBIOGRRPHV OF H REUOLUTIONRRY: men and women, carrying signs asking the U.S. to lift the arms embargo so Essays on Animal and Human Rights Bosnia could defend itself, tried to join by Roberta Kalechofsky the rally, they were told to march in their own circle because their demands were incompatible with WAC's. This unfor- Rave review from Feminists for Animal Riehts: tunate incident begs the question: Who "...passionate, even poetic, and visionary." speaks for Bosnian women rape victims? Their compatriots, or U.S. feminists? 916288-34-4 200 pgs. pbk. $11.95 (post. $2.25) In fact, the unwillingness ofU.S. femi- nists to point fingers at Serbian aggres- Micah Publications, 255 Humphrey St., Marblehead, MA 01945 sion only lets our own government off the hook. However, in taking the posi- tion that the Serbian army and militias are the worst perpetrators of war rapes, we must take care not to demonize the Serbs. Not So Subtle Tees Anuancedpicture ofthe conflict would Dept. I. P. 0. B. 410. Lincolndale. NY. 10540 emphasize the extent ofthe opposition TeL: (718) 998-2305 to Milosevic in Serbia. It is also vital to 100 % cotton tee shirts acknowledge and support the indepen- #W-Aqua on black, red and purple #OOW-Black on red, grey and white dent media in Belgrade (especially Stu- Pink on purple, aqua and black dio B television, the magazine Vremeand M, L, XL Sll. XXL, XXXL S12 the daily newspaper Botha). Secondly, if Milosevic, Karadzic, and Sweatshirts 50/50 white and black the commanders of the Serbian para- M,L,XLS16.XXLS17 military bands are "bad guys," it is im- Shipping add S2 each item NYS residents add Sales Tax portant not to make the Croatian gov- ernment, or even the Bosnian govern- Send for brochure ment, into"good guys." 53 ON THE ISSUES Slavenka Drakulic, feminist philosopher and fromBosnia-Herzegovina , so it is the a larger meaning: non-nationalism vs. Rada I vekovic, and feminist editor/jour- most feasible site for work on this issue. nationalism. nalist Vesna Kesic, have found their The war has severely exacerbated al- Tresnjevka has focused on interview- photos on Zagreb's front pages, under ready-existing conflicts among the Zagreb ing Bosnian rape survivors and tunneling headlines screaming that they are femi- feminist groups. The splits among them their reports to the world media. nists, quislings, and communists. did not start with the war; they started in Tresnjevka activists Zeljka Mrkic and the mid-1980s. The earlier differences Nina Kadic have gathered devastating NATIONALISM DIVIDES may sound familiar to U.S. feminists — testimony, but their propensity forexag - FEMINISTS they were about pornography and cen- gerating the figures is disturbing. Ivana There are three clusters of feminists in sorship, and about working within the Balen of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly Zagreb working on the issue of war- system or outside of it. Women's Commission wrote in the raped women. Croatia is sheltering most In wartime, the political divisions winter of 1992 that Kadic and Mrkic of the war refugees from its own republic among Croatian feminists have taken on "undermined their credibility by citing the number of 120,000 victims....The You've heard Limbaugh on the radio. You've seen Bosnian Government estimates there are 35,000 victims....There is no absolutely him on TV. Perhaps you've even read his book. reliable source of information and data is being manipulated for political propa- 9{gzv maybt you re ready to ulltht world: ganda." Radical feminist group Kareta—which has retained the counsel of U.S. feminist lawyer Catharine MacKinnon and works FLUSH RUSH i with Croatian- American feminist Natalie Nenadic and New York- based Equality Now — takes a stand that as Croatian women they view rape as a distinctly BUMPER STICKERS 1-$3, 2-$5, 5-$10,10-$17 Wholesale Availabk Serbian weapon, for •which they hold all Flush Rush Brand Novelties, Dept. 1705, PO Box 19300-315, Austin, TX 78760 Serbs — even feminists against the war — culpable. In contrast to Tresnjevka and Kareta, the Zagreb Women's Lobby resists the A NEW RELEASE FROM PLEIADES RECORDS mindset of Croatian nationalism. In De- cember 1992, the Zagreb Women's MARGIE ADAM Lobby sent "a letter of intentions" to SONGS — IN CLOSE — FROM THE SPIRIT OF ONE WOMAN ON THE MOVE international women's and peace groups discussing strategy and the kind of help LU they need. Lobby members wrote: "We u fear that the process of helping raped women is turning in a strange direction, J being taken over by governmental Q. institutions....We fear that the raped women could be used in political propa- K3^ '»•• * QC ganda with the aim of spreading hatred UJ and revenge, thus leading to further • ;I violence against women and to further victimization of survivors...." h Non-nationalist politics have made it 0 possible for a working relationship to be • ^^^1 z reestablished — delicately — between Croatian and Serbian feminists. Despite renewed fighting between Serbian and JOIN MARGIE IN CONCERT Croatian armies, the groups that make February 6 Santa Cruz, CA April 3 Durham, NC May 30 West Coast up the Zagreb Women's Lobby and 13 Bodega Bay, CA 4 Denver, CO Lesbian Festival 19 Seattle, WA IB Northampton, MA June 19 Santa Clara, CA those that make up the Belgrade Women's 20 Portland, OR 24 Washington. DC (with July Syracuse, NY Lobby are cooperating on launching the March 13 Reno, NE Romanovsky & Phillips and August 10-15 Michigan Festival 25 Ann Arbor, Ml Karen Williamsl 22 Bridgehampton, NY centers for women war victims. 27 Indianapolis, IN (with 25 March on Washington-Rally " Tentative Nationalism takes its toll on feminists in Heather Bishop) May 7 Oakland, CA 28 Albany, NY 15 Philadelphia, PA Many women's bookstores will be hosting events Serbia as well. Activist members of April 2 Columbus, OH 22 Chicago, IL with Margie this spring Check your local listings. Women In Black, Lepa Mladjenovic To order, send $ 10 for cassette or $ 15 for CD plus $2 postage and handling and Vera Litricin, share some of their to Pleiades Records, P.O. Box 7217, Berkeley, CA 94707, 510-569-5139. deepest feelings about the effect of the war in a paper entitled "Belgrade Femi-

54 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 WOMEN ARTISTS & WRITERS nists 1992: Separation, Guilt and Identity Kate Millett invites you to spend this Crisis": summer at the Women's Art Colony Farm in Poughkeepsie, NY. "When the war started nationalist ha- Ideal setting for poets, painters, prose writers tred increased drastically and the Serbian and visual artists. In exchange for studio time LILITH government began to produce propa- and space, residents work a half day daily plus ganda and the notion of the Enemy. All contribute $65 a week for food. Beautiful country The Independent setting, a pond to swim in, your own room. A of a sudden Slovenians became an en- communal life with women artists. Jewish Women's emy, then Croats, then Muslims, then Something new may be added! Kate would like Americans, Albanians and so on. Deep to offer a week-long, intensive master class in writing; $500 tuition includes board and room. If Magazine conflicts emerged in families, in work you are interested let us know. places, and women began to separate on that basis. Completely new questions For information regarding any of our programs please send SASE to: Kate Millett 295 Broadway, appeared in women's groups. Can a New York, NY 10003 Subscribe for: feminist be a nationalist chauvinist? Can a pacifist be a nationalist? Is a weapon an • FEMINIST FAMILIES instrument ofdefense ? Should the groups take clear attitudes toward nationalist • HOT HISTORY WOMEN'S WILDERNESS CANOE TRIPS questions (and therefore the war) and in • SMASHING that way lose some women? Should the STEREOTYPES groups avoid the issue of nationalism altogether? Should the women merely sit River Journeys • RITUALS AND down and confront their beliefs and see Writing Retreats what happens? Wilderness Seminars CELEBRATIONS "So nationalism made some women split within themselves. It also caused painful scars to Zagreb-Belgrade feminist and: relationships..." HAWK, I'M YOUR SISTER Those scars prevented the Belgrade P.O. Box 9109, Santa Fe, NM 87504 Evelyn Torton Beck, Phyllis women from attending the Zagreb tri- 505-984-2268 Chester, Nicole Hollander, bunal in February 1993. The Women In Black and Belgrade Women's Lobby instead sent a letter to Harriet Goldhor Lerner, Vegetarianism, Animal Rigfifs, Human Rigfifs... the Zagreb tribunal which brings to life Cynthia Ozick, Grace Paley, their pain and their hopes: "We feel that Judith Plaskow, Letty Cottin for so many women from Croatia and other countries it is not easy to face Pogrebin, Susan Weidman women from Serbia, from the country whose regime started the war. However Schneider, Susan Schnur not all women are the same, we have seen ************************ that nationalism has separated some of us, and some not. Some of us feel guilty for Name belonging to a nation of aggressors, and are maybe repeating the familiar old Address . female guilt pattern, even though the guilt is not ours.... MILK IS A NATURAL ? City State Zip Over 50 unique & thoughtful designs from the subtle to the "Living in this time of increased terror screaming. Write or call for FREE CATALOG! GLOBAL VISION and fascism in Serbia, we cannot count ?0 Box 3338TIY, 5ecaucus, NJ. 07096 (212) 665-6991 on our government, we cannot count on Quarterly our nations, and we certainly cannot 1 year -$16 ; 2 years-$29 ; count on men with guns. But we can THE BEST FILMS count on all women who will stand up 3 years -$42 sample copy -$S with us against sexual violence and war. YOU NEVER SAW. Without faith in each other, our work Now you can rent or buy videos by mail of over Enclosed $ would have no meaning." H 1,900 hard-to-find quality films, including Stalker, Delicatessen, Kaos, Pixote, L'Alalante, LILITH Publications, Inc. Marquis, Mediterraneo, and Lovers. Our collection includes foreign films, limited RAPPING from pg 6 P.O. Box 3000, Dept LIL releases, indies, docs and classics. It's simple and inexpensive. Recommended by DenviUe, NJ 07834 issues are represented. To insist that the Roger Ebert as"... an idea whose time has come." media is a wholly masculinist conspiracy Phone or write for free information and list of films. SOI93 to degrade women (and that, by implica- tion, Quayle is crazy to see feminists at 1-800-258-3456 work in the construction of "Murphy Home Film Festival® P.O. Box 2032, Scranton, PA 18501 Brown") is to do ourselves and our progressive victories which we have re- the other somewhere out of sight, and many hard-working sisters in the media cently begun to enjoy. yell the vilest obscenities as they follow industry a disservice. I could go on with endless examples of the teenage hitchhiker, or the mother of We need only look at TV today and women's political and media advances in teenagers. It makes no difference: then think back to its beginnings in the the last two decades that resulted from Whether the hitchhiker's own car has 1950s to see that our progress has been slow, invisible, collective struggles by broken down, or whether she'sjust been slow, incomplete and not-yet-enough, feminists in high and low places all over raped by the previous man-in-a-mov- but pretty damn impressive anyway. To the country. But I don't want to fall into ing-vehicle, or whether she's just out take only the most obvious examples, the very pit of one-sided hyperbole I am riding to clear her mind. There's no law look at Oprah Winfrey and Roseanne criticizing. The truth is that most of against trying, is there? Arnold. These women are two of the what's on TV, most of what goes on in Talk about women who run with the most powerful people in the media and politics, most of what's happening to wolves! You've navigated North they are, I daresay, a far cry from looking women — especially poor, minority and America's vast, frozen tundra, with a or sounding like June Cleaver or Lucille other disadvantaged women — is not craftiness, a cunning, a scavenging ge- Ball! Far from glamorous or model- good news, but bad. nius, without which neither wildlife nor gorgeous, Arnold and Winfrey are out- But it is not all bad. A backlash only prostitutes could survive: Not for a day, spoken in their identification with, and emerges after all in response to a major, not for an hour. support of, women oppressed by beauty scary threat against established power to When we first spoke, early in 1991, I standards, class and race bias and the scars which that power feels the need to re- told you that I represented a feminist of sexual abuse. And they are women spond. They are right to be scared and government in exile, and that we wanted who could not possibly have reached angry at feminists. Look at what we have to support you. their present positions •without the exist- achieved, against all that opposition. We "Far out, man," you said. "You're ence of in-your-face, potent feminism haven't created a revolution. A handful from the Women* Lib aren't you? Tell as a major social force over a period of of women on Capitol Hill, no matter the women out there that I'm innocent. many years. how many times their pictures are blown Tell them that men hate our guts. I was Similarly, the very real triumphs of up and flashed about, does not spell raped and I defended myself. It was self- women in the electoral arena this year women's liberation. defense. I could not stop hustling just did not occur, almost overnight, as a But no matter what the headlines tell us because some asshole was going around result of a sudden burst of female activity next, we need to keep our eyes on our Florida raping and killing women. I still in response to a single TV image (Anita own charts and remember where we had to hustle." Hill being grilled), or a single best seller started from and how far we've come. Your voice was Joplin-husky and sur- (Backlash) as the headlines and evening And we need to create and support our prisingly sweet, even girlish. Did I ex- news anchors would have us believe. If own media and our rituals so that no pect you to sound like a man? Well you watched the Democratic Conven- matter what the latest fad, those ofu s who honey, that's a real hefty swagger you tion on C-Span, which filled its time are fightingth e good fight — every day wore on TV, and the way you tossed with lengthy interviews with actual grass- and every year and everywhere—will be your hair around. Most women do it out roots delegates, as I did, you would have recognized and honored by those whose ofnervousness ; you, you seemed to do it seen and heard from scores of activists, opinions really count: Ourselves. out of defiance, to intimidate, the way from teenagers to octogenarians, repre- That is the lesson of this strange year of male lions toss their manes. senting groups and organizations from paradoxical highs and lows in the media You said thatjail didn't "bother" you, gay rights to welfare rights, from hospital history of women. I that you could "take it," that the daily workers to teachers, from environmen- verbal abuse was nothing: "Hey, whore, talists to prochoice lobbyists. All of these CHESLER from pg 7 show us some tits' n ass." "We'll put you activists had been at work in their com- in solitary forever if you do any weird munities for a very long time, with no your profession, start making those sounds lesbian shit in here." "Bark at the moon, help orinspiration from the media, build- and faces at women, any women. They bitch, ifyo u don't like it." "I'm going to ing the base for the feminist and other drive slowly with one hand on the wheel, enjoy watching you fry, real nice and slowly, once for each guy you killed." JUDHISM HND HNIMHL RIGHTS: "Lee," I said, "think of yourself as a prisoner-of-war. Try to give away as Classical & Contemporary Responses little information as possible—this phone edited by Roberta Kalechofsky line is probably tapped — and be cau- tious about what you say to anyone in The Jewish position on vegetarianism, animal research and ritual jail, no matter how friendly they seem. slaughter in a unique compilation of 41 articles by rabbis, doc- "How are you doing on toiletries, do you have a canteen allowance? Are they tors, veterinarians, lay people and activists. Join the discussion! letting you shower, exercise, see sun- light? What do you need?" 916288-35-8 pbk. 368 pges. $14.95 (Post. $2.25) "I need you guys real bad," you an- swered. "The public defender has 47 Micah Publications, 255 Humphrey St., Marblehead, MA 01945 other capital cases and no time for me. I'll pay you back if you get me a lawyer who

56 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 has time for me. I'll sell my life story for certain, further punishment, is too great. but yourself, so you did that — and got 30 million dollars and I'll set up a foun- Unlike you, I didn't buy a gun. Instead, arrested for saving your own life? dation for abused women. Hey man: I'm I clipped and filed all the grisly notices of going through living hell for defending our dead; I mean to have them engraved Sergeant X leads me to a very small myself." on a vast, memorial tombstone, or stitched room, which is further divided into two And then, with wonderment, you said: into a quilt, like the parents of murdered rooms, separated by a door and two "I can't believe there are women out children do. windows. The inner room is where Lee there rooting for me!" So here's what's troubling me. How and I are to meet; the outer room is Well, not so fast. Yes, many women, could you, a "nobody," have summoned where we are to be observed. There is no actually a surprising number, have said: up enough grit and nghteous rage to save desk, only two chairs. "It's about time women started shooting your own life? Is it that you had nothing back," and "Good for her. Those men to lose, you knew no one would save you continued on pg 60 must have done something to provoke her: They're Johns, they deserved it." Some feminists (and anti-death penalty advocates) have urged me to do every- thing I can for you. But most women, A Masters With Meaning including feminists and lesbians, see you as too unsympathetic a victim to bother Individually-designed, independent study, supported by region- with: Unstable, uncooperative, a loser, a al faculty. Earn your MA in 12-18 months with brief regional real pain-in-the-ass, and just plain nuts. residencies. Accredited, financial aid available. Know that I don't romanticize you. How could I? You're as conventional as Studies include writing, psychology/counseling, women's most (abused) women are. For example: studies, education, environmental studies, health education, you're quite the '"Golly-gee-whizz" kind history, and others. B.A. external degree is also available. of "good ol' gal" when you talk about Vermont College of how some of your best friends are Johns, and about how you believe in Jesus, Norwich University always did, and that He's coming too. 1-800-336-6794 Box 694, Montpelier, VT 05602 802-828-8500 You're proud you were able to "please" your dates/customers/johns. You're an "The Miracle on 57th Street" outlaw by default, not by choice. Tucked away on the 4th floor of an office building on 57th Street The women who kill violent men are in New York City is an elegant boutique and book shop devoted all "good girls" who've bought into the exclusively to women's sexual health, self-growth and happiness! very system that I dream of destroying. We offer books on sexuallity, relationships, Tantra, Goddess Talk about "tricks!" When they/you history, women-created erotica, and an exciting collection of realize you've been tricked, had, taken, romantic and sensual accessories to enhance self-love and shared left for dead, and that no one will help love. you, you're invisible anyway, maybe Created by women for women and their partners, Eve's Garden is that's •when you kill the man who's been a comfortable space where women can shop in a new age environment that nurtures the intimate connection. And that's the breaking your bones for years; the 100th miracle! john who's taking his knife out and Send $3 for our mail order catalog or visit in person with this ad threatening to cut your face/ breasts/ for a free one. Mon. thru Sat., Noon to 6:30 PM. 119 W57th St., anus/vagina; the man who's just walked Ste. 420, Dept. Ol, NY, NY 10019-2328 Tel. (212) 757-8651. out with custody of your kids, the deed Either way, start creating your own miracle today! to your home, and a new wife on his arm. Lee: It's the "Femme" in you who killed, BOOKS THAT HELP ENERGIZE YOU for the BATTLES YET TO BE WON! not the "Butch." LEANE ZUGSMITH - Thunder on the Left. By Prof. Abe C. Ravitz. $6.95. An acclaimed Yet, as THE (so-called) FIRST FE- fiction writer in the 1930s and early '40s, she based her work on the social issues and MALE SERIAL KILLER, you've made struggles of that time, with special attention to women. A fascinating study of a woman headlines, not for what has been done to writer, nearly forgotten after WWII. you, but for what you've done. Your REVERSING DISCRIMINATION - The Case for Affirmative Action. By Prof. Gerald buDets shattered the silence about vio- Home. $6.95. A sensible, realistic argument for affirmative action that makes its case from lence against prostituted women, about democratic principles and a sociological standpoint. Includes a chapter on the Women's women fighting back: And about what Equity Act. Notes, Index. happens to them when they do. THE RED ANGEL: The Life and Times of Elaine Black Yoneda. By Vivian Raineri. A No small feat. stirring story of this century, in labor and civil rights struggles, told with insight, warmth tumor and love. At once a testimony and inspiration to activist women. Cloth $19.00. But even if I thought you'd led the >aper $9.95. Photos, Appendix, Notes, Index. equivalent of a slave revolt, planned a raid on Harper's Ferry, left the Massa's House • """" (Add $1 per book postage. New Yorkers add sales tax on total. We accept in flames behind you, this is not some- VisalMC. Fax 212 366-9820. Phone -366-9816. thing most women can do. Our fear of 57 ON THE ISSUES ij Feed Back • Feed Back

ANIMALS, ABORTION & a one-breasted woman thanks to a double ACTIVISM cancer found almost a year ago. ffl I loved the story in Win Some • Lose Everyone's immediate assumption was Some (Winter 1992) about animal rights that I would want reconstruction even activists giving away vegetarian burgers though the silicone controversy was at its outside the Moscow McDonald's. height. Ironically, those who most op- Activists in the United States are also posed the FDA's effort to ensure product involved in feeding homeless people hot safety seemed to be survivors bonded by vegetarian food. Several groups donate implants to plastic surgeons from whom meatless food to local food banks and one endless adjustments ensure an ongoing organization recently sent loads of vegan symbiosis. While cancer is not to be food to the former Soviet Union to help fooled with, reconstructions may have the needy. This compassionate work replaced hysterectomies as the big medi- clearly shows that animal rights people cal money makers of the 1990s. "The fact that are not indifferent to human suffering as However, unlike Matuschka, I do wear the "media" tries to claim. and recommend the "breast in a box" for mothers like myself are Since your wonderful interview with two reasons. First, one needs the weight Bemadette Devlin McAliskey (Winter of the prosthesis to balance the body. organizing and fighting 1992) was printed, the people of Ireland Without it, back trouble is almost inevi- voted to ban all abortions even when a table. And second, while I admire the the system gives me woman's life is endangered. American courage both of the mythic Amazons antichoice fanatics such as Dr. Jack Wilke who sliced off one breast in order to wear hope of a better tomor- of the National Right to Life Commitee their armaments more efficiently and of were funding the Irish group "Society my contemporaries who do so to save for the Protection ofUnborn Children." their lives, I see no need to make my row for women and These American anriabortionists are partly chest the focus of my life by constantly to blame for the Irish vote on this issue. calling attention to it. children." Don Hinkle I am more than the sum of my parts. Oklahoma City, OK Delphine Blachowicz-Herbert Miami, FL MAKING CONNECTIONS I read the interview with Bemadette FAT AND BREAST CANCER Devlin McAUskey (Winter 1992). As a I commend you for publishing Dr. Neal college senior doing research on the Barnard's article (Winter 1992) on the abortion controversy in Ireland and role of dietary fat in causing breast cancer America, this interview sent a cold chill in spite of the findings in the study of down my spine and I cannot get it out of 84,949 nurses by Dr. Walter C. Willett my mind. Your magazine has touched a and colleagues at Brigham and Women's "People talk about chord in me. The article about AFDC Hospital in Boston, who found no rela- mothers [in the same issue] made me feel tionship between dietary fat and breast Madonna as if no other validated by my culture and the media. I cancer in mature women. am a welfare mother who has suffered Reducing fat consumption is at least woman before her had the indignities cited in your magazine harmless, which is more than can be said and more. When I was fighting my way for a study which doses healthy women made a fortune by through the barriers that lay before me, I with tamoxifen, a toxic drug, to see if it did so in isolation. The fact that mothers will prevent breast cancer. It is still pre- marketing herself like myself are organizing and fighting mature to dismiss dietary fat as a causative the system gives me hope of a better factor in breast cancer. It is also possible tomorrow for women and children. This that fat consumption during childhood through a glamorous, was my first issue of On The Issues, and it and the immediate post-puberty period will not be the last. can affect susceptibility to the disease. sexy image." Lome A. Paquin Other factors are also likely to play a River Falls, WI role. For instance, Dr. Irwin D. Bross, president ofBiomedical Metatechnology, MORE THAN THE SUM OF Inc., warned the public in an article in the HER PARTS Buffalo Courier Express in 1976 that rou- Like Matuschka (Winter 1992), I too am tine mammograms would likely cause an

58 ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1993 Feed Back • FeeiBack • FeeJBack

"epidemic of breast cancer" by 1990. edged in materials for both the press and rights a bad thing in your opinion? A recent Canadian study of 50,000 the public. In fact, without their support, Also, perhaps there is some basic mis- women bore out this prediction when it NBCAM would not have been possible. understanding of what NOW is all about. found a greater than 50 percent increase Those of us deeply involved in breast NOW's Statement of Purpose adopted in breast cancer deaths among the pre- cancer issues are profoundly grateful for October 29, 1966 reads: "The purpose menopausal participants who had been the public service ICI Pharmaceuticals of NOW is to take action to bring subjected to mammograms compared to Group has provided in this important women into full participation in the the women in the control group who did effort. mainstream of American society now, not receive them. Diane Blum, ACSW exercising all the privileges and responsi- In his most recent book, Scientific Fraud Executive Director bilities thereof in truly equal partnership vs. Scientific Truth, Bross commented: Cancer Care, Inc. with men." Please note the concern for "There can be little question now that New York, NY the economic status of women. Is this the the National Cancer Institute 'preven- same NOW that is described in "Under tion' programs and greedy radiologists CALL FOR A WOMEN'S Attack But Fighting Back: The Birth of have created an iatrogenic epidemic of COMMUNITY the Poor Women's Movement"? (Win- breast cancer...It amounts to a form of Well-expressed view, Phyllis Chesler! ter 1992): "One of the largest and best- genocide directed specifically against ("In My View," Winter 1992). Not known feminist organizations, NOW women." many women have formed sister- traditionally has given priority to achiev- Bina Robinson hood bonds. Bonds that can and will ing sexual equality, rather than acting on Swain, NY withstand every calamity, crisis and economic or racial issues." heartbreak, unfortunately do not ex- I empathize with reader Celia Redmore LOW-FAT DIET IS NOT ist among enough women. Nor do of Decatur, GA who asked you to "Call ENOUGH sufficient sisterhood bonds prevail if you're ever visiting my planet." But In response to Dr. Neal Barnard's "Pay- even in "good times." Feminism al- please keep my subscription coming; it ing die Price in the Politics of Breast ways plays subordinate to all else in will keep me on my toes. Cancer," we could not agree more good and bad times. Feminism is an Pam Oddi strongly that finding a means to prevent intellectual concept, not a practical New Urn, MN this disease must be a national priority. reality to most, even feminist, Where we and the majority of the women. MADONNA: PROSTITUTE OR medical community part ways with Ber- That is why in pain and loss and JOKET nard, is his assertion that a low-fat diet suffering and financial hard times, we Regarding the space wasted in your conclusively meets this need. Although leave each other to float off alone and magazine by Laurie Ouellette's piece, the benefits of a low-fat diet, from an isolated. "The Attack on Madonna Scholarship" overall health perspective, have been For years, I have been trying to gather (Spring 1993): Many of us feminists are clearly established, the puzzlement is that feminist women together to purchase tired of Madonna because we don't find many women who maintain such diets land, and build or buy homes within a her interesting, subversive, or talented. still develop breast cancer, while others 60-mile radius from NYC and establish People talk about Madonna as if no other who eat diets high in fat remain free of our own community. woman before her had made a fortune by the disease. This may help explain why T.P. Catalano marketing herself through a glamorous, the AMA has viewed Barnard's theories Westport, CT sexy image. An entertainer like Roseanne so critically. Arnold — who is as rich and powerful as Madonna and much more talented — is Where Barnard has done harm is in his KNOCKING NOW! truly subversive because she's turned unreasoned and insupportable assault on I received my first issue of On the Issues traditional ideas of female beauty and National Breast Cancer Awareness today. I was taken aback by the knocking place upside down. Madonna has merely Month (NBCAM) and our cofounder of liberal feminists in general, and the bought into them. ICI Pharmaceuticals Group. National Organization for Women Since 1985, NBCAM has helped save (NOW) in particular. There are real stories, real leaders, real problems out there to cover in your the lives of countless women by encour- On the Issues makes liberal feminist magazine. aging them to practice early detection. a derogatory term, as in this quote Until a means of preventing this disease from "Reel Feminism vs. Real Femi- Christina Gombar is found, early detection is their very best nism" (Winter 1992): "Liberal femi- New York, NY protection against breast cancer. That nists, who are concerned with ob- much is a medical certainty. taining equal rights with men, have been the first to praise the appear- Please direct all comments to: What is equally certain is that, contrary ance of strong female characters who Editors, ON THE ISSUES, 97-77 to Barnard's misleading article, ICI's edu- seamlessly blend into traditionally Queens Boulevard, Suite I 120 cational grants for this program have Flushing, NY 11374. male domains." Is obtaining equal always been clearly and proudly ackno wl- 59 ON THE ISSUES all gaunt, not an ounce of flesh on her hurt me. If you hurt me, I can wipe it out CHESLER/rom pg 51 bones. She is more ghost than human. of my mind and keep on truckin'. I took Lee's blonde hair is pale, and pulled every day on a day-by-day basis. I never Lee is led into the room by two guards. back into a thin pony tail. Her face is taut, let things dwell inside me to damage my She is unsteady on her feet, a bit un- her features bony, inexpressive: No en- pride because I knew what that felt like gainly, not that tall. ergy to waste on "expressiveness." Sur- when I was young..." I remember how she looked when she vival in prison demands that you contract A child is being beaten...How to inter- was first arrested: Spirited, defiant, drunk, but everything, even dreams, in order to vene? What to do when no one ever now the swagger and the smirk are all gone, conserve energy, and call as little atten- intervened and now it's much too late, tion to yourself as possible. the damage is done, the child is a woman, She has great dignity. She has come and the woman only knows how to sell from some truly faraway place to meet — her body, her life story, her death — Femini me, she is jerky in her motions, but in order to survive. She hates having to gamely, she's trying to smile. As if it's a sell, hates the seller, hates the buyer, hates social occasion. We hug hello, briefly, not being able to sell. She'e exhausted, Sou carefully. I'm always amazed—although cynical, heartbroken, used up, and is, by I shouldn't be, when those with no now, simply not capable (if she ever formal education, no money, no health, was), of doing something — anything the no friends in high places and nothing to — that will turn out right for her. hope for, absolutely rise to the occasion Lee has been waiting, wanting, trying otherline of their 15 minutes of fame with elo- to die for a long time. Now, she means quence and grace. to finish what the men, and We, the Every Woman's Journey to Lee's been in jail since January 1991, People, have started: Her destruction. Find Her Female Roots much of the time in isolation. "I was Lee is confined to a cage on Death Row railroaded," she says, "because I'm a by a legal order, I'm confined at home, often prostitute and expendable." Lee insists: in bed, by Chronic Fatigue Immune Dys- "I'd rather die and go home to Jesus than function Syndrome. I write real and imagi- keep living in a world filled with lust and nary letters to her almost every day. corruption." She sighs. "It's all over." Lee doesn't want to stay on Death Row, Dear Lee: so she's decided to die. You're the one I'm writing this book You don't have to be crazy to come to for; you're the one I want to reach: But this conclusion. why? To understand who you are, to Despite what she's written: That she describe the impact you've had on the Naomi Ruth Lowinsky, Ph.D. wants me to find her a lawyer and a public imagination, to bear witness to private investigator, and to re-assemble the fact that you're going to die. For the team of pro bono experts I'd gathered years, feminists talked about how we'd Motherline (n): for her first trial, she's changed her mind like to get rid of the bad guys: Magically, 1. the life source that lives in again. Lee is emphatic. And growing non- violently, and now here you are, every woman's body. louder by the second. She points her twisting in the wind, all unrepentant 2. the story of the generations trigger finger and orders me to "Forget it. bravado, with your shots heard round All I want you to do is help me expose the the world. from a woman's point of view. corruption, the crooked cops, the crooked Your coming was inevitable. You're 3. a woman's female lineage lawyers, the media deals, the capital gains not the first prostitute to start killing reaching backward from her offa capital crime. Tell the world what's Johns, others have, but you're the first mother and her mother's mother, going on. That's all. I'm not concerned prostitute who kept right on doing it, and forward to her daughters and about any more trials." and whose deeds have become very, granddaughters. How can someone like Lee keep fighting very public. back? She held on, as best as she could, did her Face it Lee: You've entered the world's This book bridges the gap best, actually acquitted herself nobly in the imagination and pried it wide open. Some first trial, and it didn't matter, nothing mat- between mainstream psychology novelist, a poet, a playwright or two, are the tered, the jury convicted her anyway. richer forit . You used a gun; we use words. and feminine spirituality. Its I ask her if anyone ever helped her Together, we may change reality. wisdom is timeless, like the when she was a child, sleeping in aban- Ma Soeur, Ma Semblable. • Motherline, from generation doned cars and living on the street, or to generation. later on. She says: "I raised myself. I did Comprehensive information on the a pretty good job. I taught myself my In bookstores now Wuomos case may be found in On the Issues, own handwriting, and I studied theol- Summer 1992:' 'Sex, Death and the Double ogy, psychology, books on self-enhance- Standard" by Phyllis Cheslerandin Chester's ment. I taught myself how to draw. I article "A Woman's Right to Self Defense: Published by Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc. have been through battles out there rais- The Case of Aileen Carol Wuomos," St. A member of the Putnam Berkley Group, Inc. ing myself. I'm like a Marine, you can't John's Law Review, April 1993. For the truth about America in the 1990's — read The Voice every week. 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