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1984 The olC lege News 1984-4-28 Vol. 6 No. 10 Students of Bryn Mawr College

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For more information, please contact [email protected]. MCQLLEGE NEWS VOLUME VI Number 10 ^f FOUNDED 1914 APRIL 28,1984 Sit-in on minority hiring tomorrow

by Sherryl Statland amendment and was then passed there. will take place in Thomas Great Hall. Tomorrow there will be a teach-in/sit-in The administration formed the Minority After the teach-in, a rally will be held in devoted to the issue of minority hiring Task Force which filed a report advocating front of Taylor Hall from 3 p.m. until ap- practices at Bryn Mawr College. The event diversity, but the task force has no power to proximately 3:45 p.m. opened by McPher- is three-fold, starting off with workshops in affect the hiring of minorities for the fac- son. Other speakers at the rally will include the morning and afternoon, followed by a ulty. That power lies with the Appoint- Houston Baker and senior Sue Berkibile. rally and finishing with a "sit-in" on Den- ments Committee and the individual The rally will summarize the earlier ses- bigh and Pembroke East lawns. department search committees. sions and will lead into the sit-in, according The event has been coordinated by Thus the present concern for Bryn to Cami Townsend of the coordinating Cindy Brown, Alison Lane, Dominique Mawr's hiring practices regarding minori- group. Parker, Michele Rubin, Cami Townsend, ties and women has not come out of no- "The actual sit-in should last between and Lori Webb, who have been helped by where. The coordinators of the teach-in/ 3:45 and 4:30," said Cindy Brown, "and many students in the form of canvassing sit-in wrote a letter to President McPherson we'll do lots of singing and dancing." and tabling meals to get signatures for the asking her to approve an ad-hoc commit- Brown expressed her happiness that "Bryn letter that was sent to President Mary Pat- tee which will target general goals and the Mawr is politicized to the extent that this terson McPherson. means for achieving them to increase hir- can happen. Individuals can change According to the coordinators, the pur- ing of minorities and women at the Col- things." The importance of student in- pose of canvassing other students is to edu- lege. The group stressed the need for volvement was also felt by Allison Lane, cate people as to the history of minority tenure-track positions as opposed to the who stated, "Students are going to be in- practices at Bryn Mawr. In 1969, the Sister- one-year appointments. volved in the hiring of minorities to the hood held a demonstration which resulted The purpose of the teach-in/sit-in is to faculty." demonstrate the widespread support of the in the formation of the Black Cultural Lane also wanted to address the tone of Center, Perry House. In 1981, the Sister- student body for the hiring of more minori- ties and women to tenure-track positions. the event. "This is a positive thing, not a hood held a campus-wide discussion in confrontation," she said. According to Perry House concerning minority needs on From 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., numerous workshops will be given along Senior Row. another member of the coordinating com- campus, which was attended by President mittee, Michele Rubin, the point of tomor McPherson and Dean Dunn, and the ad- Carol Beane will talk about the need for minority women at Bryn Mawr; Lucious row is to "make students, the faculty and ministration created the Office of Minority the administration aware that the lack of Affairs. Outlaw and Vernon Francis will be pre- senting the experience of Haverford; the minority faculty affects every single person At the last Self Government Association on this campus." Plenary in 1981, students passed a resolu- Graduate School of Social Work will be Professor Carol Beane will speak on the tion to support diversity at Bryn Mawr represented; Nancy Woodruff will place Presently 4.2 percent of the Bryn Mawr need for minority women at Bryn Mawr. which was returned to Assembly for Bryn Mawr in the national context of College of Arts and Sciences faculty con- minority hiring; Houston Baker, from the sists of tenured blacks, all of whom are University of Pennsylvania, will offer some male. Thirty percent of all tenured faculty of the political implications of minority fac- members are women, all of whom are Women's workshop held ulty hiring. white. All tenure-track women are white as These are just some of the workshops well. Supporters of the teach-in/sit-in are that will be rerun periodically so that peo- asked to wear red clothing as well as the by Natalie Sacks ple can attend as many as possible. In the black and white ribbons that will be avail- event of inclement weather, the teach-in able during the day. People need stereotypes to move in space, but they don't have to be confining.'' stated coordinator ol last Saturday's Women's Workshop, Jenny Sayre Democratic socialist group Ramberg. Confronting experiences and stereotypes of women in the bi-college forms at Bryn Mawr community was the focus of the workshop, which was held in the Bryn Mawr Room ot by Natasha Gray and Martha Merson In regards to electoral politics, freshman the Haverford Dining Center. "Democratic Socialism is the idea that Natasha Gray asserted the organization's Self-Government Association ex- people should control their government, commitment to working within the president Sara Hathaway began the day's their personal lives and their workplaces," Democratic party. She explained that third events by telling the forty-three par- began the moderator of last Thursday parties have never functioned effectively in ticipants the sources of the idea for the night's meeting of Democratic Socialists of the United States and that the constituents workshop. Sara had talked with America. The aim of the meeting was to that DSA hoped to reach [labor unions, Haverford's Student Council President present DSA's views to the bi-College com- feminists, lesbians and gays, minorities Beverly Ortega last semester about the munity and to begin organizing the Bryn and the poor], can be found only within the possibility of having a town meeting to Mawr-Haverford chapter of DSA. Thirteen Democratic party. work out the differences between Haver- people attended the student-run panel Junior Amy Villarejo next discussed the ford and Bryn Mawr women. As second discussion of DSA's perspectives on such variety of opinions and approaches to be semester wore on and the time needed to issues as electoral politics. Central found in the DSA's "refreshing" commis- organize the event ran out, the event was Jo-jo Williams, Haverford '87, discusses America and the feminization of poverty. sion on Lesbian and Gay rights and em- scaled down to a workshop format. relations between Bryn Mawr and Haver- Following the panel discussion was a brief phasised the organization's support of les In the first part of the workshop ford women at the workshop held Satur- question and answer period after which bians and gay men. "It feels good to work freshmen and upperclassmen from each day. Gail Ramberg, the membership coor- within an organization that affirms you," college preseented their experiences with dinator of the Philadelphia chapter, gave a she stated. women of the other college. Aspects Jo-jo Williams, a Haverford freshman, presentation of DSA's activities in discussed "ranged from sports, to social, to next described how when she informed her Philadelphia and offered support to the Erratum class-type interactions, both positive and college advisor that she wanted to apply to newly forming Bryn Mawr-Haverford The April 11 issue of the College News chapter. Ms. Ramberg particularly em- negative.' summed up Cornelia Keitzman, Haverford, she was instructed to apply to reported tnat a Bryn Mawr student filed a one of the four speakers. Keitzman describ- Bryn Mawr, as she was the "Bryn Mawr phasised the Philadelphia chapters work complaint of sexual harassment with ed the situation between the two colleges type." Williams had expected that by atten- on peace and on women's issues. Equal Opportunity Officer Dolores Brien as plastic'' in that "interaction has been ding Haverford she could benefit from the During the panel discussion Cami Town- last year. Further information has come different every year for the last five years." advantages of both colleges and has been send and Michele Rubin discussed to light, showing that no such complaint In another presentation freshman Alice surprised to encounter a schism between reproductive rights and the feminization of was made. The College News regrets any Si'lman said that she had "scapegoated" what is perceived as the Bryn Mawr woman poverty while Martha Merson spoke on inconvenience caused by this error. Haverford women first semester for what and the Haverford woman. DSA's commitment to the labor move- The same article stated that Physical she perceived to be the lack of an active After a brief break for lunch, the par- ment and its rejection of a strategy of give- Plant employee Dave Louie no longer social life on campus. Only when Sillman ticipants broke into three discussion backs. Salli Barush explained DSA's sup- directs student employees. The correct joined the bi college track team this groups, all of which were mediated by port for negotiations in Central America information is that he currently works semester, where she came into closer con- feminist therapist and Villanova professor both between countries (such as Honduras with student crews only on nights and tact with Haverford women, were her Susan Amsterdam. and Nicaragua) and within countries, be- weekends. stereotypes dispelled. (Continued on page 6) tween the governments and the rebels. PAGE 2D THE COLLEGE HEWS APRIL 28,1984 Guide for Perplexed Women Sit-in/teach-in Wednesday, April 25 through May 13 Letters Home, a play based on the corre- Walnut Street Theater spondence of Sylvia Plath will be J At preserjtfour minority professors teach at Bryn Mawr College: Assist- Studio Theatre, Philadelphia presented by Stagewalks Touring ant Dean ancTDirector of Minority Affairs Nancy Woodruff, Associate Pro- Company. fessor of Sociology Robert Washington, Lecturer in History Leroy Johnson Thursday, April 26 Professors Beane, Baker, Woodruff and and Lecturer inSpanish Carol Beane. Of these, one, Washington, is tenured; Senior Row, Merion Green or Thomas others will hold workshops on various Great Hall if weather is inclement. aspects of minority teaching. Johnson is on a two year contract and Beane will be leaving after this year to 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. a more advantageous position at Brown. Thursday, April 26 President McPherson and others will sum- The last case is>articularly striking, given the overwhelmingly positive Taylor Green. 3:00 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. marize the day's discussions in a rally. reaction of her students. Beane has been described in the Bi-College Student Thursday, April 26 A sit-in will be held with song and dance. Course Evaluation Guide as "truly one of Bryn Mawr's greatest assets." Denbigh and Pembroke East Greens. Despite objections to the structure of Elementary Spanish, students have, 3:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. all in all, enjoyed the course because of Professor Beane's "innovative Thursday, April 26 All are encouraged to share their poetry teaching style." Woman's Book Connection, 1006 Pine at the Open Mouth Poetry Reading. The The number of students taking courses such as Houston Baker's "Afro- Street, Philadelphia. 6:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m. theme is "In Celebration of Women." American Women Writers" at Haverford should prove the demand for Friday, April 27 Michael Burton of The School of Social courses dealing with material outside the traditional white male Western Dorothy Vernon Room. Haffner. 2:00 p.m Science at the University of California at sphere as well as the desire and need for minority perspectives in a world Irvine will speak on the "sexual division of labor in agriculture." where whites are, in fact, the minority. The Minority Task Force has been Saturday, April 28 Professor Debora Kodish of Great Lakes. powerless to increase the hiring of minority professors, and departments Woman's Book Connection. 1006 Pine College will speak on "Women as left to themselves do not do so. Street, Philadelphia. 3:00 p.m. Witches: Feminism and Folklore." Thus, the teach-in/sit-in is necessary and commendable. Its coordinators, Saturday, April 28 The Philadelphia Reproductive Rights Cindy Brown, Alison Lane, Dominque Parker, Michele Rubin, Cami Town- Friend's Meeting House, 4th and Arch Organization sponsors the 1984 Women's send and Lori Webb have been able to demonstrate broad-based support for Streets, Philadelphia. 2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m Liberation Jubilee to celebrate 1.5 their endeavors among students. The College News applauds President million years of struggle with drama, Mary Patterson McPherson on her support of the teach-in/sit-in, and hopes music, food and a speak-out. that tomorrow's events spark an effort on the behalf of the appointments Wednesday, May 2 Holly Near performs with Inti Iimani, a committee and individual departments to hire more minority faculty. Irvine Auditorium, University of Chilean group. Pennsylvania. 8:00 p.m.

Friday, May 4 Margie Adam will make one of her last University of Pennsylvania Museum Hall, East Coast appearances. Uncovering our roots 33rd and Spruce, Philadelphia. 7:30 p.m. Some feminists have pointed to a shift in the academic performance of girls at around twelve and thirteen years of age. Many young women begin to perform less well academically at this time, a phenomenon which may be Women need networks attributed to their awareness of the disparity between what they are being by Alice Jane Sillman cil President of New York City, spoke at taught in the standard male-oriented curriculum, and their own experiences In the past several weeks, Bryn Mawr has Bryn Mawr on March 26, and Patricia as young women. Many at Bryn Mawr, including those who have made con- been caught up in a whirl of political acti- Schroeder, Congresswoman from Col- orado, on March 30. Both women, but par- tributions to our center spread, have moved toward resolving that disparity vity, as politicians, endorsers, and Mondale himself have graced this campus with their ticularly Bellamy, emphasized the impor- in their own work. presence. I believe that the speakers who tance of the network, stressing the need to By uncovering areas usually considered trivial or unacademic by male came indicate a good deal about the work within those established by men, but scholars, by considering the "underside" of our society, these women have changing nature of American politics, and also the importance of women forging new reaffirmed their own experiences as women. One student explores eigh- also that the system is not changing networks of their own. teenth century kitchen gardens in her attempt to understand the lives of quickly enough for women. I personally am incensed that in order to become a politician, networking skills are women of this period, while another examines the statistics concerning the On April 9, on the eve of the Phila- delphia Democratic Primary. FOCUS and more crucial than any other. When examin- first generation of female scholars in this country. Two other students have CAWS sponsored a forum in which endors- ing this fact, it is easy to see why men. com- even abandoned the traditional categorization of departments, deeming ers for the candidates spoke out. Sharon fortably established in a patriarchal poli- them "arbitrarily defined," and have structured their own majors in women's Rembery. head of the Philadelphia tical system, make it difficult for women to studies. Women's Political Caucus spoke for break into the system. Only by such methods can women and men understand themselves and Jackson. For Hart, Dottie Lynch, as Hart's One very real danger for a woman in presidential pollster and the author of the politics is not to get absorbed into the proc- their world. acclaimed "gender gap" poll, spoke. The ess and lose her political integrity. Many former mayor of Philadelphia, Bill Green, women do rise in the structure because endorsed Mondale. they are uncontroversial. It is still unaccept- The exchange was extremely amusing able for strident feminists to rise in politics, because Green, content that his name nor will it be acceptable for some time. CQLLEGE NEWS would carry him through the debate, was I think that this trend is clearly evident Sasha Torres Beth Leibson Karen Sullivan extremely ill-prepared. He incessantly ram- when examining prominent female politi- bled on, often blundering on Mondale's Kristina Anderson News Editor CoEdilorinChict CoEdilor-inChiii cians today. Both of the female senators Managing Editor Denbigh 301 Rhoads 355 Merion 32 positions, occasionally being corrected by are Republican, with moderate stands on 527-5976 6455600 645-6008 645 5712 Lynch and Ramberry, who knew more women's issues. Elizabeth Dole, Secretary about Mondale's stands than Green did. Anne Kobbins Snoozer Archer Jaquie Worth of Transportation who is being considered Angel Smith Near the end of the debate, Green asked, Co-Sports Editor Co-Sports Editor Distribution Editor Photography as a possible Vice-Presidential running Radnor Denbigh Pembroke East 58 Rockefeller "Why do I always have to be in the middle?" mate, is pleasantly supportive of women's 6455248 645 5561 645-5700 whereupon Lynch succinctly replied, issues, but not in any meaningful way. And "Because you're a man, Bill." of course, Sandra Day O'Connor could be The College Mews is a Bryn Mawr publication serving the entire College com I consider the fact that Green was actu- male for her stands on women's rights. munity. People interested in joining the staft should contact one ol the edit- ally mayor of Philadelphia as evidence, if ors. Deadline lor letters to the editor is Friday preceding publication. The any be necessary, that all is not well in the These women disavow their ties with College News is published every other week on Wednesdays while classes are other women, or simply do not believe that in session. political system. Green is a product of the "old boy" back-slapping, golf-playing net- these ties should exist. Consequently, they First Class postage paid at Bryn Mawr. PA. Mailing address: Bryn Mawr Col- work. Reportedly, Green was an awful are not threats to voters, and can be lege. Rockefeller. Bryn Mawr. PA 19010. mayor, having no ability to implement his elected. More feminist-oriented women, such as Liz Holtzman who lost the New Statement of Purpose ideas, even with his privileged status as The College Hews seeks to provide a forum for the students, laculty. ad member of an extremely important York Senatorial election in 1980 to Al ministration, and staff ol Bryn Mawr While articles on topical subfects will be network. D'Amato. have a much harder time. published, each issue will seek to examine in-depth an issue of relevance to For women to enter the political arena, a Of course, the situation is changing as the College community (he College News welcomes ideas and submissions network must also be forged, as two female more and more women successfully break Irom all members of the community, as well as Irom outside gioups and in politicians visiting Bryn Mawr and Haver- into politics, but the numbers of women in dividuals whose purpose or (unctions are connected to those ol the Colleqe ford confirmed. Carol Bellamy, City Coun- i-«i (Continued on page 3) ' i i i i ■ i i i '

■ ■■ i ■ APRIL 28,1984 THE COLLEGE WEWSGPAGE 3

Unbridled hilarity in Tahiti, where no 0 •

by Amy Friedman ty, indeed, the paucity, of 10-to-15-page visit us, bringing the drawing boards to designating it. They left our leisureenviron- There's a new joke making the rounds in papers here in Tahiti. When it comes to which the Bayou Blaster had gone back. ment with promises that a powdered Tahiti these days and it goes as follows: 10-to-15-page papers, it can rightly be said "I have come to you," intoned the rather Bayou Blaster mix would soon be available Two Tahiti residents are lounging in their that Tahiti has none to offer. Taking this fatigued-looking Designator, "because you to all for home use. lawn furniture. One Tahiti resident says to condition into the fullest possible con- are all members of the Leisure Culture here With the creation of the Official World's the other, "How many residents of Tahiti sideration, 1 have posited the following: on Tahiti." Fair drink we felt it was the correct time to does it take to screw in a light bulb?'' The part of thesuccess of the Tahitian Leisure "Oh, wait one minute," I said. "I'd like to rest a while on our laurels. While entertain- other Tahiti resident takes a long sip of her Culture can be directly attributed to the point out that I am here to study and ment is a major part of the Leisure Culture, drink and answers, "None. Light bulbs just fact that 10-tol5-page papers are not a part observe the Leisure Culture. My participa- no one likes to overdo it. There is a time aren't part of Tahitian Leisure Culture." of it. tion in all you see here is purely academic." and place for everything, especially here You see, that's the level of unbridled Positing is something we rarely do here "I see," replied the Designator. "And the on Tahiti; there is a time for wild abandon hilarity at which things around here usually in Tahiti because of the substantial effort it flowers in your hair and the drink in your and a time for sniffing the hibiscus flowers. proceed. Why, we residents of Tahiti rarely takes away from our pursuit of the perfect hand?" We have a saying here on Tahiti: Where get much more bridled than in the Bayou Blaster. Since you've brought it up, I "Purely," I lowered my voice, "to further there's no sand, no kiwi grows; where preceding paragraph. Stress is rather an will now move on to a discussion of the the pursuit of Science." there's no fertilizer, no mangoes. unknown factor in these parts. Ever since I Bayou Blaster. "In that case you will probably like what I When it is time for some entertainment came to Tahiti in my last article, I've been a The Bayou Blaster was brought to the at- am now going to say." The Designator pro- on Tahiti, when the scent of the hibiscus much more relaxed and uninhibited kind tention of the participants in the Leisure ceeded to explain our mission, should we has palled, here's what we've taken to do- of guy and as such, have been able to make Culture of Tahiti by a staff member of the choose to accept. We had one month in ing. We all get on our bicycles and ride ever more, uh, creative contributions to the Official Designators Board of the 1984 which to save the pallid Bayou Blaster and down to the old governor's house ("the Tahitian Leisure Culture which I came here World's Fair. It seems that the Designators transform it into a drink the Official White Hut") in Papeete. There we ride in to study. Why, even the trip itself was re- were looking for a new drink that they markably stress-free. Print is a wonderful could designate the official drink of the way to travel and one I highly recommend. Fair. (I wonder if that should be in capitals? "OH? has to do with the scarcity, indeed, the paucity, of 10-to- I'm not sure yet whether it will actually get Probably.) As I was saying, the Designated one anywhere one wants to get to, but it Official Drink of the 1984 World's Fair. The \5-page papers here in Tahiti. When it comes to \0-to-\ 5-page sureas-shootin will get one to Tahiti. Bayou Blaster was just a twinkle in some- papers, it can rightly be said that Tahiti has none to offer. Tak- Now that I've been here a while, I have ar- one's eye then, a faint harbinger of what rived at a few simple, yet I feel essential, was to come (back then it was still pale ing this condition into the fullest possible consideration, I have conclusions. One has to do with the scarci- yellow). One of the designators came to posited the following: part of the success of the Tahitian Leisure Culture can be directly attributed to the fact that \0-to-\5-page Literary criticism sexist papers are not a part of it."

by Karen Sullivan wrong, Olive projects a sexlessness, a Designators would be proud to designate. circles around the building and yell, There are women who are unmarried by hatred of men and a zeal for unqualified The stipulations were that it be easily made "Where's the chief?" Then we all conclude, accident, and others who are unmarried by reform that renders her humorously in one's own home and that it have a mara- "I don't think there's anyone back there," option, but Olive Chancellor was unmar- mechanical." chino cherry and a little umbrella. and we retire back to our lawn furniture. In comparison with Ransom, the hand- We adjourned to mull it over and met ried by every implication of her being. She So, you certainly can't say that things some Southerner who openly declares early the next morning at 11:30 a.m. There, was a spinster as Shelley was a lyric poet, or don't swing down here in Tahiti. Oh, I do I am proud to relate, useful suggestions as the month of August is sultry." Thus women were essentially inferior to men" miss the old Bryn Mawr days occasionally. and with whom Olive competes for were forthcoming from all: does Henry James describe the heroine of Every now and then the old urge to com- Verena's sympathy, Olive is found dis- "Add sugar!" "More rum!" "Try adding his novel The Bostonians. Like many of plete a 10-page paper overtakes me, but tinctly more threatening. Wallace ice!" "More rum!" "Put in straws!" "More James's characters, Olive is wealthy and you treat it the same way you treat the urge rum!" And who can omit the soon-to-be im- cultured; she is also a turn-of-the-century describes Ransom as the "more sympa- to exercise—just lie down until it goes thetic type" while Charles Thomas mortal line, "Make it dayglo aquamarine!" radical feminist who devotes her life to the away. advancement of women, who sees history Samuels in his The Ambiguity of Henry There in the stress-free Leisure Culture in terms of the suppression of women by James (published in 1971) states that Ran- of Tahiti, the perfect Bayou Blaster was Have a happy May Day and remember men. and who understands the deification som "stands for a stoical acceptance of life; created with, one is swift to point out, nary this tip is you want to add some Leisure Cul- of white, middle-class women to be a for an irresponsible commitment to a 10to-15-page paper in sight. The Official ture to your summer plans: just stay far device to undermine their strength and ex- reform.... In a novel full of hysterical, Designators wasted no time in officially away from light bulbs. clude them from the political arena. chattering, canting' ladies, who can doubt When Olive reaches outside the confines that these sentiments are James's?" of her class and "takes up" a young woman Despite the overwhelming frailty of fem- from the lower class, educating her in the inism in turn-of-the-century America as Infirmary to be reviewed hope that Verena will further the ends of compared to the monolithic apparatuses feminism, she makes it clear that an active designed to keep women domestic, mar- public career demands the abandonment ried and outside of the political sphere, by Jaquie Worth each accompanied by a friend, will have of the euphemized Victorian marriage and Olive is continually described as "entrap- On Thursday May 3. from 9 a.m. to 9 lunch with the Review Team. domestic life. ping" Verena. Her understated sexuality is p.m., the Bryn Mawr Infirmary will be For the rest of the afternoon the visitors In her persistence, her singleness of pur- seen by critics to be far more dangerous reviewed by three visiting medical profes- will talk with the Deans, the coordinators of pose, and her insight into her society, I than Ransom's, with whom sexuality and sionals, a doctor, a psychiatrist and a nurse the Wellness Program, the Wardens and found Olive Chancellor to be one of the subordination of women are inextricably practioner. Trustee Dr. Vera French Bates, the Office of Student Services. They will most admirable characters in any work I tied. According to Samuels, Ransom "has an alumna who is herself a psychiatrist spend an hour and a half alone before din- have read. I was surprised, therefore, when rescued Verena from sexual perversion" practicing in Bettendorf. Iowa, will chair ner and have an exit interview with Presi- idling over a biology lab report one Sunday while in Louis Auchincloss's Reading Henry the review team. dent McPherson, Dean Dunn, Dr. Bates, night, to open some of the books on James (published in 1976) it is found that All three visitors have struggled with the Dean Kreutz of the Graduate School of Arts Jamesian criticism which my carrel's "the dominant sexuality of Ransom (while problems of college infirmaries in their and Sciences and Dean Gaskins of the senior stored in her shelf, and to discover not a good thing) is a natural force. own practices. Dr. Margaret Bridwell, Graduate School of Social Work and Social that even the most recent interpretations of Opposed by a group of screaming women, whom Dr. Woodruff described as "ex- Research. This review is being held for the Olive's character and of The Bostonians even by a rich and determined lesbian, it tremely innovative," works at the Univer- Trustees rather than for the community at reflect a view of feminism that can only be mows down all before it." sity of Maryland. In the past she has par- large; the results of it will not be made described as reactionary and a view of While James no doubt shared many of ticipated in the review of other college infir- public. However, one of the changes which women in turn as creatures whose only his critic's prejudices, the value of The maries. Dr. Howard Baker is a psychiatrist is already under consideration is the addi- capacity and function is propagation and Bostonians is not the humor which his at Drexel. Elinor Morton is the head nurse tion of a minority counselor three to four the serving of men. critics admire, nor what Samuels calls "the at Smith College, and "lived through it all" hours a week if the money can be made According to Dorothea Krooks in The real issues which his characters parody," when Smith's infirmary stopped all inpa- available. \ Ordeal ol Consciousness in Henry James but in an understanding of the interactions tient services from 1980-82, according to (published in 1962). Olive is the "least sym- between the sexes which is as relevant and Dr. Woodruff. pathetic of James' strong-minded apt today as it was then. That James was At 9 a.m. May 3, the review team will Candidates heroines. . .a thwarted Anglo-Saxon spin- able to escape the biases of his time in his meet for a one-hour orientation. They will ster (with all its neurotic or quasi-neurotic depiction of women is commendable; that then tour the Infirmary, and each visitor (Continued from page 2) symptoms)." On Olive's willingness to ap- his critics have been unable to do so, even will meet with his or her counterpart; Dr. high positions of authority are still too pear grim and humorless in a world where in years when feminism has entered the Bridwell with Drs. Woodruff and Ballard, scant as to give women any political clout. oppression masquerades under a bright mainstream of much culture, is frighten- Dr. Baker with the counselors, and Nurse To solve the problem, women, preferably disguise, Ronald Wallace writes in Henry ing, and should encourage us all to ques- Morton with the nurses. At 11:30 the Stu- more competent than Green, must follow James and the Comic Form (published in tion the assumptions underlying texts dent Infirmary Committee (Megan Close, his example by networking, and still main- 1975), "Living by a theory which inverts which purport to be as "objective" as Robin Henkel, Julie Holman, Lucy Leete, tain their political integrity with firm com- Popes famous lines to Whatever is. is literary criticism. Robin Shaughnessy, and Jaqueline Worth), mitments to women's issues. PAGE 4D THE COLLEGE NEWS APRIL 28,1984 Students' interests show commitme Women's history—links with the past History by by Clarissa F. Dillon by Cindy Brown Aside from all of that, I enjoy poking I see women's lives in the eighteenth century as divided between "indoor" and I am at work on two research projects, around in the lives of these women. Their one of which resulted in my M.A. thesis on generation was the most successful, in "outdoor" work. The indoor work includes M. Carey Thomas, feminism, and women's middle-class American terms, until that of those areas which have recently begun be- education, and one which will, I hope, turn their granddaughters and great- ing explored in women's into a large-scale study of the life experi- granddaughters. They grappled with simi- history—childbirth, child-rearing, cook- ences of those women who attended grad- lar problems, ranging from discrimination ing, and needlework. My interest is in the uate school in this country between 1890- to two-career marriages, and felt a similar outdoor work: the kitchen garden. My dissertation topic is eighteenth century kit- 1914, from whose ranks came the "first political commitment to feminism. I think chen gardens in southeastern Penn- generation" of female scholars. their experience will illuminate our own, and this is the aspect of the work which I sylvania, the uses of the plants, and how these areas fitted into women's lives. Eventually, I would like to look at six most enjoy. One of the major concerns of women schools, those which formed the most pro- For me, women's history, and women's was the feeding of their families and this ductive group of graduate schools for studies in general, are of little use if they did not, for rural women, mean just cook- women in this period: Bryn Mawr, Chicago, deteriorate into scholarship qua scholar- ing. It also meant growing and preserving Columbia. Cornell, Penn, and Yale. As a ship. There is too much work like that any- the food for use. These are both very time- preliminary study, I am now manipulating way. I hope to link the present to the past, consuming activities, which must be done data concerning about one-third of Bryn to examine whether and how life has at the proper time for most effectiveness. Mawr's graduate population during that changed, and what impelled whatever time, some 393 women. I am doing this by How did women manage to do the Cindy Brown, BA/MA: "I enjoy poking change has occurred. Posing the correct hand, with a calculator, an inefficient necessary work that feeding their families around in the lives of these women." questions is all-important. In this study, it is involved is the question which interests me system and one I will have to abandon for the question of how women educated far most. computerization if I am ever to finish the both to develop and to use effectively, but beyond the usual provenance of their sex In order to find out, I have been doing entire study. in tandem with the "numbers." it has been laired in the pioneer days that produced so research in this area for a number of years. For each woman, I have a form which useful in formulating tentative explana- much for their descendants. There are more than 75 plants, mostly kit- shows the following: basic biographical tions. chen garden plants but some ornamentals, data like name, dates of birth and death, Bryn Mawr was unique in being the only Using some imagination in asking sub- which I have documented as being in whether married, whether she was a women's college with a fully realized grad- sidiary questions, and not being afraid to southeastern Pennsylvania before 1800. mother, parents' names, father's and uate program, and the success of that pro- propose bold answers, will help advance These are primarily European imports, but mother's occupation; educational history gram was extraordinary. Comparing the what we know about this crucial subject. To there are a few native plants included from secondary school through college, Bryn Mawr experience to that of the other me this is what recasting history in a femi because they were used by the colonists. graduate, and postgraduate work; work institutions on the list should answer some nist way means, beyond political beliefs Books such as the Great Herbals. history, including title, employer, duties, fundamental questions about opportunity and areas of interests. I believe that history almanacs, cookbooks, and others cover and salary information; publications; and attitude-formation in a predominantly known is the best foundation on which to the uses of the plants. Some were strictly honors, awards, and significant volunteer male as opposed to a predominantly build for the future; and these women were culinary; others were used for medicinal work; room for subjective comments about female community. us, one hundred years ago. educational, work, and life experiences. I have few cases for which all or even most of this information is available. Alum- Anglo-Saxon queens schemed their way to nae files were haphazard affairs early in the College's history, and foreign students in continued to scheme, conspire and murder There is only one thing these women had / by Elizabeth Hunt Davis particular tended to disappear perma- their way throughout the pages of chroni- in common; they were survivors. The nently after World War I. Often, I suspect, The lives and careers of the Anglo- cles and court histories. Individually, each status of the queen was affected by many alumnae about whom little or nothing is re- Saxon queens were as varied and unique as queen possessed more power and con- factors not the least of which was the insta- corded led quiet lives, perhaps as wives, were the women themselves. They trolled a greater number of lives than later bility of her position. Marriages were made mothers, and homemakers. This may emerged from royal houses, noble lines queens, such as Eleanor of Aquitaine, for a variety of reasons: the desire for male mean that my end product will be skewed and foreign courts bringing with them could imagine. They witnessed royal char- heirs, the need to cement a political alli- in the direction of the career woman. Prob- many cultures, traditions and ambitions. ters, made grants in their own names, adju- ance, the placation of a court faction. But lems like this one, however, and puzzling Some queens vanished from sight as dicated legal disputes, ruled jointly and children died, alliances changed and fac- over what to do about them, are part of the quickly as they had come; some blended equally with their husbands as well as by tions disappeared; queens were married challenge. into the court and became, to us at least, themselves, and sent armies to the field. and disgarded readily. Such an atmos- Once I have data, and have sorted indi- anonymous; others left an indelible im- The last four Old English queens. Eadgyfu, phere was not favorable to a queen's attain- vidual cases in terms of completeness of print on the pages of Anglo-Saxon history. Aelfthryth, Emma-Aelfgyfu and Eadgyth, ing a position of influence and retaining it the record, I do the calculations necessary What doomed one queen to failure and were by far the most powerful, involving over the years. Thus, when we discover that to answer questions I have posed. One spurred another to attain great power? themselves in everything from ecclesiastic Emma survived at the Anglo-Saxon court basic inquiry is: Where did these women do While these questions can never be an- disputes, monastic reforms and church for 50 years, through the reigns of four their undergraduate work? Part of the swered absolutely, it can be ascertained manipulation to succession struggles and kings and all the tumult, deceit and con- answer is predictable: Bryn Mawr, other that a queen's success or failure depended the Norman Conquest. spiracy that accompanied the death of women's colleges, Quaker schools. Yet on the political mood of the time and the Bryn Mawr also had a large number of for- ambition and tenacity of the queen, as well eign students, including a significant por- as fate or pyro (destiny), as the Anglo- Women's studies majors promote interdi tion without degrees, even with only one or Saxons would have said. by Vivion Vinson Reasons put forth by the administration two years of undergraduate work recorded. The ninth-century queens of Wessex had the almost insurmountable disadvantage While a full-fledged department in against independent majors in women's This discovery raises very interesting of treading in the footprints of the stereo- women's studies has yet to emerge at Bryn studies included the lack of job oppor questions about the standards of the grad- typical evil queen, Eadburgh, wife of King Mawr. for the first time this year two tunities or advanced educational programs uate school, the inducements fellowships Beortric. Asser. King Alfred's court his- sophomores have declared their majors in in women's studies. and scholarships may have been for these torian, reports that during one of her the field. Cami Townsend and Tracy women, and about the reputation of Bryn poisoning sprees, Eadburgh accidently McDonald presented their plans as in- Townsend pointed out that the tradi- Mawr. In a sense, the statistical part of this killed her husband. She was then so de- dependent majors, both arguing that stu- tional scholastic disciplines with which we work could go on forever, especially corre- spised that she was forced to flee to the dying within a single traditional depart are familiar are, in fact, arbitrarily defined. lations: whether X influenced Y, or whether continent and ended her life begging in ment would not provide them with the In contrast, "interdisciplinary technique is A, B, and C together have some relation- Pavia. The people of Wessex then decreed skills and perspective they felt necessary important because it is a feminist techni- ship to D. that henceforth no consort would be for pursuing their intellectual goals. que." In order to obtain a wide spectrum of allowed to use the title "queen" or rule with Townsend and McDonald both en- perspectives on gender roles. Townsend is Interpreting the data is to my mind the her husband. One wonders if this was really countered administrative departmental basing her major of a mixture of history fascinating part. Somehow all of the corre- precipitated by Eadburgh's actions, or if pressure to major within an established and anthropology, with some inclusion on lations, comparisons, and anomalies have the men of Wessex simply desired to department with concentrations on literature. With this carefully constructed to fit together. My approach so far has been reduce the queen's power and used Ead- women, receiving "very little encourage- melange, she feels that she will challenge to try and accumulate subjective data: burgh as an excuse to do so. ment and many challenges," as Townsend as many of her personal assumptions as impressions women recorded concerning Not even this "anti-queen" proclamation put it. Said McDonald smoothly, "It's dif- possible, for she is "afraid of not seeing Bryn Mawr, their work experiences, their could restrain the ambitious personalities ficult (to do) at' Bryn Mawr because it's a enough choices" as she pursues her in- lives. This Is the most obscure kind of data. of the Wessex queeVis; however, arid they Challenge to their educational tradition." tellectual career s

APRIL 28,1984 THE COLLEGE /YEWSOPAGE 5 it to women's studies at Bryn Mawr replicator) English major finds joy in Jewett

purposes. There are many, however, which by Amy Villarejo in a course taught by a second Annette, with careful attention to the world she fall into both categories, providing insight Annette Niemtzow, called "Women Writing into attitudes about foods as health- Feminist scholarship in the field of knew best: country doctors, herbswomen, English and American literature embraces in America." The course, a survey of rocky seashores, old seamen who reluc- maintainers or disease-preventers. When American women's writing from its incep- considering the colonial housewife as what Annette Kolodny has eloquently tantly anchor themselves to the Maine deemed "playful plurality": its goals and tion to the present, exposed us to a con- land. Jewett's confident voice asserts itself diagnoser and doser of diseases, some con- tinual barrage of exciting works by our sideration of the medical profession and its strategies, its emphases and tones, its in her understanding of time, of the ways in vocabularies and poetics have echoed the foremothejSrOuTsisters. The Country of the which her characters define their exis- practices will be included. ^Boin^d Furs, a collection of "sketches" of In a topic of this kind, documentary diversity and imagination of the contem- tences in a changing world. Strong women porary feminist movement. The heartening rural Maine, by Sarah Orne Jewett, cap- live in dying matriarchies, old seamen material is really not enough. The time it tured my attention; its attention to a takes to complete various tasks is of great variety of this scholarship offers a number journey to lands between life on earth and of entry points in feminist literary criticism: specifically female world of healers, of patriarchal afterlives: Jewett paints an odd importance. My research includes a year perceptive lovers of life, detailed in spirited spent gardening, 18th century-style, with a feminist readings of male texts (those continuum of existence which, in its canonized by the established critical com- "local color" prose, intrigued my Califor- challenge to traditional dualities, to labor force appropriate to the activity. I had ""man wonder for the East, as well as my a woman to assist me and any children we munity), the discovery of "lost" women's closure, situates her in a tradition of strong texts, and feminist writing—ecriture literary interest in confident women's women writers. Her work, her vision, is not could round up. We only worked two days writing. a week, but our garden was 1/8 the size it feminine. None of these approaches, only a rich mine for fanatical English ma- would have been. I have all the records of however, exists in isolation; each feeds and jors (one of whom will spend her summer time spent, on what task, and by whom. plays on work in the complementary areas, Jewett, writing in the late nineteenth studying Jewett's work in Maine), but a This data will help interpret the informa- creating a web (to appropriate a currently century, was indeed surprisingly confident. treasure chest for anyone interested in tion on gardening to be found in 18th cen- popular metaphor) of feminist thought. Faced with a male tradition in her time that looking for strength in the words of hopeful tury gardening books which were generally My entry point presented itself last year insisted on urban realism, Jewett replied and exciting women. for the better sort and their pleasure gardens or for supervising a staff of garden- ers, and almanacs which were for ordinary people. Feminist examines history of art Using the plants means both cooking them for food and processing them for by Anmiryam Budner medicines. Food preservation is an impor- In the Spring of 1981, on a Monday, Wed- tant aspect of both uses. Again, the re- nesday, or Friday, at an absurdly early search in this area involves replication as hour of the morning, I, along with thirty well as documentary research. other people, was sitting in a dark room Once my research is completed, I hope listening to Steven Levine lecture on im- to know how women managed to do all of ages of women in nineteenth century the things which people like Julia Spruill French art. Although the class already had and Mary Beth Morton say that women did my attention, suddenly there was a slide on in the 18th century. the wall which both shocked me and made me want to make all my friends get up in time for breakfast and come to class. I was shocked because I never imagined that there existed such explicit images of les- power bian sexuality in the realm of traditional histories of art, and I was excited because I each king, we realize that we are dealing was neither offended nor disconnected with a remarkably strong, politically astute from the image on the screen. woman. My first impressions of Sleep (1866) by It was Emma, the Viking princess with Gustave Courbet have remained with me bloodline connections in the Danish and for several reasons. For one. since that Norman noble houses, who strengthened time I have been looking for other images the foreign presence in England through of women's sexuality which I find as ex- her marriage to Ethelred and later to Cnut. hilirating, and two, I wanted to know why I It was she who brought with her from the responded positively to Sleep, while I react continent the Normal influence, and it was with anger to most sexualized images of she who insisted that her children be reared women created by male artists. This past at the Norman court instead of in England. summer it occurred to me that I should at- Should we be surprised that, when her son tempt a systematic analysis after reading Anmiryam Budner '84: 'I wanted to know why I responded positively to Sleep Edward the Confessor died heirless, her Surpassing The Loue of Men by Lillian (Courbet, 1866)." great-nephew William of Normandy, Faderman. Her historical and literary strongly bound by family ties carefully analysis of women-loving-women in- are confronted with Sleep and with fellow voyeur. Western art is filled with established by his Aunt Emma, saw him- trigued me, but infuriated me when she Courbet's other images of women. bodies of women who are too perfect to be (Continued on page 6) connected Sleep with the negative images Beatrice Famwell has produced some real women. Bodies which are no more of lesbians in the poetry of Baudelaire. very clear visual sources of Courbet's im- than fantasies, smooth objects not only Faderman looks at the image to discover ages of women in pornographic with no flaws, but without any substance. sciplinary study the ways in which it is similar to other im- lithographs and photographs of the mid- There have been notable exceptions to this ages of the era, but she does not look to see nineteenth century, yet she does not ex- rule. Rubens is perhaps the most promi- McDonald claims to have been in what ways it is different, a task which is plore the implications of using such nent, since he so violates our current ex- "systematically excluded" from the female essential in examining Courbet's work. sources. For example, what is the dif- pectations of how women should look. perspective in her education prior to Bryn Ironically, male art historians have pro- ference between a small object which as a Idealized women's bodies have predomi- Mawr, and found her need to study this nounced much the same judgment over viewer one can control, look at in private nated in Western painting. During the eigh- perspective such that "a concentration was Sleep. The reason for this congruence is and an image which is over lifesize and teenth and nineteenth century, and earlier simply not enough." Integrating English quite simple: art historians tend to perceive seen primarily in public? What does this as well, visual depictions of women in pain- and political science, she intends to use the great art as being more spiritual than sex- imply about the male as voyeur? Oil pain- ting were distanced from the context in letter's analytical and theoretical techni- ual. By denying the sexuality of art it gains tings are valued differently from cheap which they were viewed, either by portray- ques as she explores feminist literary legitimacy as an appropriate topic for prints, and not just in monetary terms. ing mythological women, or women in an theory. "Literature is political. White male academic inquiry. As a result, visual im- "Art" is responsive to a different set of exotic setting (read women-of-color in im- literature makes a statement that mutilates ages which have overt sexual content have norms. What is expected of ordinary por- perialized nations). The viewer was fre- white women and annihilates black been analyzed primarily in terms of their nography must be hidden for art to pass as quently an accomplice to an already ongo- women. I want a study that brings together formal composition, if they have been paid art. ing act of voyeurism within the image women's lives and opposes the traditional any attention in the first place. Scholars Traditionally painters used a number of itself. A man looking at a painting using canon." writ* book after book, and article upon arti- techniques to both present sexual images these techniques would not be convinced Both students are thankful to their major cle explicating the various sources which of women which excite men and at the that he is doing something illegitimate. advisors. "Feminist professors don't stay Courbet both used and transformed in the same time define their work as "high art." How can one feel guilty for looking at a on campus long," says Townsend. "I was process of creating Realist art which would The three most frequently used methods woman who bears no resemblance to your very lucky that I got Jane Caplan here dur- speak to the world of nineteenth century for accomplishing this are: an idealization wife, sister, or mother, is not rea in the first ing her stay ... If it weren't for her, I don't Frapce. Yet, like, Faderman they back off of women's bodies, a distancing of the im- place, or so far away in a subject, "inferior" (Continued on page 6) from exploring such an inquiry when they age, from realty.. and the insertion qf a (Coplinuedonpage8) PAGE 6GTHE COLLEGE NEWS APRIL 28,1984 Thomas first and last a feminist

by Karen Sullivan inculcate her students with feminism and bow to social convention and eloped >ter aggressive, often dogmatic person- at the same time to maintain a front of gen- with a married English professor, Thomas ality and her devotion to Bryn Mawr's high tility for anxious parents and trustees. Thus wrote to her, "You have committed treach- academic standards are the two most com- Bryn Mawr became a "half-way house" be- ery towards the College and me." mon associations with M. Carey Thomas. tween the students' often conservative and At the same time Thomas was making As Cynthia Brown proposed last Thursday passive upbringings and a world in which such a concerted effort to appease the in her lecture on "Deliberate Revolution: M. Thomas intended them to play roles of public, she was quietly introducing her Carey Thomas, Bryn Mawr and Women's leadership and responsibility. students to feminism in her daily speeches Emancipation," this impression of the first in chapel, in encouraging Bryn Mawrtyrs to Brown illustrated Thomas's approach to dean and second president of the College is support Margaret Sanger's promulgation this dichotomous purpose by describing both "one-dimensional and non- of birth control, in inviting Emmeline contextual;" for Thomas, Bryn Mawr was Thomas's reaction to the prevailing medi- Pankhurst to speak on chaining herself to far from an end in itself, but rather a cal theory of the late nineteenth century the gates of the houses of Parliament "means to accomplish the ends of femi- which found higher education to be detri- (under the guise of "what I did over my mental to a woman's health. According to a nism." vacation"). As Brown pointed out in the prominent Philadelphia physician, whose question-and-answer session later on, Brown supported her assertion that medical theories are criticized in Charlotte students tended to be shocked at what Thomas was "first, last and inevitably a Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper, Thomas said in chapel, only with difficulty feminist" by enumerating the number of "No girl can meet Bryn Mawr's require- reconciling the dean who gave them their drives and organizations in which Thomas ments without becoming a permanent German orals with the woman who M. Carey Thomas forged links in the participated in order to improve the status invalid." "chummed around with Emmeline Pank- women's movement. of women in the country. Thomas encour- hurst." aged the National Women's Suffrage Asso- As the primary proponent in making Brown ended her presentation by relat- ciation to hold their annual convention at Bryn Mawr's academic standards as rigor- ing Thomas's disguising of her radical aims Bryn Mawr in the second year of the Col- ous as those of any men's institution, in benign clothes to much of contem- Workshop lege's existence and, with her friend and Thomas responded to these accusations by porary feminism and proposed that colleague Mary Garret, raised the single instituting a four hour a week gym require- Thomas "understood and forged links be- largest amount of money ever donated to ment (and by inviting Constance Apple- tween many parts of the women's move- a start this organization. The friend of feminists bee, the Englishwoman who introduced ment which concern us today." ranging from Susan B. Anthony to Emme- (Continued from page I) field hockey to the United States, to head When Assistant Professor of History line Pankhurst to Anna Howard Shaw, Discussion focused on personal ex- physical education); by devising an elabo- Jane Caplan inquired as to how Thomas Thomas made it clear in her letters that periences and on brainstroming for sug- rate system of public relations to prove the compared with other women college ad- upon returning from Europe with her Ph.D. gestions to improve relations between the vigor of Bryn Mawr women, which included ministrators of her time. Brown replied that her primary goal was to "serve the Cause of taking frequent statistics on their weight, women of the two colleges. Two of the Thomas's peers were "very quiet sorts"; groups contained only women, and one women's emancipation"; she accepted the rate of marriage, ability to run, etc.; and by Thomas in comparison "would say any- position of dean and professor at Bryn constantly downplaying her own frequent contained the four or so men that were pre- thing she could get away with." Pointing sent, an arrangement which had been Mawr out of the lack of better offers. illnesses and injuries throughout her years out Thomas's remark that Charles Eliot here. decided upon earlier but which coordinator Brown estimated that it took Thomas "had spots on his brain" when the Harvard Jenny Sayre Ramberg called "sort of ten years, the length of her deanship, to Her earnestness in maintaining an president announced that women's col- weird." realize that the presidency of the College appearance which would appease parents leges should be finishing schools, Brown Discussion was very structured as it was could serve as a suitable "platform from and trustees extended to the point where observed, "No one said things like this. thought that the tension implicit within the which she could propagate feminism." she gave up smoking, refrained from Men didn't say things like this.*' issues might lead to open conflict, with a Often disappointed and frustrated with her attending the theater, and never indulged The lecture was held in the Dorothy Ver- few vocal participants dominating the ex- work, Thomas wrote, "Nothing but the in her preference for trousers over skirts. non Room in Haffner, which was particu- change. All present told those in her or his Cause could keep me at it." Thomas expected others to compromise larly appropriate given that the room con- group their name and about a happy and Thomas' career at the College illustrates their tastes and inclinations when neces- tains many relics from Thomas's furniture an embarassing incident that had happen a perpetual struggle between her desire to sary; when her friend Mamie Gwinn did not in the Deanery. ed to them "so they would all be on the same level," according to Ramberg. After fifteen minutes of open discussion within the groups, the three groups came At the center stands the queen back together and one person presented the groups' feelings on the subject as well (Continued from page 5) chronicles, histories and even in early church, education, and culture were all ad- as their suggestons on how to improve self as successor? The Norman Conquest sketches and on coins. They retained their vanced because of the efforts of the relations though the workshop was design- was the direct result of the 50-year influ- power through cunning and manipulation, queens. Yet it is hard to escape the legends ed less to formulate strategies than to ence of Queen Emma. She conspired, of and because they could never afford to turn of their "evil" deeds because there is truth "make people aware," said Ramberg. course, and she schemed, but most impor- at the base of many of the legends. Investi- While many of the suggestions were pro- tantly, she succeeded and she survived. gate any conspiracy: at the center stands posals to increase cooperation in general, the queen. such as a bi-college finding list and a joint Generally, the queens about whom we ".. .itis not unusual to find presidents dinner, also recommended were know the most were the "survivors," those an event specifically designated for bi- who remained at court long enough to a queen's name connected with Women's studies college women, though not excluding men, and encouragement for activities in make positive contributions. Yet it is not evil or unscrupulous actions. (Continued from page 5) unusual to find a queen's name connected which bi-college women participated, such with evil or unscrupulous actions. Interest- Interestingly, the queens who think I would have been able to do it." as the now-defunct soccer club. Another ingly, the queens who were readily asso- Feminist professors, she maintains, both suggestion was that the hall customs ciated with evil deeds, sorcery, or black were readily associated with challenge and offer alternatives to the groups be replaced by customs groups magic were those who were extremely evil deeds, sorcery, or black traditional interpretations of their fields. composed equally of Bryn Mawr and powerful in their own right. It is difficult to McDonald is being advised by Nancy Haverford freshmen; this would facilitate determine whether the queen had to be magic were those who were Woodruff, who plays "a supportive role as a interaction between the bi-college "evil" in order to attain power, or whether black female academician," and Sara freshmen more than the current system in because she was powerful, she was extremely powerful in their Shumer at Haverford "who helps focus on which co-customs events are optional. rumored to have been evil. political theory." Though some women feel that the at- own right. \t is difficult to What do these women plan to do with titude toward the three-to-one ratio rather Probably at the root of the legends is an determine whether the queen their degrees? Townsend is considering than the ratio itself is the problem, as element of truth. Emma was indeed a pursuing an advanced degree and definite- Ramberg observed, noting that "You can schemer, and Aelfthryth, the mother of had to be evil' in order to ly plans to work in a women's organization, have that many more friends." Keitzman Ethelred. seems to have arranged the "such as the Women's International League suggested that the strong emotional reac murder of King Edward the Martyr, thus attain power, or whether for Peace and Freedom, a battered tions on whether the problem exists or not paving the way for her son's accession. The because she was powerful, women's shelter, or a women's bookstore." indicate that issues are at hand that need to queens were forced to scheme and plot to McDonald's plans are somewhat similar: be dealt with. enhance their positions or those of their she was rumored to have "I'd like to start out with public interest Overall the workshop was viewed sons, and were transformed by medieval organizations, such as a battered women's positively. Keitzman commented that. convention into wicked, murderous been evil." shelter, with maybe a degree in business "Some Bryn Mawr women who never go women who would stop at nothing to reach administration to make me better prepared over to Haverford came over for this their goals. in this area." event!" The Bi-College Committee, which their backs on conspiracy, they were in- Both students have discovered much organized the workshop, intends to in- They were all powerful, politically astute volved in many. However, the court in- student support for their activities. Says crease cooperation during Customs Week, women, and evidence of their lives and trigue must not force their positive McDonald, Someone said, Ah. if only I as well as to hold follow-up workshops next works "exists in charters, wills, grants, achievements into the shadows: the had that two years ago." " year. APRIL 28,1984 THE COLLEGE NEWSO PAGE 7 Changes in May Day Festival reflect changes in the College

by Karen Sullivan With Grand May Days such commercial Carlton to cater the medieval banquet. On affairs, the smaller, more intimate May Day the custom of having white, curly homed From the days when special trains were traditions were perpetuated in Little May oxen carry in the May Pole. Brainard chartered to bring people throughout the Days which were held even in the years of remarked, "I'll take brown oxen, I'll take east coast to Bryn Mawr and photographs Grand May Days. During these little- green oxen, if somebody volunteers them." of the festival were printed in Oregon news- publicized events, the Magdalen hymn was The notices for her organizational meet- papers, to the modification of the fete dur- sung from Rockefeller tower (which M. ings stand out sharply in the late seventies' ing the forties, fifties and sixties, to 1978 Carey Thomas had designed particularly copies of The News among letters con- when Traditions Mistress Skye Brainard for this purpose), the customary straw- demning the Denbigh residents as "intro- brought Grand May Day back to the Col- berries and cream breakfast was consumed verts, Jesus freaks and dykes" and an inter- lege, May Day has played a crucial part in (along with then customary chipped beef), view with president-elect Mary Patterson the College calendar, reflecting by its May baskets were given to seniors, aca- McPherson in which she stated that she ex- changes developments in the College demic prizes were awarded and seniors pected the College to go coed in the next itself. danced around a Maypole. After 1919, the five to ten years. It is clear that the goal of When Evangeline Andrews '93 proposed hoop racing which had been held after lan- the students who brought back Big May that an Elizabethan May Day be held on guage orals was also connected with Little Day was not the money and publicity campus in 1900 to raise money for a stu- sought by the committees on the earlier dents' building, her suggestion was greeted May Days. Plays, dances and elaborate cos- Grand May Days, who requested students with applause by students and admin- tumes and meals were postponed until the public arrived. to compile lists of "influential persons" istrators alike. The first May Day, and the Grand May Days ceased during the war who would be willing to sponsor the fete, first Grand May Day, contained plays, years and were not resumed. According to but rather an increased cohesion among dances and traditions nearly identical to a dissertation on Bryn Mawr traditions, the student body at a time when Bryn those of the May Days of recent years, Grand May Day "had gotten to the point Mawr's identity was threatened with sub- despite a student body of one fifth the size, where it could not have continued because mersion into a bi-College conglomerate. and included a Revesby Sword Dance, there was a competitive feeling that each chimneysweeps, milkmaids and shepard- successive Big May Day had to improve esses with real sheep as well. Andrews later remarked, "Even though upon or in some way out-do the one four years earlier, and that the communities' all costumes had been designed with the resources were being sapped by such com- greatest discretion and passed upon in petition." It was also felt that activities every instance by an efficient and wise cos- which had become popular in the interven- tuming committee, it was possible for a ing years would have to be sacrificed for Philadelphia critic to say that the Eliza- the greater purposes of Grand May Day. In bethan crowd at Bryn Mawr was as leggy as 1945, three quarters of the students voted young colts'; and for the delightful old farmer who came all the way from Lancas- that Grand May Day was an "outdated Elizabethan festival" that should not be ter to drive his handsome, belted oxen in the pageant to exclaim as the procession continued. started, Never again will I allow my oxen to In the forty years between 1937 and see such a sight as this." 1977, Little May Days continued to be held. Plays, dances and costumes aside from the The nine biggest May Days, which traditional white were sporadic at best. The stretched from 1900 to 1936, were extrava- highlight of the festival during the fifties ganzas designed more with the public in appears to have been the hoop-racing. mind than with the students and in which "Grand May Day used to be so enormous the students were clearly actors rather than that there's no way we can make it as good performers. The commercial nature of the as it was," declared Traditions Mistress fete is reflected in a poem in the 1920 year- Skye Brainard in 1978. Brainard did, now- book "Little plays with tickets./Little cups ever, succeed in reinstituting the quadren- of tea,/Make a big endowment,/For the nial fete, retrieving the scripts for songs "Isn't it worth $7000 to come here and faculty" and entailed both ideological com- and plays from the College Archives, dig- meet Skye?" said President McPherson promises and a tremendous time commit- ging out what was left of the 600 costumes about Traditions Mistress Skye Brainard ment from the students. that used to be worn, and getting the Ritz '79, who revived Grand May Day. After M. Carey Thomas's departure, May Queens were selected by a campus-wide beauty pageant, in which those who desired to paraded before their peers and were voted upon by the undergraduate body. A College News editorial at the time makes it clear that "the public demands beauty" and the change seems to have occurred with little opposition. Photographs of the May Queens appeared in newspapers throughout the country. In regards to the 1932 May Queen, one newspaper reported, "But it is around the golden head of Miss Cornelia Drake that most of the day's festivities will center" and did not forget to note that the Queen's lineage descended from Sir Francis Drake nor the lineages of similarly well-bred par- ticipants in the festival. The tremendous amount of work which Grand May Days demanded is often forgot- ten in nostalgia over their scale. On a meeting to discuss the 1932 fete, the Col- lege News reported, "Everyone in question responded that they would defer any con- sideration, scholastic or otherwise, to the paramount interest of the fete." Virtually every member of the student body acted in a play or dance, performances which by April required four nights a week for rehearsal. In addition, students fashioned 25,000 paper flowers and addressed, "Never again will I allow my oxen to see such a sight as this! exclaimed one farmer who provided the white, curly horned oxen required stamped and stuffed 14,000 envelopes. for Grand May Days. PAGE 8D THE COLLEGE NEWS APRIL 28, 1984 Feminist periodicals provide information Student by Julie Herman advertisements, which show what is being they don't have pictures. Rape, incest, You don't have to go out of your way or published and who's doing it. A treasure equal pay, the sexual rights of minors, trove of information. women in the military, sexual harassment, honored spend a lot of money to gain exposure to Gay Community News is another boon pregnancy leave, birth control, women in feminist literature. There's a good deal of it by Beth Leibson to be found on the Bryn Mawr and Haver- to humankind, including lots of news you media depictions, and "the single mother ford campuses, if you know where to look. just won't find elsewhere. You can read it in as defendant" are some of the/topics Beth Springer '86 of New Orleans has The Bryn Mawr library lists the woman- the Haverford library, although judging by covered. The Rutgers journal provides case won the Lousiana State Harry S. Truman oriented periodicals it receives in a gray the pristine state the paper is usually in extracts and excerpts from important deci- Scholarship; Camilla Townsend '86 is an pamphlet entitled Women's Studies, which when I get to it, not many people here do. sions which are fascinating. alternate for New York State. These This is a pity, because the pages devoted to also provides information on other avail- Frontiers, Women's Studies Quarterly, scholarships are given to one sophomore extracts from national and local news- able material. Women's Studies International Forum, and student in each state in the country and up papers on the subject of political and social Here's a brief guide to some of the more Women's Studies address issues relating to to 52 scholars-at-large and are designed to attitudes, rape trials, and statistics are interesting periodicals. Now you can know various academic fields, and to the posi- enhance educational opportunities for invaluable in their scope. It gives the reader what you're looking for, rather than just tion of women in academia. Frontiers in- students interested in work in the govern- a synthesis of information which would be heading off to procrastinate in the period- cludes poetry, oral history, and non- ment. They involve payments of $500 for impossible to obtain oneself. Articles ical room with no idea of what to read. The traditional/non western approaches to four years: two on an undergraduate level range from liberation strategy to prison list is meant not to be exhaustive, but scholarship. International Fcmm, predict- and two for graduate school. reform to dynamics within relationships, introductory. ably, gives an even broader view of the Springer is an economics major in- and cover topics relating to all classes, world, with features on Brazilian women terested in using the money to working Signs is one of the grandmamas of femi- ages, races, and social situations. and the female image in Hinduism, and. towards a JD-MBA who intends a career in nist scholarship journals. Subtitled "Jour- Women—A Journal of Liberation is a closer to home, the problems of black public economics. As an alternate, Town- nal of Women in Culture and Society," it is Baltimore-based magazine which is rich, women professors in white universities. send, a women's studies major, receives published at the University of Chicago. sophisticated in content, but not slick in its Women's Studies recently put out an issue only commendation. Celebrities such as Nancy Chodorow, presentation. Its eclectic offerings include The Andrew Silk Journalism Internship Elaine Showalter, Elaine Marks, Nan focusing on anthropology, but generally a feminist analysis of the television show is awarded each year to one bi-college stu- Koehane, and Helene Cixous sit on its edi- covers aspects of literature, art history, psy- Gilligan's Island, references to Euripedes, chology, sociology, and political science as dent. Silk's father instituted the internship torial board, and the journal provides an Gertrude Stein, Monique Wittig, and Alice well. The Quarterly s most interesting offer- in memory of his son. a Haverford excellent sampling of current theory on Walker, articles on women in construction ing is, perhaps, its "program close-ups": graduate, who died of cancer. This year's subjects ranging from "Feminism and jobs and the military, and class privilege. articles on women's studies programs internship will take place at the Greenwich Science" to "The Sexual Politics of the New Most important are the wonderful biblio- throughout the country. Mawrtyrs inter- Time in Greenwich, Connecticut, a paper Right" to feminist literary criticism. The graphies it provides for seekers of further ested in such scholarship and changes on for which Andrew Silk worked. The intern BMC library has all back issues, and the information. our own campus may want to see how their chosen is Beth Leibson. Haverford Women's Center possesses a few Women's International Network News as well. The slant is exciting but definitely own ideas compare with programs imple- provides an international media watch on mented elsewhere. scholarly and directed to a university audi- women's issues. Published in Lexington. ence. Feminist Studies is similar to Signs in Massachusetts, it specializes in reprints of Finally, Off Our Backs and New Direc- quality and appeal. clippings from international newspapers tions for Women, published in Washington. Art history Women's Review of Books, published at dealing with Third World women, health D.C., and Englewood, NJ, respectively, are Wellesley, is also an intellectual publica- issues, the United Nations, and female good for current general news on women's (Continued from page 5) tion, featuring what's hot and current on genital mutilation. International relations issues, movie reviews, and so on. It's a pity the women's book scene. A newly founded and political science majors might be espe- the Haverford library has only current nation, as to be both unreal and legitimate monthly newspaper, it includes poetry and cially interested in this other side of the in- issues, as both papers have been around property, especially when someone is reviews—check lor the byline of Haverford ternational scene. for over a decade and back issues could already looking at her? In this situation you professor Ellen Rose on a piece about Dor- Women's Rights Law Reporter, published provide interesting reading. Perhaps they are safe, you are not violating anyone. ris Lessing's critics—and articles by promi- at Rutgers, and Women's Law Forum. will consider holding on to current issues Sfeep, while the positions of the two rent writers. Especially interesting are the Golden Gate University, are exciting even if for future reference. women are taken from a lithograph of the period, presents a very different scene. These are two real women, even to the ex- tent that the red head is immediately recognizable as Jo Heffernan. Whistlers Snoozer checks on lost lacrosse mistress. Their bodies, while very beautiful, are not idealized to the point of by Snoozer Archer Urtz, Janice Kamrin, Beth Ogilvie. Rachel actually supposed to perform this wrist ac- losing their individuality. Nor is there a The question facing me right now is how Baker. Maren Klawiter. Jenny Trimble. tion while running full tilt down a long field male already ogling these women sleeping to write an informative article about a sport Ann Hitchcock, Elizabeth Schmidt, Sally dodging your opponent who is trying to after making love. This painting cannot i've never seen played, without having Little, and Lanita Collette. ram her stick against yours to make the safely be approached as a piece of por ball drop out and who might also hit you in nography unless the viewer is comfortable spoken to the coach about the season, get- So far this year, the team has played ting my information from a player who the face. This is a foul, but though you are with his role as voyeur. The immediacy of eight games with a 3-5 record which is reimbursed by having a four meter circle the work still discomfits many people the could not even remember what teams they remarkably good since many of their op- beat. The only thing I knew about lacrosse around you vacated, you still have a tooth first time they see it, you are aware that you ponents are Division I and II schools. There loose. Mouth guards are usually worn. are the invader. The image demands that was that players wear bright yellow skirts wins include Cedar Crest, Montgomery and wave sticks in the air. This will be the Though the field is divided into three these two women be left in private. Their County, and Philadelphia Textile. At this sexuality belongs to them and not the first and last article for the Bryn Mawr Col- point of the article it is customary to have a sections, each having certain positions in lege News about the Bryn Mawr Lacrosse each part, the defense line (near your goal), viewer: it is this demand to be left alone few quotes from the coach but due to my that draws me to see this work as a positive team of the 1983-84 season so it will con- incredible procrastination and idyllic view midfield, and "homes" (near the vey my new found knowledge of the world opponent's goal), the players can go representation of lesbianism and women's of life I have no such remarks. Instead. I will sexual existence. of lacrosse and the success Bryn Mawr's give a little background information on a anywhere on the field. This increases the team enjoys. sport that I doubt many people know more chances of getting hit by either a flying Lacrosse is usually a very good sport for about than I. ball(the balls are thrown in the air as you Hockey players Bryn Mawr and one would think it was due run with the stick while simultaneously to it being a "Main Line" type, but, four of It is not easy to play lacrosse; it is a game cradling it.) a stick(friend's or foe's,) or so- the starting varsity players on this year's that requires strength, coordination, and meone's body(also going at high speeds.) needed team learned the game only last year. This finesse. (Most of us lack more than one of Body pads are not used in this game, only year the varsity squad, coached by Leigh these qualities.) A lacrosse stick for women as mentioned^earlier, bright yellow skirts For Women Faculty and Statt Admitting To The "35 and over" Category: If you have Donato, is headed by co-captains Libby does not have the big pocket that a man's and bright green shorts. Though this is no Mellow and Cornelia Keitzman, with the has so it is necessary to cradle the ball by easy sport, at least one looks good while ever played field hockey - no matter what your ability - would you be willing to take rest of the line-up consisting of Bernadette rocking the stick back-and-forth. You are playing it. The individual positions have such names as cover point, third man, and part in a re-creation of the game (costume and all) in the 1904-05 era? The game will second home, which makes one wonder who thought up this game. Being a good be short and will be a part of the Centennial Weekend on Saturday, October 20 around We're not just kidding around anymore!! Bryn Mawrtyr, I looked it up in the biggest 12 noon. There will be several meetings dictionary I could find and learned that the game was started by the North American and, of course, one practice for this event. Indians. Good trivia question. If I can possibly count on you, please send Even if you're not competing in The Bryn Mawr College Ironwoman me a note indicating your willingness, ad- Mini-Triathlon, why not cheer us on? Sunday, April 29,9 a.m. to noon, at Though it is too late for me to write an in- dressed to the Schwartz Gymnasium. Do the Bern Schwartz gym. Also, all last minute volunteers or bike lenders formative article about the Bryn Mawr share this plea with others. As you may should contact Claudia at x5743 or Alice at x6065. If you can't make LA Lacrosse Team, it is not too late for you to recall, we will need at least 22 persons. In addition to your name, would you send me in '84, then this is the one event you shouldn't miss! see this team in action, for their season continues into May and, in the true Bryn your campus address and phone number? Mawr tradition, it will probably be a winn- Thank you, and we should have great fun! ing one. Anne Delano, Schwartz Gym of