THE JOURNAL OF SUBSTANCE FOR PF VOL. XII $2.95

mm ISSUES

VOLUME XII

PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF Merle Hoffman

MANAGING EDITOR Beverly Lowy

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Phyllis Chesler

ASSISTANT EDITOR Karen Aisenberg

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Irene Davall Roberta Kalechofsky Flo Kennedy Nancy Lloyd

ART DIRECTORS Michael Dowdy Julia Gran

ADVERTISING AND SALES DIRECTOR Carolyn Handel

ON THE ISSUES: A feminist, humanist FEATURES ESSAYS publication dedicated to promoting political action through awareness and BETWEEN WOMEN: TALKING FEMINIST: education; working toward a global A Roundtable with Susie Orbach, Israeli and Palestinian political consciousness; fostering a spirit Luise Eichenbaum and Feminists Unite of collective responsibility for positive Merle Hoffman 7 by Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D. 13 social change; eradicating racism, sexism, ageism, speciesism; and support- ing the struggle of historically disenfran- THE DILEMMA OF OTHER MEN GENDER AND SCIENCE: chised groups powerless to protect and by John Stoltenberg A Review Essay on Evelyn Fox defend themselves. For antisexist males, the world of Keller and Her Work other men can be "a scary and by Roberta Kalechofsky 19 UNSOLICITED MANUSCRIPTS dangerous place" 10 All unsolicited material will be read by the editors. For return, enclose self-addressed, stamped envelope with SPECIAL FEATURES proper postage. Articles should be not less than 10 and THE PRESS IS THE ISSUE not more than 15 double spaced, typewritten pages on by Carl Jensen, Ph.D. women's health, social or political issues by people with Despite the quantity of "news" being ABORTION REGARDLESS OF hands on experience in their fields. Professional papers THE LAW: A Survey of 300 Women are accepted. All editing decisions are at the discretion mass produced, Americans are not of the editors. Feminist cartoons are also acceptable at CHOICES Women's Medical under the same provisions. being told all they have a ON THE ISSUES does not accept fiction or poetry. right to know 15 Center, Immediately Prior to Their Abortions 20 Advertising is accepted at the discretion of the AN OPEN LETTER TO DR. publisher. Acceptance does not necessarily imply THE HIDDEN SORORITY: endorsement. Lesbians Over 60 C. EVERETT KOOP from Irene Davall 21 by Dr. Monika Kehoe ON THE ISSUES is published as an informational and educational service of CHOICES Women's A frank discussion of the Medical Center, Inc. 97-77 Queens Boulevard previously neglected issues of aging DEPARTMENTS Forest Hills, NY 11374-3317 ISSN 089S-6014 and lesbianism 22 PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The opinions expressed by Merle Hoffman 1 contributors to our publication and by those we "NOT THE CHURCH..."Members of the interview are not necessarily those of the editors. NY Pro-Choice Coalition hold high the Win Some «Lose Some 4 ON THE ISSUES is traditionally a forum for ideas Proclamation (page 21) that was fasten- Choice Books and concepts and a place where women may have 25 their voices heard without fear of censure or cen- ed to the door of St. Patrick's in NYC. Feedback 35 sorship.

PHOTO: BETTYE LANE ness; abortion as a political football uncharted course full of morality, the- MERLE HOFFMAN between the executive and the legisla- ology, philosophy and politics, but no ON THE ISSUES tive branch; abortion as a religious experience in dealing directly with the It seemed to have happened quietly, issue; as a birth control problem, as a abortion patient herself. "What do I quickly, very subtly. It was there, population control necessity, back al- say to her?" "What will she say to me?" overshadowing everything else, de- ley stories revisited; abortion as the All the psych courses flooded in... manding immediate attention — issue that inspired thousands of ar- theories, theories and more theories. The funny part about it was that rests of members of "Operation Res- This woman was terrified. She was thing had always been there — always cue", abortion as the motivation for pregnant and did not want to be! In a reality, but hanging in the shadows 600,000 people marching on Washing- that, she was not alone. But here she — part of the generalized white noise ton. Abortion now acceptable for dis- was a pioneer. And I was to guide her of the collective unconsciousness; cussion to people who otherwise only way. 1971 and a brave new world for something you had to make a special whispered about it. A "Made-for-TV" women — I was to be her bridge — her effort to get in touch with. movie, pro-choice art exhibits, concerts, midwife into the realms of power and Until it wasn't — until it burst forth tee-shirts and poetry readings. A rush responsibility that are so much a part with a power, vengence and energy so on wire coat hangers. Yes, the heat was of the architectural foundations of the heightened and intense that everyone definitely on. abortion decision. But that understand- could not help but notice the change. Strangely enough, the thing had ing was to come later — much later, The thing had definitely taken on a never been an "issue" for me, having when abortion was an "issue". life of its own — What was once only occupied a more private, fundamental That day, 18 years ago, there was whispered about or discussed with and intimate space in my reality. A only that woman, her fear, her need, those intimately involved was now reality whose rites of passage and her pain, her strength, her vulnerabil- generalized cocktail party conversa- seasonal changes had signposts of their ity and her hand. The hand that I held tion, another political discussion point, own. Not for me calendars full of chil- tightly in mine, listening to her nerv- the static, the cacophony of voices, the dren's birthdays or friends' anniversa- ous staccato talking to help ease the media attention, the politics, the same ries. No, my markers were far more discomfort of the dilators — locking questions, the same answers — mul- personally political than that. her eyes in mine, breathing in rhythm tiple variations on a theme. It was 1971 (two years before Roe v. with her — becoming joined to the One day, there it was — as big as Wade) and New York was one of the point of personal discomfort. In the life— ABORTION — THE "ISSUE". few states with liberal abortion laws. I end, I do not remember a word of what Abortion the Issue was exploding, remember the first patient at passed between us. It was strangely and the fallout burned everything it CHOICES. In her early 20s and very, irrelevant. I do remember her face. touched. Nothing was exempt — all very nervous. She was from New Jer- And I remember her hand; the hand aspects of contemporary life and com- sey, alone, without her husband; there that became for me in that moment of munications; talk show topic, front page with a supportive friend whose face time, without my knowing, the guiding in all newspapers, discussed ad infini- betrayed a well of empathetic anxiety. force of my life...her hand, and the tum on Buckley, Downey, Phil and I remember myself. I was in graduate Oprah — there were more demonstra- school for psychology: young, intense, STORMING THE CATHEDRAL: Merle tions — new organizations, alliances involved with founding CHOICES Hoffman raises a giant coat hanger and coalitions forming — old ones because it seemed romantic. And I was during the massive demonstration and coming out of the closet — abortion as nervous. Very, very nervous. No one Civil Disobedience at St. Patrick's a political issue; abortion as a busi- had trained me; legal abortion was an Cathedral in April.

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII 1989 PHOTO: BETTYE LANE intimate, personal connection of one too late to deny it...too afraid to ask for women. Because of the collective pow- woman helping another, forging a help...maybe it'll go away... maybe if I erlessness and political vulnerability natural alliance with that woman and wish hard enough. of the "enemy", it was an easy victory all the thousands who have followed I remember this 14 year old, and too — an especially easy kill. her through my hands so that my many of the others like her. I remem- Hearing that news, I was filled with memories of my life before abortion are ber that when she went into the recov- an intense self- awareness, coupled of another age — another time — ery room I gave her a stuffed animal to with a strong feeling of fate. I instinc- another place — hold and seeing her clutch it in a jes- tively knew that my life was irrevoca- No, abortion was never an "issue" for ture of natural protection pondered on bly changed. me. I had in that moment made the tran- The countless stories, the reasons sition from the personal to the politi- agreed with or not—my judgments on cal, from the world of singular experi- their merits changing with the climate It is in the clinics ence to the broader, more demanding of the times and my own psychological and dangerous one of social and politi- evolution — the hours and hours of that a different cal activism. conversations counseling husbands, Soon afterwards as a student, I lovers, sisters — and mothers whose walked the halls of Queens College fury at their daughters' betrayal needed definition of love sounding a hollow alarm on many a more salve than I could give..."let her deaf ear; after all this "issue" did not go local—let her really feel the pain so gets played out- involve personal survival. "It won't she knows never to do it again"..The affect me, it won't effect any of the heads on my shoulder as I would sit on people that I know. Anyway, we can their beds, wiping tears of relief or abortion is often an always travel, go to Puerto Rico, Lon- regret or both, whispering comfort, don or somewhere — anywhere." giving absolution, directing rage, shar- act of personal So I slowly began to understand the ing life. profoundly pervasive nature of the false The pills that were too strong or too growth ... class and racial separations between weak, the diaphragms not re-fit be- and among women and how the sepa- cause the doctor said it was unneces- rations are used and abused by those sary — "I always give all my patients in power and those who would have I.U.D.'s, or Pills or Diaphragms", the how sex and abortion had irrevocably power — and how often, too often, they shame, anxiety — "go off the pill and altered the nature and reality of child- are abused by women themselves. use foam", the ignorance "I didn't have hood — of her childhood. It is 1982 after a televised debate on an orgasm — how could I be preg- And so it comes to me that one may the "issue" with Roland Smith moder- nant?" — so that I came to define a new view abortion ultimately as a "choice of ating —I have just finished taping and medical reality "iatrogenic pregnancy". victims". coming out of the studio. I call my office To me, physicians as surrogate fathers Back in the operating room there is and find out that my pregnancy test is had a far more direct meaning for many another teenager — her feet are re- positive. Later I make arrangements of these women. moved from the stirrups...her small for an abortion. My diary entry the The love that was shared and taken hand still clutches mine. And I feel night before reads "For one night I am back to give again and again and again rage...rage against the male who im- a mother"... so that the words "burn-out" seemed a pregnated this child — her father, No,abortion was never an "issue" for popular psych fad and self-indulgent brother, some young boy with no me... luxury. thought for the consequences? This In 1985 the temperature rose sud- The first time I witnessed a second child woman has been duly "punished" denly. Not being able to effect any trimester abortion on a 14-year-old girl for her part of the sex act, for her substantial legislative or judicial rul- and wrote, "Now the 'abortion issue' innocence, but for him there will be no ings in favor of restricting abortion, a comes home to me and censure...there never was — never is. new form of terrorism was born out of CHOICES...hard. It's not just 'blood Perhaps she came back again — next the frustration of the anti-choice move- and tissue' anymore." The results of year or the year after — didn't know? ment. That year alone saw approxi- choice are not diffused and amorphous, didn't learn? didn't care? mately 40 violent attacks against abor- but observable and definable. Time for No, abortion was never an "issue" for tion clinics and family planning pro- evaluation and deeper commitment... me. viders. The guerrilla and street tactics The teenager whose hand I held — I remember it distinctly — the point included arson, bombing, death threats eyes terrified, wide with innocence and in time when I became political: it was against physicians and clinic staffs, fear. How often have I stood beside her summer, 1976, and Republican Con- dynamite, gunshots, vandalism, har- and thousands of her sisters.. .my hand gressman Henry Hyde had succeeded assment of patients and direct violence wet with sweat, my rings in the pocket in passing legislation that would effec- against women attempting to enter of my lab coat, murmuring words, tively remove the right of abortion for abortion clinics. trying to give wordless comfort, protec- poor women on Medicaid 1985 was the beginning of my entry tion, as they lie so vulnerably with "If we can't save them all, we can at into the Surreal World of the politics of their legs in the ritualistic spread least save some," said Hyde, referring abortion violence, terrorism and con- position of the gynecological table. to the pregnancies of the Black, His- stant anxiety so that all other "issues" Coming to CHOICES...barely more panic and all the politically and so- seemed mere diversions. Something than babies themselves...babies hav- cially disenfranchised — these women that living with day to day, year to year ing babies. Most second trimester and their unwanted pregnancies were had become just "part of the territory" abortions are teenagers...innocent... Hyde's first strategic target — the — an integral part of living with the won't believe they're pregnant till it's opening salvo in his war against reality of abortion. So that January

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 22nd (the anniversary of Roe v. Wade) I listened. "It was such a difficult choice viewed and conditioned to be depend- began to take on comparable and at for me to make. The mother in me ent creatures, victims of biological cir- times more significance than March wanted so much to have it, to love it, to cumstance and passive, the extraordi- 6th (my own birthday). see it grow...The other part knew that nary power that women take on during January 22,1985, a pro-choice march it was impossible." the process of the abortion is an un- and rally with members of NARAL The "Other Part"? In a very profound comfortable and awkward mantle for down Fifth Avenue to the Right to Life sense, the truth is that Abortion, the many. Headquarters on 34th Street. My first act of choosing whether or not to have This is why there are organizations experience with a soap box, the incred- a child, is and of itself, a mother's act. like WEBA (Women Exploited By ible thrill and rush of battle, the knowl- Abortion) and American Victims of edge that this was part of my destiny Abortion dedicated to reinforcing and —the small band of pro-choicers — the propagandizing the view that women many who were afraid to come out.. .the ...my memories are not responsible for their actions sense of danger, of risk. and decisions, that they are in effect January 22, 1987, standing in four of my life before acted upon rather than those who feet of snow in what was reported as act.. .Their philosophy is congruent with the worst blizzard in 10 years, testify- George Bush's assertion that women ing for abortion rights in blinding abortion are of are the "second victims" of abortion. snow...a woman in a wheelchair... Not willing to view women as full moral women holding abortion rights posters another age — and spiritual agents, those who oppose buffeted by the winds...deciding not to legalized abortion would not hold take an invitation to go indoors. another time — women morally or criminally account- And the next day reading only about able for having them if, in fact, abor- how people braved the snow storm to tion was recriminalized. wait for a bus... nothing about the battle another place — WEBA and AVA are women-centered and the brave warriors...only a men- organizations that have incorporated tion of an anti-choice rally in this minimal secondary view of women Washington...it was obviously the Abortion is so often an act of love, love and place all moral responsibility on wrong season for the Main Stream for oneself, one's family, for the chil- the "system", usually centralized in press. dren one has. the "providers", the abortion clinics The continual threats, the debates, An act of love and survival. It was for and physicians. Not only are women to being called a murderess and Hitler on the 1986 anniversary of Roe v. Wade be second-class victims not to be crimi- national TV ("No, Reverend Falwell, I that I gave a sermon at the First Uni- nally prosecuted — they now have will not feel guilty when I stand before tarian Church in Brooklyn—"Women, achieved the moral status of children my maker with the blood of thousands Love and the Power of Choice". I sub- and, just like children, they cannot be of babies on my hands—when I stand sequently learned that it was Ralph held accountable for their actions — before Her, I'll feel proud") — the ral- Waldo Emerson who gave the first As if life owed you because you were lies, the meetings, the marches, the sermon in the Church's history. I al- female — owed you not equal partici- media, the endless, endless women and ways wondered what he would have pation in the society, but a credit card their stories. thought about an anonymous letter to a perpetual state of childhood and And now, as if waking from a dream that I read to the congregation. dependence where only daddy, the of a cool, dark evening into the glaring "I think the thing I will always re- government and the doctors would be light of morning, the society is now member most was walking up three held accountable. As if women did not ready to debate openly, vigorously the flights of dark stairs and down that know and understand that an eight- pros and cons — the realities or so- pitchy corridor. More than the incred- week fetus has a heart beat, as if they called realities, of the abortion "issue" ible filth of the place. More than the never see the sonogram pictures...and — But before that, there were the indescribable pain. More than the still decide to abort... As if the right to women, the women and the lessons hemorrhaging and the hospitalization choose means that it is a good or a they taught me... that followed. More than the gut-twist- positive choice for each woman. As if Lessons about power, love and sur- ing fear of being found out and being having the right to choose gives you vival. locked away for 20 years. More than the inalienable right to make the right I remember a lecture I was giving at those things, those pitchy stairs and choice. As if after an abortion you will The University of Massachusetts at that dark hallway stay with me and never feel guilty or strange or sad or Amherst. A young woman was in the chill my blood still. ambivalent or confused or gratified or room. She listened to me intently and Because I saw in that darkness the relieved or enraged or all of the above at the end of the session she began to clear and distinct possibility that at and more... As if women did not have speak hesitantly and tentatively. The the age of 23 I might very well be the right to sometimes make the wrong story she told was not unique. "I never taking the last walk of my life, and that choices. told anyone this before but I had an I might never see my two children, my Abortion the issue has a multiplicity abortion. I was 19 years old when I husband or anything else of this world." of colours and intricacies and ques- found myself pregnant, living in a small Yes. Abortion is an act of love, sur- tions and philosophical positions — Catholic town; no one knew, not my vival and POWER. In the politics of the abortion the reality is pure radicalism parents, not my lover and certainly not abortion "issue", and the reality of in the classical sense—as defined as to my priest." Alone, all alone she made women's lives, this business of power go to the "root cause of. Some of these an appointment at the nearest abor- and responsibility is a watershed for roots include the reality that abortion tion clinic. She had1 to walk for 10 miles many because it directly conflicts with is intimately attached to sexuality — to get back to her house. Alone, afraid the all-powerful and pervasive images but no longer pregnant. She spoke and of WOMAN AS VICTIM. Historically continued on page 30

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 WINSOME • LOSE SOME A Compiled Adaptation of News Items with Editorial Commentary by Beuerly Lowy

ances to women who have had had three abortions, the not like she had them with a had abortions, claiming that official told her there was a Russian spy." they are untrustworthy and "99.99 percent" chance she After protests from likely targets for "commu- would not receive a top-level women's groups and her nist" blackmail. In May, in- clearance; without it, family, Flitcroft was allowed telligence officers at Lack- Flitcroft was barred from a to leave the air force and land Air Force Base in San job as linguistics specialist, return home. An informal Antonio, Texas denied clear- the only position she sought. congressional investigation ances to two women because Flitcroft had quit school, is underway. of their abortion histories. given away nearly all her Said Dolores Schroeder, chief belongings and moved away It sounds as if "Have you ABORTIONEES of media relations at Lack- from family and friends, ever had an abortion?" has UNDERMINE U.S. land, the officers were enticed by the offer of replaced "Have you ever been SECURITY? "merely reiterating air force $10,800 toward her educa- a member of the Communist According to apiece by John policy". tion. Said Flitcroft's mother, Party?" as the Number 1 Franklin in the Village However, Christine "It's not nice that a young harassment question. Excuse Voice: The U.S. Air Force Flitcroft is fighting back. girl has had three abortions, us, but we thought that abor- has been systematically de- Because she told an air force but she is not threatening tion is a woman's legal right nying top security clear- intelligence official that she the U.S.A. because of it. It's in this country!

NO JUSTICE FOR The little girl was found the RAPED CHILD next day, wandering alone Piece from Ann Landers' on the highway and bleed- syndicated column: Because ing profusely. She had to un- a four-year-old rape victim dergo seven hours of recon- in Decatur, GA froze when structive surgery. a male defense attorney Said her grandmother: asked her questions, the 46- "There should be some way year-old man charged with other than to let someone raping her was allowed to who committed a crime like leave court free. The child is this go free. A whole case now (understandably) ter- should not rest on the testi- rified of men. mony of a four-year-old." The little girl identified the attacker out of a photo Surely there must have been lineup ID, but the state some evidence in this day of couldn't use the lineup ID DNA "fingerprinting"; and as evidence unless she could why couldn't the child have be cross-examined by the been questioned through defense attorney. closed-circuit TV? One The attacker was accused wonders about the efficiency of abducting the child from of the district attorney's of- her mother's car and attack- fice when a man like this is ing her while her mother freed to be able to rape other was in an auto repair shop. innocent children.

O SEEING THE LIGHT More than 200 firms already From April 23 through May 9, have abandoned animal tests stockholders in eight corpo- in favor of human skin patch rations voted to secure ac- and in-vitro test methods. countability for the deaths of (Reported by Sheila Anne the 14 million animals killed Feeney in the New York Daily And special applause for each year in tests designed News.) SHEDDING FUR actress Brooke Shields. The to measure product safety. OFor their sponsorship of From the New York Daily devoutly vegetarian Shields Shareholders in Avon, the Roe v. Wade TV drama, News "Apple Sauce" column: has consistently turned American Home Products, special applause to General Oscar De La Renta and down offers to pose for Armour Dial, Bristol-Meyers Foods.the only major Carolina Herrera have Blackglama fur coats. (Clairol), Colgate, Gillette, corporate sponsor to hang joined Bill Blass in drop- Johnson & Johnson, and tough despite a threatened ping their fur lines. In De- And as more designers and Schering Plough (May- anti-choice boycott; and to cember, '88, Herrera decided stars join the ranks, perhaps belline) voted for the right to Murphy-Phoenix, Mennen, not to renew her six-year people will come to realize know about the firms' test Air Wick, X-14 Tile Cleaner licensing agreement with that there is nothing glam- methods and death stats. and English Leather Cologne. fur-maker Revillon which ourous in wearing a mur- ended March 1 of this year. dered animal on your back.

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII 1989 A DOG'S BEST continues to mount, not to FRIEND mention a number of cats, a Reported in the New York couple of pigeons and a rac- Times: Rick Caron is a dog- coon. The shelter was as- catcher in Central Maine sisted by a $5,000 check from whose work called for him to designer Bill Blass, which round up stray dogs, feed Mr. Caron says is "enough to them for eight days and then, buy us food for a year". if nobody wanted them, to Although he earns very kill them. But Rick Caron is little as an animal control an unusual breed of dog- officer, Mr. Caron and his catcher: he fell in love with wife are content. the strays he rounded up "I like the animals," he and was unable to kill them. says. "They're better than Mr. Caron and his wife some people; they don't take used their savings to build advantage of you. A lot of an animal shelter and he people are very cruel." works two other jobs to help pay for the enormous And the animals caught by amount of dog food con- Mr. Caron are lucky to be in sumed. The dog population what is indeed a tender trap.

ARE DIVORCED the windows of her compan- Parrillo's request barring "glad to see there's some old- MOTHERS ion's automobile. He also cut Ms. Parrillo from having any fashioned morals in the ALLOWED SEX? the amount of money he was men stay overnight with the court." Article from the New York giving Ms. Parrillo for gro- children present. Times: The Rhode Island ceries because he said he In upholding Judge Gold- Old-fashioned morals'? It State Supreme Court has didn't want to support an- berg, Justice Thomas F. sounds more like old-fash- upheld a 1986 order by other man. Ms. Parrillo Kelleher said in the 4 to 0 ioned patriarchy where Mr. Judge William Goldberg of asked Judge Goldberg to cite ruling, "We see no great Parrillo continues to exercise the Family Court prohibit- her ex-husband for contempt constitutional issue in this control even after he has a ing a divorced woman from in cutting back his pay- controversy." Mr. Parrillo, new wife. Apparently, di- having an unrelated man ments. The judge refused who married for the third vorced women have no con- stay overnight with her in and instead granted Mr. time last year, said he was stitutional rights to privacy. her home when her children are present. The order said that if the woman, Carla J. Parrillo, violated the decree, she risked being found guilty of a misdemeanor, jailed for a year and fined $500. Judge Goldberg said it was clear that Ms. Parrillo was taking good care of her chil- dren, whose ages are now 15, 13 and 10. But he said "the court must infer" that her companion's staying with them overnight "is not conducive to the welfare of the children", at least psy- chologically. A few months after their divorce in May, 1986, Justin Parrillo went to his former wife's home and smashed

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 CHILD ABUSE cocaine in the womb. The BEFORE IT'S A mother's attorney, Alberto CHILD? F. Altamore, said the Illi- An AP News Dispatch: In nois Juvenile Court Act de- Rockford, Illinois, a woman fined only the neglect of who was found to have used minors, not "the issue of cocaine during her preg- fetus abuse". He also argued nancy was convicted by a that a verdict against his Juvenile Court judge of pre- client could open the door to natal child abuse and ne- the filing of child-abuse and glect. Judge Frederick J. neglect charges against Kapala placed the child, pregnant women who drink born in January, in the care alcohol or smoke. of social workers pending a Thejudge's rational for tak- hearing to determine ing a stand for fetus rights whether custody should in the absence of any health eventually be restored to the problems in the child was: mother, who has been par- "It's the same as if a mother ticipating in a drug treat- gave a child a pack of razor ment program. No criminal blades to play with in the charges are pending against crib. The child might drop the mother. the blades out of the crib and Paul Logli, Winnebago not get hurt, but the expo- County State's Attorney, sure to danger is the same." said he was considering a policy of filing criminal One small step for fetal rights and that 24 percent of the charges against women — one gaint step toward de- THE MEDIA AND ITS photographs included whose babies die of cocaine nying women abortion MESSAGE women — usually pictured addiction. In this case, how- rights. And where will it end? A Special to the New York in groups and generally with ever, the baby had devel- Will women be put on trial Times by Susan Rasky: Ac- spouses or children. Only 11 oped no signs of addiction or for taking prescribed medi- cording to a University of percent of individuals any other serious health cation? an aspirin? jogging? Missouri Study funded by quoted in front page stories problems associated with The possibilities are infinite. the Gannett Foundation, were women. women hold only six percent The researchers ranked the of the top management jobs newspapers from "best" to separate, which would en- in the news media, 25 per- "worst". "Best" was USA To- able Ms. Arsenau and the cent of mid-management day with 41 percent of its children to meet the hous- jobs, but 57 percent of entry- bylines female, 41 percent of ing authority's regulations. level jobs. It attributed the its photos including women "Under our policy, boy- large number of women in and 21 percent of the indi- friends are not allowed, and entry-level jobs to a 12-year viduals quoted being they are not part of the trend in which women have women. TheHouston Chron- family," said Ernest Lafond, outnumbered men in jour- icle and The Atlanta the housing authority's ex- nalism schools. Women now Constitution tied for second ecutive director. The couple represent two-thirds of the best. At the bottom of the have lived together six years. nation's journalism stu- list is The New York Times UNMARRIED — Said Judge Lagueux, "Here dents. The report concluded where female bylines aver- WITH CHILDREN is a couple in an illicit rela- that women faced biases in aged 16 percent, and only An AP news dispatch: An tionship who are creating salaries and promotions and five percent of people quoted unwed couple expecting children for the welfare segregated into dead-end in front-page stories were their third child was refused rolls...Wouldn't the court jobs, where they function as women. emergency shelter by the look silly asking the author- support staff rather than CBS led in TV news cover- housing authority of Woon- ity to foster these people and decision makers. age by women in a Febru- socket, RI after they were allow them to continue an Separate studies found a ary, 1989 study by the same forced to vacate their rented illegal relationship?" paucity of media coverage consortium: women reported apartment because of safety "I have to tell my kids that about and by women. The 22.2 percent of the stories hazards. Their request to this is not their father be- findings were based in part that month. overturn the agency's ban cause we're not married?" on a March, 1989 survey of on housing unmarried Ms. Arsenau asked. front pages of 10 major Congratulations and orchids couples was blocked by judge American newspapers, con- to USA Today; a bouquet of Ronald R. Lagueux of the It seems to us that a six-year ducted by Communications ragweed to The New York Federal District Court. The monogamous relationship Consortium, a Washington- Times. But what can one judge said that they "are cre- that has produced three chil- based consulting firm. The expect from a paper that ating children for the wel- dren would make Dana survey showed that only 27 wouldn't use the word "Ms." fare rolls" and also suggested Dagnese a bit more than a percent of the front page until the second half of the that the couple, Dana Dag- "boyfriend" and certainly bylines belonged to women 1980s? nese and Susan Arsenau, "part of the family"! ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 WOMEN & FRIENDSHIP A Roundtable with Susie Orbach, Luise Eichenbaum and Merle Hoffman

MH. Do you consider your work in ana- amount personally and also politicized lyzing women's friendships as break- women's relationships with one an- ing psychological theoretical ground? other. However, what we are seeing SO .That's a good question. It's been an now (and it concerns me) is that in the interest of ours for a very long time '80s there's been a return to the more because there has been so little atten- privatized sense of "I'm the only tion paid to the actual psychodynamics woman who's feeling these feelings" or of women's relationships. Indeed, if "I dare not talk about this even with there had been attention paid, they my best friend particularly if I'm a would have been pathologized. feminist because as a feminist I Women's friendships have not been shouldn't feel envy towards a friend or analyzed by feminists from a pre-Oedi- a co-worker" and so on. Therefore I pal perspective, nor have they been believe that, to a degree, we've turned looked at in terms of what progressive once again to the more personal rather than the political. or important functions they serve. MH.But isn't this the basis for a great There is a big hush-up about the diffi- deal of women's insecurity...that feel- culties that exist in women's friend- ing that if there's a problem or there's ships and because there is such a po- an inadequacy that it's apersonal in- litical taboo, we were very scared to adequacy? Women don't relate their write this book for quite a long time. Luise Eichenbaum (left) and Susie Orbach struggle to the collective political struc- Some people feel the Women's Move- ture. It's a very common theme. ment is so weak that we can't discuss LE. I think they are both. Certainly the SO. We want to re-politicize women in our difficulties among ourselves. We, women of the '50s and '60s relied on the way the early '70s allowed our on the other hand, feel that it is very, one another personally for their emo- relationships to bring us all out of our very important to expose these issues tional re-charging and fixes. Women isolation. Those relationships allowed so that women can deal with them, and often didn't feel they could really ex- all the millions of women who were that the Movement is quite strong pect emotional support from their feminists to be in the positions we're in enough to handle it. Our [women's] husbands. They anticipated that other today. But now those relationships are psychology is structured in one par- women would fill that need. For our being re-privatized. ticular way, which means that we are generation of women, the Women's LE. And just as it was politicizing and bound to have ambivalent relation- Movement changed those expectations empowering then to say there were ships with women; to have tremen- from a purely personal position to a social reasons for feeling the way you dous desire for connection and wishes political one. We realized that the do, we are also saying that there are for approval but, because of our own similarities we shared meant that new currently realistic social and political internalized misogyny that's projected strengths came from the social world reasons about very real issues in onto other women, it becomes a very that reflected back to the personal level. women's lives that are producing a complicated situation. Knowing that we weren't isolated in new wave of feelings. This is not to say MH.Are women's relationships basi- our feelings, that we weren't alone in that women didn't feel competitive and cally personal? Should they be politi- powerlessness, gave us a tremendous envious before, but the areas in which cal? ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 PHOTO: ©JERRY BAUER they experienced those feelings were U.K. talking to people who are inter- different. Some people ested in psychotherapy, what's abso- MH. For instance, those areas had a lot lutely fascinating is that women seem to do with men? to be looking for political leadership. LE. About competing for the man or feel the Women's They ask political questions of me as a envious about which man you had, psychotherapist. I used to be very about how much money you had, about confused about it because I thought it what types of clothes you had; it was all Movement is so wasn't my place, but now I understand about appearance. That was the sphere there is a vacuum out there and that within which women were allowed to weak that we even though one isn't a representative exist. Now that sphere has grown and of a movement, one is speaking for a lot with that growth there are inevitable of women who don't have a voice in a feelings of competition and envy. But, can't discuss our political sense. Women may now have just as in the earlier days of the more visibility in the workplace but Women's Movement we had to talk find they don't have a movement that about feelings with one other in order difficulties among is visible, so they allow any public to move forward, we think today there woman acceptable to them to articu- are new sets of feelings that women late political positions. need to talk about. ourselves. MH. In your book, you talk about the SO. Many of us are in the workplace, Women's Movement as a "mother fig- which is not an environment of our a "victim" mentality. You get victim- ure" and why it is so difficult for women own making, so a lot of women are ized (raped, battered, etc.) and there to define themselves as feminists. Why finding themselves involved in creat- are discussion and support groups. Not can't women accept one definition of ing a self image that's quite at odds ; to minimize the need for individual feminism that they all can politically with the classical aspects of sisterhood. support, it does in a sense reinforce a relate to? Do women see the Movement As a result,there are many terrible in- reality that says that people (women) or "mother" as rejecting them? ternal struggles—women are battling really can't change the system so let's SO. Perhaps there is a psychological individually with each other, with cor- just continue to placate ourselves and aspect of not wanting to be merged, not porations, publishing houses, etc. deal with the fallout of the problem. wanting to be too contaminated by MH. But aren't we also talking about SO. We need both. I mean, I wouldn't other women. 'definitions of power and how women doubt for a moment that if I was in LE. I also believe there is a reactionary deal with that? I personally find that in trouble I could call up Luise and get attempt to depict the Movement as es- politics (particularly in radical poli- support. Yes, I want her to commiser- tablishment, to incorporate it into the tics) women have difficulty respecting, ate with me, but I also want somebody existing structure. supporting and following their lead- else as well to know my strengths that MH. The New York Times said the ers. I am not in touch with at that particu- Movement is dead, so it's dead, isn't it? SO. One of the things that we've been lar moment. I think this whole thing of LE. TheiVew York Times said it's over discussing in England is the fact that colluding with victimization is a real and this is the "post-feminist era." I there is continual rubbishing [trash- disservice which women certainly do think that women fighting for jobs is a ing] of leadership. At one point in the not need at this moment in our history. dialectical process. I mean, we did fight history of the Women's Movement Our mothers needed it, we don't. for the jobs and to be in positions of there was a kind of tyranny of "non- LE. The leadership question is inter- power and, to some extent, we won. leadership". At the time, it was in- esting. Who are, where are, the leaders But there is something about the credibly important in helping women today? combination of being incredibly caught develop themselves without feeling MH. We have some establishment lead- up at work, and women feeling like they have this Big Mummy who is ers, some media-created leaders, but men; caught up with work and trying looking after them. But we have more leadership should come from the to negotiate having families and kids. reached a point where this type of grassroots, from the bottom up. Something has happened here which leadership is very destructive to LE. And because there aren't really makes me feel once again, more privat- women. It's really holding them back: very many visible leaders in the ized, more isolated, more under stress. we all have to be stuck in the same Women's Movement, it leads some Who can find the energy to go to politi- place, at the same time, we must not be women to assume that the Women's cal meetings? Personally, I joined a different, we must not think differ- Movement is not around. So, these are women's group started by a group of ently, we must not have different de- very important questions. Is it in fact therapists two years ago and I adore it. sires. I believe that the Black Move- because we envy the success or the We were originally going to discuss the ment is much more sophisticated. They visibility of other women that we don't pressures of work and what it meant to understood if Mohammed Ali could push certain women forward from the be women therapists, but that lasted make it, then they could all make it. group to be spokeswomen for the about two meetings. It turned into a Whereas, we in the Women's Move- Movement? Do we all now feel that "we real old fashioned "women's group", ment have been used to constricting can make it this far and then no fur- but of the '80s, where we talk about a ourselves and looking to other women ther" and that we should all "stay in lot of different issues, some of it very to hold us down. That's what all the our new place" which may be only a few personal, but always with a terrific commiseration is about in those coffee steps up but let's sort of keep it there amount of political consciousness. I klatches, it's about not changing the and dare not go any further? treasure those meetings now. It feels status quo. SO. Luise and I are psychotherapists to me like a piece of the Women's MH. Can we extrapolate that to refer to and as psychotherapists we are not Movement that I hadn't had for about the psychology behind support groups? necessarily very political. But when 10 years except in my personal rela- There is an entire structure to support we go around the world or around the tionships with other women who are

8 ON THE ISSUES VOL XII 1989 feminists. But, if I had to think of a ing psychology and altered child-rear- topic for which I would really extend There is a ing practices are absolutely critical. myself to go out on an evening, I don't It's interesting that we didn't do that know if I could come up with one. at all in this book. So when you say SO.I am a member of a political group psychological "how do we want to change women's and I believe the political climate in psychology..." England is different. If you don't par- aspect of SO. We want to change women's psy- ticipate in some political activity, you chology but I don't think we want to don't feel you are a public citizen. threaten babies. MH. In a sense, I see a kind of double not wanting to MH. You want to stop these "merged at- bind here. All the psychologizing, the tachments" because they don't buy internal discussions, dialogues and freedom and autonomy. How do you dialectic leads you away from political be merged, not get to that level? action, and even though you are talk- SO. I think you do it by being in friend- ing about the system, you end up con- ships that actually give you something tinually looking at yourself. That's a wanting to be too so that you can fill up some of the holes, big problem. some of the missing pieces, some of the SO. Perhaps that's why our work is ap- stuff that you didn't get in the mother/ preciated in England and Europe where contaminated by daughter relationship. I don't think there is much more of a political mind you only have to get that in therapy but set. People understand that it is O.K. other women. you can support your friends in their as psychotherapists to talk about the own development. political reality; that we are all socially MH. Why is there what is sometimes constructed and solutions have to be giving, with not feeling you have an called a "natural wound" in the mother/ social. They understand that they identity unless you are attached, with daughter relationship? cannot simply be individual. feeling that we must be all exactly the SO. Because of the mother's own bad LE. One of the things that we try to same. Those are the kind of issues that feelings about herself, because of the look at in Between Women is the work feminists aren't really prepared to talk psychological cost of her own oppres- place and talk about the ways in which about so that within feminism there is sion, because of the fact that she doesn't we seem to be at a dangerous point. We always this tension. To be a nice girl, to have somebody who's emotionally re- [women] didn't fight so that we could be a good girl... lating to her (her husband usually become men in the workplace and we LE. Amongst feminist groups this trans- isn't). Because she has been brought didn't fight so that we could be divided lates into "let's not debate this, let's not up to give and not to receive. Because and competitive in the workplace. What discuss these differences because that's she looks at her daughter as somebody we are trying to say is, let's look at anti-feminist." This doesn't allow who is going to have the same life and what the competition really is about women to differentiate. It doesn't al- she has to prepare her for that life. and ask whether there aren't some low women to have separate voices. MH. Isn't there competition involved new ways women can bring certain Then they take it to the larger political also? An underlying anxiety that the demands into the workplace so that level, as if the Women's Movement daughter may repudiate her by having the structure can be much more sup- can't be strong enough to be able to more, achieving more? portive of women. sustain differences and voice those dif- SO. Be like me, don't be like me. I think MH. This very important because, not ferences. the mother/daughter relationship is only doesn't the workplace support MH. This is the problem the Movement very, very difficult for mothers who women, it doesn't support sensitive, has in incorporating Blacks, Hispanics themselves are daughters. It's not intimate, close relationships. It sup- and other minorities. The difficulties appropriate to blame mothers at all. ports alienation, conflict and competi- of class, culture and, ultimately of dif- MH. Right, we're all daughters. How do tion both with women and men. ference. you begin to have a positive self-im- SO. It relies on women's labor to make SO. It was not meant to be a melting age? I think that's what underlies a lot things run smoothly but not on female pot, it was meant to be homogenized. of these problems. The desire to merge sensibility. MH. And it is. It's white, middle class is almost like a "misery loves com- MH. So let's have a national general and elitist. pany" kind of thing. How do you begin strike as they did in Finland and see SO. It's very interesting traveling if you can't do it in childhood? what happens. But that level of politi- around the country. I'm not meeting LE. I think we did begin in the Women's cal collective action is not going to go Blacks, I'm meeting women in posi- Movement. We talk about the Women's down. tions that I didn't meet 10 years ago. Movement as the mother who in some SO. I think the problem within the The Black guys are Black, the women way was able to give us a positive feminist community is the reality which are White. They're very White, and strength in ourselves. We said it repro- drives feminists into the marketplace they've stepped into men's shoes. duces it (the mother/daughter rela- but then can't accept the cost of some of MH. What do you want to do with tionship) in both ways. There is also the feminist sensibilities. women's psychology? Do you want to the restraining aspect of it, but I think MH. Define what you consider feminist change gender conditioning? that the Women's Movement helped us sensibility. LE. This is our third book dealing with to break free, to be able to really love SO.The capacity to be compassionate, understanding women and what other women,love appreciate and sup- to be alert to what other people are women want. We ended both earlier port our friends. I think the kinds of needing, to be attached. books on the fact that all the things things I got from Susie, from my dear MH. Is this endemic to women? we've talked about are not going to women friends earlier on, meant that I SO.I think there are tremendously change in one generation; it's going to problematic issues with compulsive take at least three generations. Chang- continued on page 31

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII 1989 9 ome of us are the other men ideas of radical feminism, those ideas suspect an antisexist consciousness that some of us are very seemed to put that trouble to rest. actually makes the conflict more acute. wary of. Some of us are the Radical feminism helped me imagine a Such a man perceives even more clearly other men that some of us gender-just future, the possibility that in other men the behaviors and atti- don't trust. Yet some of us men need not be brutish and loutish, or tudes that he rejects, and he under- are the other men that some women cutesy and coy; and it was a stands more about what those behav- of us want to be close to and vision that totally energized me. It iors and attitudes mean. In a sense hang out with. Some of us helped me view the whole male-su- they are the behaviors and attitudes in are the other men that some premacist structure of gender as but a himself that he wants to be rid of, and of us long to embrace. social construction, not as a final judg- somehow other men can remind him of For any men truly trying ment on anyone's nature. Radical the parts of himself that have not to live an antisexist life, the dilemma feminism helped me honor in myself changed very much at all. Whereas he of other men can be a daunting ob- the differences that I felt between briefly felt good about being different S myself and other men. I believe that from other men, a part of him no longer stacle to meaningful personal change. In the world of other men, we wear al- for many men who have become an- feels quite different enough. So his legiance to male power like a suit of tisexists over the past several years, anger at other men intensifies, as a armor - because we need to for safety, their antisexism has had meaning to means of keeping clear to himself that because we understand there is some- them for similar reasons. In various he's an exception. Meanwhile he misses thing about other men that we damn ways, feminism has blown like a gust the company of other men — their ease, well better protect ourselves from. All of fresh air through a lifetime spent their companionship, the good feelings our loyalty to masculinity notwith- agonizing and anguishing about the he remembers having had in their standing, we are sized up by other men place of other men in our lives. For presence. and judged by other men and some- a few of us, feminism has helped us For many men, the issue of other men times threatened by other men. The breathe a bit easier. is a classic conflict of approach and world of other men can be, we know, a But it would be a mistake to suggest avoidance. For a man whose life has scary and dangerous place. that a man's antisexism puts to rest increasingly to do with antisexism, the What the Dilemma Is his ambivalence toward other men. I conflict cuts to the bone. He struggles Looking back now over the last decade with what it means to be a man - and and a half, I realize that one of the John Stoltenberg is author of Refusing whether he feels ashamed or proud. reasons I came to care so deeply about to Be a Man: Essays on Sex and Many of us have lost close male friends radical feminism was because it seemed Justice. Adapted by the author for ON over our antisexist politics - for the to resolve for me a certain troubled- THE ISSUES, from Refusing to Be a simple and terribly complex reason ness I felt in relation to other men. I'd Man: Essays on Sex and Justice, that we just could not abide a friend's always felt irremediably different: even copyrighted (c) 1989 by John Stolten- sexism anymore. There seem to be two when no one else noticed, I knew; I berg. Published May, 1989 by Bre- untenable options: affiliation and as- knew I didn't measure up, didn't fit in. itenbush Books, PO Box 82157; Port- similation with men, just falling in When I first came in contact with the land, Oregon 97282. with men on men's terms; or separa-

10 PHOTO: JOHN GOETZ ON THE ISSUES VOL XII 1989 tion and estrangement, self-defined iso- and-submission model of sex, some few want male friends who respect our lation. No wonder so many of us are men have come to see, is the dark heart women friends. We want male friends drawn to a notion of a brotherhood that of dominance and submission in the with whom we don't have to censor out is oblivious to women - a brotherhood world. And what have these men done our political commitments in order to that would make it easier to enjoy about this recognition? Well, there have have a conversation. We want male being a man because you wouldn't ever been actions, pickets, letters written, friends who are also helping to create have to take women's lives seriously - support given to the movement of radi- that world. Yet the fact is that each of you wouldn't ever have to take seri- cal-feminist women who are slowly but us is just one man away from selling ously what men have done to women surely educating people about the out our antisexism. All it takes is one because you'd live in a world of other model of dominance and submission in situation with another man - a situ- men, who are all that really matter to pornography and how these are the ation that will be different for each of us you. That is, after all, what most men very values upon which is built the - a particular man whose company and seem to enjoy most about being men: whole sexist superstructure - but the esteem and companionship we most They're not women, and they know fact is that this recognition comes to want, and we will sell out our convic- they don't ever have to pay any real men too often in isolation, and the tions for that connection; we won't speak attention to women's lives. isolation itself is paralyzing. our beliefs in order to bond. Why the Dilemma Is What It Is For many of us our feminism is virtu- We have a vision of a world of gender ally synonymous with isolation from Our antisexism, it's important to re- justice, and we want male friends and member, has its roots in feminism, other men. And our isolation becomes allies who can enter that world too. We so debilitating that it often stops us which arises out of a sex-class analysis. from doing anything about our antisex- This sex-class analysis is about men's domination of women and others; it's ist beliefs. One example: In the past about how that structure is cultural, few years there have been a few men - For many men, not biological, and why that structure very few, but some here and there in can change; it's about how men are not this country and others - who have the issue of by nature who they are in the world, yet recognized in pornography the very they are in the world as those men; it's values that infuse men's social and about how the sex-class system is male personal power over women, a struc- other men is a supremacist and why that system has ture of eroticized male supremacy and got to go; it's about both the possibility woman hating. They see that what and the responsibility for making the most of pornography teaches, what it classic conflict of world a different place. shows, what it extols, is like a hand- book for most men — a manual of ways How do we know such change is really to view women, ways to feel about approach and possible? One important answer is themselves, ways to keep dominance contained in Andrea Dworkin's Our and submission most people's basic Blood, where she makes this crucial idea of what is "sexy". The dominance- avoidance. distinction between reality and truth: OTHER MEN

by John Stoltenberg

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 11 ...Reality is social; reality is what- collides inside of us with the identity ever people at a given time believe it to that we get from our sex class. We have be... Reality is always a function of poli- ...each of us is learned that the suffering under male tics in general and sexual politics in supremacy in the world can cause us particular - that is, it serves the pow- great pain to look at - to look at it hard; erful by fortifying and justifying their just one man away but we have also learned that blocking right to domination over the out of our minds how bad things are is powerless...The given reality is, of from selling easier than making things better. course, that there are two sexes, male Which is more real to us: our moral and female; that these two sexes are identity or our sex-class identity? opposite from each other, polar; that out our antisexism. Which makes us feel more real? Which the male is inherently positive and the gives us back more the feeling of who female inherently negative; and that to be a racist. As individuals working we want to be? These two constructs of the positive and negative poles of for racial justice these people met with identity are at war inside us. We go in human existence unite naturally into great animosity from other white and out of our moral identity, and for a harmonious whole. Truth, on the people whose race-class interests were each of us there is a pattern of circum- other hand, is not nearly so accessible being threatened, but these people stances that makes us go out of it - as reality...Truth is absolute in that it persevered without losing who they episodes, for example, of retaliatory does exist and.. .it is the human project were; on the contrary they kept who anger or laziness. We don't go in and to find it so that reality can be based on they were, they kept the best part of out of our sex-class identity as much. it...I have made this distinction be- who they were. We feel we measure up against it bet- tween truth and reality in order to It is a measure of how much sex class ter at times and worse at other times, enable me to say something very simple: determines "who we fundementally but in fact we stay in it and we stay in that while the system of gender polarity are" that for us as men to disavow the there more than we think. Our sex- is real, it is not true. It is not true that interests of our sex class makes us feel class identity is a constant, and we are there are two sexes which are discrete we disappear. Tangible membership fundamentally loyal to it. Our moral and opposite, which are polar, which in the sex-class men is our primary identity is more ephemeral, and we unite naturally and self-evidently into means to identity. It's a familiar story: tend to be only its fair-weather friend. a harmonious whole.. .The system based You grow up to become a boy and you Other men represent to us the crux of on this polar model of existence is are terrorized into acting like a boy this dilemma - other men especially absolutely real; but the model itself is and you are rewarded for being a boy who are at ease in their sex-class iden- not true. We are living imprisoned and you learn to dissociate from your tity and status. It's uncomplicated for inside a pernicious delusion, a delu- mother by adopting a whole range of them; it's complicated for us. We expe- sion on which all reality as we know it fears and hatreds of women and you rience the dilemma most acutely at is predicated.1 learn what you need to learn to be those times when we are feeling in a bind between other men and feminism. So here we are: men, inside a male- accepted into the company of other supremacist system, inside a male- men. Women shore up this identity; we We can always give up our moral supremacist sex class, inside it as men. look to women to affirm this identity. identity in favor of our sex-class iden- What do we do about it? and why is it But we get the identity from other tity. It's really quite easy, and it can so difficult and so unthinkable to live men; it is other men we look to as the happen quite without our thinking. as a traitor to that sex class? arbiters of sex-class identity, the iden- For most of us, the dilemma of other Individuals have been known to dis- tity that gets inside of us, an identity so men makes us actually feel an urgency avow their allegiance to other kinds of close to who we think we are that to abandon our moral identity because classes without suffering the same letting go of it scares us to death. in order to deal with other men on their identity crisis. For instance, there have This sex-class construct of identity is terms, that's what we almost always been a few children of the rich who not the only possible form in which we have to do. have committed their lives to economic can know who we fundamentally are. Understanding the Dilemma in justice. Despite the fact that their own There is another way that we some- Our Lives wealthy families may have sniped at times do this, and it stems from a part So what can we possibly do? How can them with scorn, they went ahead and of ourselves that wants fairness and we sort through this conflicted issue in did what they needed to do to create concern and respect between people, a our lives? In what terms can we possi- economic justice in the world - and part of ourselves that is very close to bly understand it so that we might they didn't lose themselves doing it. As our antisexism and our ideals of gen- have some clarity about what to do a matter of fact, many of them would der justice. It's that part of ourselves about it? probably say that they discovered which wants caring and mutuality, both What these questions really come through their activism a sense of them- in sex and in the world; it's that part of down to, I think, is the question of who selves that's better than who they were ourselves which wants to live in a we choose to become through how we before. In a somewhat analogous way gender-just future already. I call this choose to live. In my view, the disci- there have been some white people our moral identity. It's that part of pline of focusing on antisexist activism who have understood that to grow up ourselves which is capable of weighing is really the only way that one can keep white in this country is to grow up what we see, what we do, what other choosing to keep one's moral identity racist, and that either you are doing people do, in terms of some notion we alive and awake. One's moral identity something and striving through your harbor of what justice should look like. can't survive in an actionless vacuum. life to be antiracist or you are racist. It It's a part of ourselves that is capable of It can't just exist in one's mind or in is-a choice, and not choosing is to choose living beyond gender, and it sometimes some statement of principles. It has to does. be expressed in action. 1. Andrea Dworkin, from "The Root Cause" in Our Blood: Prophecies and Discourses on Sexual Politics (Perigee: The sense of ourselves that we get New York, 1981), pp. 109-110. from this moral identity, however, continued on page 34

12 ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 TaiKing * J Israeli and Palestinian Women Unite by Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D

n December 2, 1988 in The Palestinian women spoke about If anyone knew we were talking "in Jerusalem, two grassroots their lives under Israeli rule, about feminist" we'd probably be more sus- feminist peace groups: deportation, illegal arrests, sexual pect and endangered, if not on that Women in Black and Shani harassment during interrogation, the Haifa street corner, then elsewhere: in (Israeli Women Against the closing down of schools, censorship, the West Bank, in Cairo, in Mecca, in Occupation), held an extraor- etc. (The Women's Organization for Tel Aviv, in Teheran, in Washington, dinary conference and dem- Women Political Prisoners, formed in D.C. Our greatest hope — sisterhood, onstration, "ACall For Peace: May, 1988, by Israeli Jews and Pales- across patriarchal boundaries — also Feminists Respond To The tinians, documents and publicizes this renders us unsafe, at least in the short Occupation". and also visits prisoners, informs their run. The conference drew 400, the demon- families of their whereabouts, supplies I stood with Nabila and 498 other Ostration nearly 500 Jews, Christians, toothbrushes and underwear, observes women on that Friday in December, in Moslems, pagans and the staunchest trials, etc.) France Square, in Jerusalem, wearing of atheists. We came from Nazareth The Jewish panelists described their black, holding signs against the Occu- and Bethlehem, Acco and Gaza, Haifa opposition to militarism in complex pation, chanting and singing songs of and Tel Aviv, Caesarea, Yeruham, and and eloquent ways as secular human- peace and freedom. The European, Jerusalem and from parts of North ists, halachic (Jewish religious law) Canadian and American press were America and Europe. We wore tradi- scholars and as feminists. everywhere. To my knowledge, not a tional and modern western dress and I met Nabila Espanioly, the woman single article about this demonstra- were socialists, communists, capital- chairing the conference, when Andrea tion appeared in our mainstream press. ists, nationalists; activists — both Dworkin and I spoke at The Haifa I am indebted to Marcia Freedman sacred and secular, liberal academics, Women's Center in November. I pointed and Shay Salmon whose articles in off wives and lesbians and mothers — all out that women were occupied every- our backs, March 1989, made my job of excited by the bravery and sheer hard where, not just in the West Bank, and decoding my tape of the conference work that went into this event. that we had no feminist government much easier; to Nabila Espanioly, Gigi The conference was conducted in (not even one in exile) to keep track of Finkel, Janet Goldstein, Maryam Arabic, Hebrew and English. Nabila the names of our dead and wounded. Maryi, Dr. Lily Mo'ed, Jo Oppenheimer, Espanioly, a Palestinian pyschologist, Nabila stood up. "I thought a Palestin- Hannah Saffran, Leah Shakdiel, chaired the event. Only one of the four ian state would be hard to achieve" she Carmel Shalev, Chaya Shalom, and to Palestinian panelists, (Amal Aruri), said, "but a feminist state, now that's the organizers, who include: Judy used her name. A Palestinian high- even harder. Okay. Now I have two Blank, Terry Greenblatt, Rahel Ostro- school student described how she was states to worry about." She groaned vitz, Dahlia Saxe, Barbara Swirsky; beaten, arrested and sexually harassed good-naturedly, in an ironic, self- dep- and to the work of HaGesher (The for singing the Palestinian national recating, earthy and Semitic way. At Bridge) and The Women's Organiza- anthem. Marcia Freedman, an Ameri- once, I experienced her as "Jewish". tion for Woman Political Prisoners. • can-born ex-Knesset (or parliament) We agreed to spend the afternoon member also described how male mo- together. We had coffee in her apart- Dr. Phyllis Chesler has traveled through torists and pedestrians denounced the ment, then took a walk. As we stood, ttnd lived in the Middle East and Cen- Israeli Women in Black as "whores" arm in arm, on a street corner, totally tral Asia, including Iran, Lebanon, and "tramps"— as if any woman with a surrounded by Hebrew-speaking Afghanistan and Israel. She is the political opinion of her own is, by defi- pedestrians, many in Israeli army author of six books, including Women nition, a "traitor" to patriarchy and de- uniforms, I was suddenly (!) aware of and Madness, Mothers on Trial: serves to be sexually terrorized. how suspect, how unsafe we'd feel if, at The Battle for Children and Cus- (Women in Black have been conduct- that very moment, we were speaking tody, and most recently, Sacred Bond: ing silent vigils in the streets of Haifa, Arabic instead of English. I was glad The Legacy of Baby M. Dr. Chesler is Jerusalem and Tel Aviv since the Inti- Nabila spoke Hebrew and English well also an Associate Editor of ON THE fada or uprising began). enough to pass for "safe". ISSUES

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 13 14 PHOTO: DONNA DECESARE / IMPACT VISUALS ON THE ISSUES VOL XII 1989 THE PRESS IS THE ISSUE by Carl Jensen, Ph.D.

he United States has a free press guaranteed by its constitution; it has the world's most sophisticated communications system; and it has more independent media outlets dis- seminating more information 24-hours a day than anywhere else in the world. Consider- ing our autonomous press and the quantity of information that daily bombards us, we should be a very knowledgeable populace. Unfortunately, high technology and a free press do noTt guarantee a well-informed society. Some logically would suggest that a warning signal — information — that well-informed and free society would alerts the citizens that something is take better care of its elderly; would going wrong which needs attention and practice the equal rights it preaches to resolution. An aware populace could other nations; would be in the van- then influence its leaders to act upon guard not the rearguard of social re- that information in an effort to solve form; would be the world's peacemaker the problem. not the world's weaponsmaker; would, Most Americans are aware that the indeed, be an enlightened, progres- United States has problems, serious sive society admired, respected, and problems that need to be confronted imitated by the rest of the world. and resolved if we are to succeed and Unfortunately, this is not a realistic survive in the future. And yet, how description of the way the United many of our citizens are fully informed States is perceived these days. about, or even aware of, those issues? The problem is not the quantity of The problem is that the issues are not information that we receive but the the issue; the press is the issue. quality of information. For example, Despite the quantity of "news" being when something starts to go wrong in mass produced by the information your personal life, there generally are machine, we, some 245 million Ameri- some warning signals that alert you to cans, are not being told everything we the problem. A rational person nor- have a right and need to know. And mally would act upon that informa- without full information about the tion in an effort to solve the problem. affairs of our society, we can not func- It is the same with a society. When a tion as good citizens. problem arises, there should be a Joseph Pulitzer once said:"We are a

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 15 democracy, and there is only one way to make informed decisions in the vot- to get a democracy on its feet in the ing booth or elsewhere. Project Cen- matter of its individual, its social, its ...a systematic sored is now an international media municipal, its state, its national con- research project in its 13th year. duct, and that is by keeping the public Through an innovative approach to informed about what is going on. There omission of news constructive media criticism, we hope is not a crime, there is not a dodge, to encourage print and broadcast jour- there is not a trick, there is not a nalism to devote more time and space swindle, there is not a vice which does about significant to real news and less time and space to not live by secrecy. Get these things what I call junk-food news. out in the open, describe them, attack By exploring and publicizing stories them, ridicule them in the press, and issues has led on important issues that have been sooner or later public opinion will sweep overlooked or under-reported by the them away... publicity may not be the news media, the project seeks to stimu- only thing that is needed, but it is the to a dangerously late journalists and editors to provide one thing without which all other agen- more mass media coverage of those cies will fail." distorted image of issues. It also hopes to encourage the The United States today has a host of general public to seek out and demand problems we should know about and be more information on those issues. doing something about and yet the America... Since its start, the research project publicity and information of which has generated queries for more infor- Pulitzer spoke is not readily available knowledge. mation about the project and individ- to us. However, the citizens of a free soci- ual stories cited from journalists and In our major news media, a system- ety, such as the United States, believe scholars throughout the world. It has atic omission of news about significant the mass media provide them with a variously been described as a tip sheet issues has led to a dangerously dis- fair, objective, and uncensored report for investigative television programs torted image of America in the late of what is happening in the world like 60 Minutes and 20120, as a distant 20th Century. This false picture of around them and thus are lulled into a early - warning system for society's society, while perhaps reassuring — false sense of being a well-informed problems and even as a "moral force" in maybe even desired by—an elite group society. It was a media-generated American media. in our society, represents a festering image of an affluent America which However, despite its international sore that must be treated if we are to provided the backdrop for the 1988 impact, it largely has been ignored by survive as a nation. election. Indeed, the last vote had the major news media in the United To understand how this situation has hardly been cast before the White States, which are not known for their come about in a society with a free House announced it was planning to inclination to accept and evaluate criti- press which mass produces informa- restrict the rights of people to appeal cism. tion, we must understand how the flow government decisions denying them Most of the negative criticism of the of information is controlled. Social Security or welfare benefits. And project is that there is a left-wing, In totalitarian states such as Chile, that last vote had hardly been counted liberal, ideological bias to the stories Russia, and South Africa, we find out- before the White House told 80,000 selected as overlooked or undercovered right, overt censorship. The state, American farmers that it may fore- by the mainstream news media. Sto- through its bureaucracy, determines close on their farms. The image of an ries about nuclear war, the environ- what can or cannot be said or printed affluent America started to tarnish less ment, biological/chemical warfare, and maintains its control of the infor- than 24 hours after the election. sexism, civil and human rights, dan- mation flow through a monopoly on the In 1976, the omissions of vital infor- gerous pesticides, deadly carcinogens, means of production of the information mation in media reportage induced me and starving children can't be consid- industry. to launch a national research effort, ered left-wing. These stories, typical of In societies perceived as free, we find called Project Censored, to explore those highlighted by the research over the information output determined by whether there really is a systematic the years, represent moral and ethical economic pressures to produce corpo- censorship of certain issues in our issues that affect all the peoples of the rate output determined by economic national news media. This was stimu- world. pressures to produce corporate profits, lated by personal bewilderment over Another criticism of the project is the by a systematic distribution of "pun- how the American people could elect use of the term "censored". To me, the ishment and reward" to workers in the Richard Nixon by a landslide after definition of the term goes beyond the media, and by a less obvious, but none- Watergate, and one of the most sensa- traditional examples of the military theless effective, control of the means tional political crimes of the century. A censor deleting classified information of production of the information indus- brief review of the press of that period from documents or the acts of the try. The latter is well-documented in reveals how that happened. While there bookburning barbarians. I define cen- Ben Bagdikian's "The Media Monop- was substantial information available sorship as the suppression of informa- oly". tying in the administration with the tion whether purposeful or not, by any In both cases, the efforts to manipu- Watergate burglary, the media did not method — including bias, omission, late and control the flow of information put the issue on the national agenda under-reporting, and self - censorship are successful — whether by overt until after the election in November — which results in the systematic censorship or by covert censorship. The 1972. omission of information, thereby pre- crucial difference is that the citizens in Subsequent comparisons of critical venting the public from fully knowing a totalitarian society are aware that issues with press coverage persuaded what is happening to its society. their information is manipulated and me that the media do not provide the While censorship in totalitarian so- they conduct their lives with that public with all the information it needs cieties is widely criticized in the U.S.,

16 ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 our own form of self-censorship may be mental issues ranging from regulatory even more dangerous because it is so agencies to foreign/political military subtle and insidious, little-known and Hunger in Africa involvements to the presidency. Cen- rarely acknowledged or discussed. tral American issues have dominated Public response to the project con- the nominations during the past few firms there is a genuine suspicion that was consistently years. The second leading category of we are not getting all the information stories deals with business and eco- we need about what is really happen- nomic issues or what some call "corpo- ing. Many people want more informa- nominated as rate crime". The third-ranked subject tion about stories of which they were area concerns dangers to an individ- unaware, while many others send me ual's health, whether from poisonous stories of which they feel other people a "censored" pesticides or pharmaceutical malfea- should be made aware. sance or low-level radiation. Other In the past 13 years, researchers in leading subjects often undercovered the censorship seminar I teach at subject during the by the mainstream press include civil Sonoma State University have re- and human rights, the military and viewed thousands of stories many early years of the environment. Americans have not seen or heard Some of the issues raised in the early about. The stories are nominated years of Project Censored subsequently annually by journalists, scholars, li- this decade. received increased press coverage in- brarians, and the general public from cluding the dangers of nuclear power, throughout the United acid rain, public utility States and abroad. crimes, illegal aliens, drugs We then select the top 25 like Depo-Provera and Ben- stories according to a dectin, starvation in Africa, number of criteria includ- South African apartheid, ing the amount of cover- and the homeless. age the story received, its However, there are many potential effect, how reli- issues that still deserve far able the source is, and the more media attention than importance of the issue. they have received. Some Next, the top 25 "censored" of these include America's nominations are submit- secret police network, the ted to a panel of judges concentration of wealth, which select the top 10 human rights violations in overlooked stories of the the U.S., threats to the year. nation's water supply, high- Judges who participated tech health hazards, and in the project last year the growing media mega- were: Dr. Donna Allen, monopoly. founding editor of Media Some of the stories cited Report To Women; Ben as among the top over- Bagdikian, Professor, looked issues of 1987 pro- Graduate School of Jour- vide an insight into the nalism, University of Cali- sources and techniques of fornia, Berkeley; Noam censorship in America. Chomsky, Professor, Lin- The top overlooked story guistics and Philosophy, of the year revealed one of MIT, and writer on con- the underlying causes of temporary affairs; John "censorship" and issued a Kenneth Galbraith, Profes- warning of what is to come. sor of Economics Emeri- Media critic Ben Bagdikian tus, Harvard University; revealed that just 29 corpo- George Gerbner, Professor, rations controlled half or Annenberg School of Communications, Professor of Communication, Univer- more of all the media business in University of Pennsylvania; Nicholas sity of California, San Diego; George America in 1987. More disturbing, Wall Johnson, Professor, College of Law, Seldes, America's Journalist Emeritus Street analysts, specializing in the University of Iowa; Charles L. Klotzer, and author of The Great Thoughts; media, predicted that only half a dozen Editor and Publisher, The St. Louis Sheila Rabb Weidenfeld, President, giant firms will control most of our Journalism Review; Brad Knicker- D.C. Productions; and Mortimer B. media by the 1990s. While the bottom- bocker, National News Editor, The Zuckerman, Chairman and Editor-in- line mentality of media owners was re- Christian Science Monitor; Judith Chief, U.S. News & World Report. vealed when top editors left The Chris- Krug, Director, Office for Intellectual A review of the 13 years of the project tian Science Monitor and The Atlanta Freedom, American Library Associa- reveals that the major news media do Constitution in late 1988, the full po- tion; Bill Moyers, Executive Editor, systematically overlook, ignore, or tential impact of the information car- Public Affairs Television; Jack L. Nel- distort certain subjects. The most tel on a free society is still ignored by son, Professor, School of Education, under-reported category of ignored our press. Rutgers University; Herbert I. Schiller, subjects deals with political or govern- Another story helps explain some of

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII 1989 PHOTO: AIM / IMPACT VISUALS 17 the post-election surprises in the press lead to the failure of the news media to —it was titled "Reagan's Mania for Se- THE TOP 10 fully inform the public. While it is not crecy." Three major reports published UNDER-REPORTED NEW as overt a form of censorship as the in 1987 detailed how a massive net- STORIES OF 1988 kind we can observe in some other so- work of executive orders, secret direc- cieties, it is nonetheless real and often tives, and administrative edicts from I.George Bush's "Dirty Big Secrets" equally effective. the Reagan administration literally 2-How the EPA Pollutes the News Sometimes a source for a story isn't institutionalized secrecy throughout 3.Risk of a Nuclear Disaster in Space considered to be reliable; other times the government and put unprecedented 4.The Dangers of Food Irradiation the story doesn't have an easily identi- controls on information available to 5.Acid Rain — One of America's fiable "beginning, middle, and end"; the public. The three groups whose re- Biggest Killers some stories may not be in the best search independently came to the same 6.America's Secret Police Network financial interests of the publisher, conclusions were the American Library 7.Children are Dying to Pay the owner, stockholders, or advertisers; in- Association, the Reporters Committee Third World Debt vestigative journalism is more expen- for Freedom of the Press, and the People sive than the traditional public stenog- for the American Way. 8.The Specter of a Constitutional rapher school of journalism; some sto- Convention A 165-page report which documented ries are considered to be too complex U.S. complicity in the torture of politi- 9.U.S. Violates International for the general public. cal prisoners in El Salvador was Rule of Law On occasion, stories are ignored be- smuggled out of the Mariona men's 1O.The Abuse of America's cause they haven't been "blessed" by prison and eventually arrived at the Incarcerated Children The New York Times or The Washing- Marin Interfaith Task Force in north- ton Post. Reporters and editors at most ern California. The group assembled of the other 1650 daily newspapers the report into a document titled HOW TO NOMINATE A know their news judgment isn-'t going "Torture in El Salvador" and sent it to CENSORED STORY to be challenged when they produce the nation's leading newspapers. When You can help the public learn more and publish fashionable "follow-the- nothing appeared, the Task Force about what is happening in its society leader" stories. asked them why they didn't report on by nominating stories you feel should For example, it now appears that the the document. The only response was have received more mass media cover- Hearst newspapers' foreign editor, from Art Seidenbaum of the Los Ange- I age. The story should be current and of John Wallach, first reported on the les Times who wrote "We really have... national social significance. It may US-Iran contacts as early as July, 1985. no staff for making a 1500-word article j have received no media attention at all, Then, in January, 1986, still nine out of a large series of reports." appeared in the back pages of your months before the major news media The tenth-ranked story of 1987 was newspaper, or in a small circulation put it on the national agenda, he re- about a shuttle flight scheduled to carry magazine. Just send a copy of the ported on a $10 to $12 million arms lethal plutonium on it and was a re- story, including the source and date, to transfer to Iran through Israel. The peat from the 1986 list. The story noted Project Censored, Sonoma State Uni- White House denied the story at the that NASA, despite serious scientific versity, Rohnert Park, CA 94928. time and no one else pursued it. warnings of a possible disaster, was Wallach, who deserved Pulitzer con- still planning to launch the Project sideration for his early efforts to warn Galileo shuttle space probe with 49 do that it would be reported." Project the nation about the spooks in the pounds of plutonium on it. Theoreti- Galileo, of course, does exist and was White House basement, partially at- cally, one pound of plutonium, uni- reported at least as early as February tributed the silence of the "watchdogs" formly distributed, has the potential 21, 1986, when Daniel Zwerdling told to the media's "follow-the-leader herd to give everyone on the planet a fatal his listeners all about it on NPR's "All mentality". "Very often," he said, "it's case of lung cancer. Intrigued by the Things Considered" program. Karl not news until it's in The Washington censorship of this issue, freelance jour- Grossman's article on the subject, Post or The New York Times." nalist Dennis Bernstein wrote a cover "The Lethal Shuttle," appeared in THE Another major factor contributing to article about censorship in television NATION on February 22, 1986. media self-censorship is that the story news focussing on the shuttle's flight Bernstein concludes his article by is considered potentially libelous. Long for Newsday's weekly TV magazine. In warning "when the networks limit their and costly jury trials, and sometimes turn, the article itself was killed by coverage of controversial stories, for large judgments against the media, Newsday in August, 1988, but did whatever reasons, to cut costs, to main- have produced a massive chilling ef- appear in the September, 1988, issue tain the status quo, to garner ratings fect on the press and replaced copy of Extra!, the newsletter of FAIR or sell ads, it's the viewers who lose." editors with copy attorneys. (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting), a One of the questions often asked is Jonathan Alter, media columnist for national media watchdog group. why the press doesn't cover the issues Newsweek, offers some additional rea- One of the highlights of Bernstein's raised by Project Censored. The failure sons why important stories aren't cov- article was an interview he had with of the news media to cover critical and ered. He said they may be so boring or Reuven Frank, former president of sometimes controversial issues consis- so forgettable that nobody noticed NBC News. When asked why televi- tently and in depth is not, as some them; they may be awkward or threat- sion didn't cover the story about the believe, a conspiracy on the part of the ening to readers and viewers; they may use of plutonium in space, Frank re- media elite. News is too diverse, fast- be alien to the personal interests or sponded: "You know this kind of para- breaking, and unpredictable to be con- experiences of reporters and editors or noia masquerading as journalism re- trolled by some sinister conservative they may be too familiar to them. Alter ally doesn't interest me." establishment media cabal. also said some stories are not covered Then Frank added, "I don't believe However, there are a variety of fac- (Galileo) exists. If there was a plan to tors operating that, when combined, continued on 32

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Gender * Science A Review Essay on Evelyn Fox Keller and Her Work

by Roberta Kalechofsky

syllogism is appropri- passion for "objectivity" with a differ- ticed in McClintock that laid the basis ate to begin: Science is a ent attitude towards nature, other than for her question: is there a relationship human activity, con- the Baconian attitude of "mastering" between gender and science? ducted by human beings. nature. The problem for science and, It is obvious that science is done pre- Human beings are fal- therefore for the modern world, is how eminently by white, middle-class lible. Therefore, scientists to restate the classical aphorism that males, but less obvious that science are fallible. This states "knowledge is power". Can there be a evolved in a particular western con- the obvious in an obvious way of knowing and a passion for text, under the influence of Greek way, but it is an obvious knowledge which does not require the mathematics, Platonic philosophy, and insight which escapes the usual aggressive stance towards na- Hellenic ideas about nature, sex, and public. The syllogism is not meant to ture common to scientists? The theme the cognitive process. All early refer- Adiminish scientists, but to put science of her study is therefore "the opposi- ences to "knowing", the Hellenic and and scientists in a perspective which tion between love and knowledge, a later Baconian writing suggest sexual determines that they can be the object disjunction as central to the develop- implication in the verb, "to know", and of sociological and psychological stud- ment of modern science as it is to the Evelyn Fox Keller traces the use of this ies, the same way as teachers, doctors making of Western man...it is pre- verb as a dual cognitive and sexual and musicians. Science is a profession, cisely this opposition—forcing a activity, from Plato's culture to Ba- which has acquired a set of definite choice... between love and power—that con's writings on science. Chapter characteristics and powerful insights makes the equation between knowl- headings indicate her historical ap- upon which the modern world rests. edge and power a sinister one, and at proach to "a psychosociology of scien- Evelyn Fox Keller's book Reflections the same time allows objectivity to tific knowledge"; Part One: Historical on Gender and Science (Yale Univer- become contaminated with domina- Couplings of Mind and Nature includes sity Press, 1985) is a multidisciplinary tion." "Love and Sex in Plato's Epistemol- study of science, particularly "objectiv- Appropriately, the title for her biog- ogy"; and "Spirit and Reason at the ity" as a male characteristic in science. raphy of Barbara McClintock is: A Birth of Modern Science". Any woman She is eminently suited to this task, Feeling For The Organism: The Life who has ever puzzled over why her having been a professor of mathemat- and Work of Barbara McClintock. Her lover, boyfriend, husband, brother, ics and humanities at Northeastern question, posed in this biography, is father calls her "emotional" and "irra- University, and is currently at the In- "what enabled McClintock to see fur- tional", coupling those two character- stitute for Advanced Study at Prince- ther and deeper into the mysteries of istics as if they are as naturally yoked ton. Keller was trained in theoretical genetics than her colleagues?" — an together as "rain" and "falls" will find physics and molecular biology, and has inquiry into the making of another an historical exposition exposing the taught history, philosophy and psy- kind of science, rooted not only in facts most ancient roots of our civilization: chology of science. A Visiting Scholar and knowledge, but in a different type "The forces of unreason, in Greek in Science, Technology and Society at of personality, one which delights in mythology and drama most often M.I.T., she has written extensively on nature's surprises, rather than "forc- embodied in the earth goddesses or the women and science, including a no- ing" answers from nature. "For McClin- Furies, are never fully vanquished, table biography of Barbara McClin- tock, reason—at least in the conven- even when they are subdued." As E. R. tock, who won a Nobel Prize for her tional sense of the word— is not by Dodds illuminated in his book, The work in genetics; the first recipient of itself adequate to describe the vast Greeks and the Irrational, the other the MacArthur Laureate Award. complexity—even mystery—of living side of the coin of the Greek love of Evelyn Fox Keller's choice of Barbara forms. Organisms have a life and order harmony, proportion, and balance, was McClintock for a biography was not of their own that scientists can only a terror of the "irrational", often trans- motivated by a desire to prove that partially fathom...In comparison with lated into fear of common emotions. "women too can be good scientists", but the ingenuity of nature, our scientific The relationship of Greek philosophy to discover whether there might be intelligence seems pallid." Delight, and culture to its slave civilization was something about a woman scientist surprise, the ability to forgo mastery of noted by Morris Kline in Mathematics that would change the way science is nature (in addition to an extraordi- and Western Culture: practiced, that could harmonize the nary capacity to work alone and work (c) Roberta Kalechofsky, 1988 very hard) were qualities Keller no- continued on page 32

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 19 and families was a problem". The re- maining responses were split between medical and psychological reasons. These results mark a significant change from CHOICES' 1982 study where 28% of respondents had an abor- tion for financial reasons and 11% for career goals. Sixty-five percent ofthos e questioned had had at least one prior abortion and of those, 72% said their reasons (finan- cial pressures) were the same in each case. Considering that 64% of the single women have children and are solely responsible for their support, and that 77% earn under $20,000 per year, it is not surprising that many of the women are having abortions for economic rea- sons. Most women want to give their children a certain quality of life, and when they are struggling financially with the children they already have, the abortion decision becomes a mat- ter of survival.

Who Decides? Very often the decision to have an abortion involves several people, in- cluding boyfriends and family mem- bers. Fifty percent of the respondents felt that only the woman should decide whether or not to have an abortion, while 47% said that the decision should be made jointly by the man and the woman. The remaining 3% felt that the decision should be made by the pregnant woman and her family. In cases of conflict, where the woman wants the abortion and the man in- volved does not, 100% of the women said that it should be the woman's decision.

Anti-Abortion Until It Happened to Me ABORTION Even though 94% of those questioned stated that they "believe that abortion should be available to all women", REGAEDLESS OF THE LAW 24% of this group stated that at one A recent survey of 300 women con- (57%) would be operating outside the point in their lives, they felt abortion ducted at CHOICES Women's Medi- law. was wrong. cal Center immediately prior to their Respondents ranged in age from 15 to When questioned about what had abortions revealed that 57% would 46, with the majority falling in the low changed their minds, 64% said be- have an abortion even if it were illegal. to mid twenties. The largest number of cause "it (unwanted pregnancy) hap- In a similar survey performed in 1982, women were Catholic (35%); 18.5% were pened to me", while 21% said "financial 45% of the women also said that the il- Protestant and 2.6% Jewish. Forty eight pressures" changed their minds and legality of abortion would not deter percent of the women described them- 16% said they "were not ready to have them — a 29% increase. selves as religious. a child". It appears that the majority of Ameri- Some of the more poignant responses can women will exercise their moral Why the Choice of Abortion? were: right to choose, even with the risk of When questioned as to the reasons for "I always will believe that abortion is criminal action or danger to their own abortion, 34% of the respondents cited wrong, but it is not a question of right lives. Given the fact that there are 1.6 financial reasons, with career goals and wrong, it is a question of neces- million legal abortions per year, the taking second place 25%. Twenty-four sity." statistics show that if abortion were percent of the women said that "the "My family's beliefs will always play a recriminalized, over 900,000 women timing of the pregnancy in their lives big role in my life, but there are situ-

20 ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 ations where you have to do what is right for you." PROCLAMATION OF THE NEW YORK PRO-CHOICE COALITION AT "The world is messed up for children, ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL, APRIL 2, 1989 especially Black children." "The pressures of daily living have to ABORTION—EVERY WOMAN'S RIGHT give a woman and her family the right to make these decisions." On behalf of the women of New York City and their sisters throughout this It is interesting to note that even though financial pressures play such country and out of love for truth and the desire to bring it to light an important role in the abortion deci- sion, 67% of those questioned said they We stand here today to affirm the following to Cardinal John J. O'Connor, who would still have the abortion "even if has blessed, praised and housed the anti-abortion fanatics of "Operation money were no problem" which once Rescue": again points to the complicated per- sonal nature of the abortion decision. It would appear that even though That you have consistently turned a deaf ear and a cold heart to women by women are acutely aware of the reality repeatedly ignoring urgent requests to meet with us about the terror and of abortion, they are continually bal- violence towards women that "Operation Rescue" represents. ancing the needs of their children, families and themselves in order to That you have added to the atmosphere of fear, terror and anxiety that women provide the best that they can for all involved. In that sense, the abortion must face when attempting to exercise their constitutional right to abortion. decision is a far more contextual type of moral decision making as opposed to That you have encouraged the fanaticism and women hating that feeds the a black/white absolutism. In many politics of "Operation Rescue." cases, abortion appears to be the most moral and loving decision that can be made. Now, therefore, we stand here, not as beggars at your gate, but as people of Of the respondents, 88% said that conscience to affirm that: they would travel to get an abortion if it were illegal in their state. Statistics I. Women are full moral agents with the right and ability to choose when and reinforce the fact that very little will whether or not they will be mothers. stop women from getting abortions if they decide that they must do so. The real problems will arise when women II. Abortion is a choice made by each individual for profound personal reasons are too poor, too young or too uncon- that no man or state should judge. nected to the system to know where to go or how to get there. This will result III. The right to make reproductive choices is women's legacy throughout in many having to face the horror, des- peration and dangers of illegal abor- history and belongs to every woman regardless of age, class, race, religon or tion as they did prior to 1973. • sexual preference.

Letter from our Contributing Edi- IV. Abortion is a life-affirming act chosen within the context of women's lives tor, Irene Davall, to Surgeon Gen- and women's sexuality. eral C. Everett Koop. Thank you for your honesty and integ- rity when testifying before Congress- V. Abortion is often the most moral choice in a world that frequently denies man Ted Weiss' committee on March healthcare, housing, education and economic survival. 16th. The N.Y. Times quoted you as having said that "some people have severe psychological effects after abor- their mothers. Eventually, a woman operation was painful and unpleasant, tion, but anecdotes do not make good dressed as a nurse called me into a but in the ensuing 40 years I've had scientific material." small room for an interview. She wanted neither severe psychological effects nor During the past quarter century I to know how long I had been pregnant regrets. have known dozens of women who have and whether I could pay $300 in cash. On March 3,1989,1 attended a speak- had abortions — some illegal before Three days later two men and the out at the Washington Square Method- Roe vs. Wade and some legal after- "nurse" came to my apartment. They ist Church in New York. Nearly a dozen ward. I have never known one who boiled some instruments in my soup women testified to having had one or reported severe post-abortion effects. kettle and then, stretching me out on more abortions, most of them in the In 1946 my family doctor sent me to the kitchen table, performed a D & C days when abortion was illegal. Not an office in New York City which he without anesthesia. Afterward, the one said she had any regrets or severe called "the Tiffany of abortionists". The doctors rolled their instruments in a psychological effects. office, located in a posh section on linen towel, gave me some medication Opponents of abortion who want to Gramercy Park, was full of women — penicillin, I presume — cautioned find post-abortion stress syndromes, waiting to be interviewed. Some were me to rest for a couple of days, and might do well to consider what sort of middleaged, others young and some warned that "ifanything happens, don't stress syndromes develop in women very young who were accompanied by call us, call your own doctor." The who bear unwanted children.

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 21 THE HIDDEN

LESBIANS OVER The Friendly Visitors'program of organizations such as SAGE and GLOE are excellent examples of intergenerational collaboration. Feminist writers tell us that women stir in 1976, included fewer than 20 are invisible and have been for as long subjects (out of 1,066) who acknowl- as history has been recorded. Except edged being 60 years of age or older, for the performances of a few female and the very enlightened chapter on monarchs, who are generally presented "Lesbianism" ignored the age factor al- as having been "really just like men", together, while the chapter on "Older the contributions of women in every Women" did the same with their sex- field have been ignored. Not until the ual preference. And no wonder! Any- advent of Women's Studies has the one over 60 in 1976 grew up in the era academic curriculum provided us with when homosexuality was unmention- any but the most meager information able, unthinkable, a sin, a crime, or a These women on women's achievement. disease —• and, for the majority of the Even among the invisible half of the population, unheard of. Even. Simone have lived their population, there are some who are de Beauvoir, in her monumental work, more invisible than others—the old. A The Coming of Age (1970), which the youth- oriented culture, such as ours in New York Times Book Review de- lives in their the West, doesn't want to be reminded scribed as the confrontation of "a sub- about aging. Although women outnum- ject of universal private anguish and ber men at least three to one in the universal public silence", dealt only own perceived over-60 age group, gerontology (and incidentally with women throughout geriatrics) focuses on the male. There the 864 pages of her text and exclu- are very few studies—and fewer col- sively with men in her brief reference identities... lege courses ** devoted exclusively to to homosexuality. the aging process and related prob- As a result of this benign neglect and often against lems of the female. The older woman general cover-up, the lesbian over 60 is appears under the all-inclusive label of likely to be a very private person, diffi- "the elderly". How much of this invisi- cult to flush out and, even when found, all odds. bility is a result of the masculine struc- reticent about her past as well as her ture of the English language is yet to present. She has little of the compul- be fully determined. sion of later generations of gay women Still there is a category of older women who are eager to make a political state- who make up a yet more hidden sub- ment about their life-style. After all, culture or minority group — the old the older lesbian has spent her "three- lesbian. This particular sorority has score" keeping a low profile, not neces- been studied even less. Feminists too sarily ashamed of her same-gender have been guilty of this omission, al- emotional/erotic preference, but con- though less so now than in the past. cerned rather to hold her job in a much For example, the Hite Report on less permissive era. And remember, By Monika Kehoe female sexuality, which created such a she lived through the McCarthy period

22 PHOTO: WENDY JANE WORKMAN / COURTESY OF SAGE ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 of the 1950s — a dangerous time for many still are) in the closet, largely in their "golden years" (as the senior- gays as well as those deemed "commu- insulated, except in metropolitan ar- citizen folders like to call it); few of nists" or "communist sympathizers". eas, from many of the events and cir- them suffering the traumas and anxi- The Korean War decade of the 1950s cumstances that were affecting their eties of widowhood that so many non- saw the rise of McCarthyism and the younger, more actively involved sis- gay women seem to undergo. This is investigations of the House of Repre- ters on both the West and East coasts. not to say that gay women who have sentatives Un-American Activities Homophobia continued unabated in lost their beloved partners do not grieve. Committee. Homosexuals were purged rurual and mid-America.* One of the women in my study who had from the State Department as security When a lesbian's job was an academic lost an older lover of 15 years explained risks. A fever of anti-deviance swept her anguish: "I became a hermit. For at the country. In 1953, the same year least a year I wept when I looked at that Kinsey and his associates pub- They have been anyone — this I hid — but I still be- lished the revelations of diversity in come depressed. For several years I Sexual Behavior in the Human Fe- frequently visited her mausoleum and male, President Eisenhower signed able to continue to talked to her (No one else around). My Executive Order No. 10,450, the aim of work is my savior." which was to keep all "perverts" off the Another, also the younger member of government payroll. associate with a couple who had been together 40 Against this background of antago- years, had a comforting experience nism and oppression, the first lesbian the young and to during her grieving. "The loss was so liberation organization in the United emotional that, for the first time, I told States, the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), my friends of our relationship — and was begun in 1955 by Del Martin and think young. all accepted it with sympathy." The Phyllis Lyon of San Francisco. Three survivor of the couple that had lived years later, Barbara Gittings founded together for 441/2 years admits that a New York chapter of the organiza- one, she was under more severe scru- her most serious problem is still lone- tion and later became one of the editors tiny than ever — especially if she was liness, long after the woman she loved of its publications, The Ladder, which teaching in an all-women's college, died. "I miss my companion. She made was printed from 1956 to 1972 and either secular or denominational. In it like Christmas every day. She made became a rallying ground and network the latter, the usually female admini- my life worthwhile." of lesbian support across the nation. stration (who were not supposed to And yet another: "It is hell when you The 1960s saw the social pendulum know about such things but could lose the one person with whom you swing toward liberalism. The sexual probably have written a religious ver- shared your life. We had no friends revolution, the development of a sion of "The Children's Hour") tended other than straight people — so since counterculture, the Civil Rights Bill of to be particularly wary of student- her death I have been unable to talk 1964, and the Vietnam antiwar pro- teacher crushes. Seldom was anything plainly to anyone."* tests all contributed to wider social on this taboo subject mentioned in However, trained in independence, change, from which the homophile these female "seminaries", except for a often without family support in their movement learned andbenefitted. The conversational reminder of the college youth, lesbians have learned to make founding of the Metropolitan Commu- policy that forbade single lay faculty their own way, to buck the system, to nity Church in southern California in from entertaining students individu- make the necessary compromises with 1968, together with the rise of The ally at home. As a result, the gay aca- the Establishment and, out of neces- Advocate as a significant gay publica- demic woman, who was more likely to sity, to plan for retirement. tion, were further important steps on be found in a women's college than Their self-image is good and does not the way to the formation of the resis- anywhere else, for obvious reasons of conform to the regular assessment: tance that exploded in the Stonewall preferential employment—there were "The older woman is what she looks riot in New York City in 1969, the no affirmative action programs then— like; whereas the older man is what he event which marked the birth of Gay had to be cautious in the extreme. does." Since gay women have usually Pride in the U.S. A gay woman's career was always a escaped the beauty-shop program- The Feminist Movement of the 1970s, primary concern for her. If she was not ming and the post-menstrual para- and particularly the 1971 decision of bisexual, or a late (post-divorce or post- noia of their heterosexual sisters who the National Organization for Women husband's demise) convert to the gay view the advent of middle age with (NOW) to support homosexual rights, life, the chances were that she had had trepidation and anxiety, they are re- had an equally important impact on no one to support her financially. Fre- lieved of most of the pressures that the development of lesbian and gay quently, she had been ostracized by afflict the aging woman in "normal" politics. The National Gay Task Force her family so that she had no place to society. (NGTF) was established in 1973, and turn. There were no food-stamps or Many of them have retained their by 1974 the American Psychiatric As- welfare checks for such women, with or youth in a more subtle way. Without sociation conceded that homosexuality without dependents. As professional having been forced to assume the cus- was no longer to be diagnosed as a workers, they often had no Social Se- tomary roles of wife, mother or grand- sickness — rather, only as a personal- curity to look forward to either. mother, they have escaped the expec- ity disorder. But the 60-plus, lifelong lesbian is tations that society places on other To infer that all midlife or older lesbi- bound to be a survivor. Consider how more culturally compliant women as ans of these decades were affected by, many there must be out there, some they move from one life-stage to the or even aware of, all the events that living alone having lost their partners; next. As we see from recent surveys,** were gradually taking place to liberal- others in couples, cherishing each other *Lesbians Over Sixty Speak For Themselves ize public attitudes would be a gross *Lesbians Over Sixty Speak for Themselves by ""Monika Kehoe, Ph.D. "Report on a National Survey of exaggeration. Most lesbians were (and Monika Kehoe (Haworth Press, 1989) Lesbians Over Sixty-Five", May 1986 ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 23 because those lesbians with ad- rary. Or, in the framework of vanced degrees, who have been the new mores, she can seek in academe or the other profes- out another relationship. She sions have remained single, has not been homebound or their lives have not been isolated in suburbia so that marked, nor have their atti- she is not intimidated to go tudes been sculptured, by the out alone. Then, too, she is rites of passage that drama- possibly better able to appre- tize these family events. They ciate her own company. She is do not suffer the pangs of the a more complete person. She so-called "empty-nest" syn- has not been the dependent drome. They have no concern half of a couple; she can man- that they may be deserted for age her own affairs as she has another woman — that a hus- always done. Solitude gives band, trying to preserve his own her the chance to read all the youth may suddenly wish to booksshehas never been able begin a new family with a new to enjoy because of her de- young wife. They do not fear manding work schedule and that they suddenly may be left her need to keep up with her to support themselves in an professional field. At long last, ageist society, frequently with- she has the time to write. out marketable skills. As a re- Many older lesbians have retained their youth and enjoy These are precious privileges suit, they are less likely to per- associating with the young circumscribed by days that ceive that life is over for them, are too short. or to give up and let themselves go as Besides being better adjusted to ag- Should she be incapacitated or in they leave mid-life behind them. ing, the gynophile who has retired from need, today's older lesbian in urban Gynophiles** without family ties who university teaching or one of the other areas can turn to such organizations as are in academe and other professional professions is more often, by choice, a SAGE (Senior Action in a Gay Envi- fields have had wider options and more solitary and reserved person. In her ronment) in New York City or the San freedom to be mobile in their working younger days there were no gay net- Francisco-based GLOE (Gay and Les- lives. Lacking maternal responsibili- works for her to bond into — no Dig- bian Outreach to Elders). Their ties, they never needed to worry about nity, no Wishing Well, no League, no Friendly Visitors' Programs are excel- losing professional ground by being on Daughters of Bilitis — and no place lent examples of intergenerational what is now popularly referred to as set aside as womanspace.*** There collaboration. The young volunteers "the Mommy Career Track". Not for was no Women's Building sponsoring keep in touch by telephone and visits; them the concern of flexible schedules; feminist activities and no feminist book- serve as links to other social service or- they could be wholly dedicated to ad- stores for the circulation of revolution- ganizations; assure that the home- vancing their chosen careers, and to ary ideas, much less of lesbian litera- bound older person is receiving all pursue the activities of their youth ture. There was no gay community as services to which she is entitled; and, if (including sports) into old age. They such — even in the largest metropoli- necessary, take her shopping or to the have been able to continue to associate tan areas. Few, if any women's bars ex- doctor. Unlike her sisters of bygone with the young and to think young. isted. Where they did, they were in a years, today's aging lesbian (to return Without the strictures and oppressions tough section of the city and, in spite of to the more conventional term) in a of the prevalent patriarchal family the "protection" demanded of their cosmopolitan area need never be iso- life, they could develop a conscious- management, usually male, they were lated unless she so chooses. Unfortu- ness beyond the confines of conven- frequently raided by the vice squads. nately, gay women living in rural ar- tional wisdom. Their advanced educa- Their clientele was mainly what would eas rarely have access to such facili- tion, more unusual for women then, now be considered the leather-jacket ties. Hopefully, this will be rectified, gave them at least the opportunity for set. Such places were not likely to at- however gradually. greater insight and a more critical tract those women who valued their But not all old lesbians prefer to live evaluation of traditional behavior jobs — particularly if they were in alone. Where are they to meet other patterns. They were liberated long higher education. And, in the depres- "mature" women with their life-style? before "women's liberation" became a sion '30s, private gay parties for women Does their greater resiliency make it movement. — except for the Paris salons of a easier for them to find partners than it Of course, the gay women of today Gertie Stein or a Nathalie Barney — is for older women in the heterosexual who are free to adopt children or have were much less common than today. population? Probably, since death takes them by artificial insemination are in Nevertheless, the retired academic gy- such a heavy toll of men in the over-60 a different position from lesbians over nophile who is alone is less likely to be age group, there are more prospects to 60. It will be interesting to see if their lonely. She has wider solitary, schol- choose from. But, can two or more priorities will differ, perhaps becom- arly interests. Although she may miss aging dykes share the same kitchen? ing closer to those of heterosexual a lost partner with whom she has spent Can they live communally in ways women with children than those of many years, she is often able to "live that will be a model for their non-gay childless older lesbians. alone and like it" more comfortably sister-survivors as well? Or must each than her non-gay, widowed contempo- one maintain her individual refrigera- **I've coined this word to express and encompass those tor, stove, bathroom? — clearly an eco- extra dimensions of the woman-to-woman relationship **• In April, 1987, the first Old Lesbian Conference was which the word lesbian somehow fails to include—at least held at California State Univeraity, Dominguez Hills, and nomic absurdity. Surely, even without for gay women of the pre-World War II period, as well as drew attendees from across the country. A second confer- for all those for whom intellectual and emotional compati- ence will be held at San Francisco State University in bility is paramount and for whom genitality is not crucial. August, 1989 continued on page 34

24 PHOTO: WENDY JANE WORKMAN / COURTESY OF SAGE ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 CHOICE BOOKS nature of both mothers and daughters Among Black and Hispanic women, the in a world that simultaneously raises rates were 52 and 53%, respectively. DON'T BLAME MOTHER: Mending the us to heights of unattainable ideal and More enraging is the fact that 36.5% of Mother-Daughter Relationship by Paula consigns us to sometimes appalling the women at or below the poverty level J. Caplan (Harper & Row, New York, NY; depths of devaluation, demoralization, work year round, in full-time jobs. $17.95 hardover) and powerlessness." Most states provide at least some "To begin to understand what has hap- This is not your typical "self-help" welfare recipients with Medicaid, a pened between our mothers and our- book; it does not reduce the problem or health insurance plan that provides selves, to tell our true mother-daugh- the solutions to a simplistic formula. minimal protection to the poorest of the ter stories, we have to see clearly how Caplan presents the full complexity of poor (usually the aged, disabled and our inner needs and fears have inter- the issues and the depth of feelings single-parent families). Even then, not acted with society's needs and fears." between daughters and mothers. Her all health needs are covered. A study by This refreshingly hopeful book is strategies and guidelines for "mending the Alan Guttmacher Institute, for written with unusual sensitivity and the relationship" are offered within a example, found that in 1985, four out of respect toward both mothers and framework of appreciation for the 10 physicians who provided obstetrical daughters. Approaching the subject complicated process of individual and services did not accept Medicaid. This from the daughter's perspective, the interactional growth and the diversity explains why many poor women never relationship between mothers and and uniqueness of each situation. get the prenatal care they need, and daughters is analyzed within the con- The book reads easily, the style is why pregnancy complications and re- text of women's position in the family chatty and free of professional jargon. sultant low birth weight babies occur and society. It presents a major and It is solidly based on Caplan's mother- in low income areas more often than innovative contribution to our under- blaming research, her extensive in higher income communities. Other standing of women's relationships by knowledge of existing literature, her health services are provided at the placing the focus on valuing and im- clinical observations and the direct discretion of the states, and the bene- proving the relationship rather than statements of women in her university fits vary tremendously. on separation and individuation. course on "Mothers". But even with these serious limita- Caplan examines the external sources Don't Blame Mother is important tions, Medicaid is sorely underused. of mother-blaming among mothers and reading for every woman who has Only 39.1% of the below poverty level daughters. She dissects the mother- ever felt the love and the pain of diffi- population gets it. As a result, 35 mil- blaming theories, attitudes and behav- cult encounters and avoidances with lion people — or 17% of the people in iors of professionals who are imbued her mother. It will also be useful to the U.S. — are without any health with the power of authority figures in therapists, students and researchers insurance whatsoever, and live in ter- shaping our attitudes and beliefs. She in the fields of women's studies and ror of serious illness or disability. Hila attributes responsibility for most of psychology. Richardson, a public health specialist our negative feelings about mothers to —Rachel JosefowitzSigel writing in Too Little, Too Late, makes the exaggerated, stereotypical Perfect this crisis extremely graphic. "A woman Mother and Bad Mother myths that Rachel Josefowitz Siegel is a clinical with a low paying job ($400-$700 a cause us to judge each mother's behav- social worker in private practice in month) who buys her own health in- ior against impossible standards and Ithaca, N. Y. and a founding member of surance in North Carolina, might have prevent us from seeing mother as a the Feminist Therapy Institute. She to pay $80 to $130 monthly for herself real person. She examines society's lectures and writes on women's issues. and her children. One can expect an ad- "need to keep mothers and daughters ditional $1000 in uninsured deduct- divided against each other and so TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE: Dealing with the ibles annually," she writes. She also in- anguished about their relationship Health Needs of Women in Poverty edited troduces us to another dilemma: "One that they don't notice that societal ex- by Cesar A. Perales and Lauren S. Young large employer in the southeast, which pectations are the problem". She draws (Harrington Park Press, New York, NY does provide health insurance to its attention to the taboo against father- $14.95; paperback) 4,000 employees, largely women with blaming in our society and the current The past two decades have made ex- children, includes $ 100 limits on hospi- transfer of blame to mothers and tremely clear the fact that sexism ex- tal rooms, physician visits and pre- daughters. tracts a horrible price from the women scription drugs. Surgical procedures "Such love, such rage". The book is it oppresses. At its core is poverty, and are covered at about one-fourth the filled with vignettes depicting the very it is by now no surprise that women are actual cost, and payment for a normal real every day interactions between poorer than men. The poverty level in childbirth is limited to $200 when the mothers and daughters of all ages. 1985, the last year such calculations usual fee in the area is $1000."What Numerous anecdotes illustrate the were done, was $11,000 for a house- this leads to," writes Lorna McBar- tensions and misunderstandings that hold of four. Nearly 15% of the Ameri- nette, in a chapter entitled "Women get blown out of proportion by exagger- can populace, or 33.7 million people, and Poverty: the Effects on Reproduc- ated expectations on both sides. Cap- live below this: 67% have household tive Status", is a low-income popula- lan offers practical suggestions for incomes of less than 75%, and 38% tion in which 60% of the children have moving beyond mother-blaming, im- have incomes of less than half the one or more chronic diseases. "The proving the understanding between poverty standard. Some of these im- incidence of cancer is inversely related mothers and daughters and building a poverished households consist of to income," she writes. "Heart disease more satisfying and supportive rela- heterosexual adults and their offspring, and diabetes are more prevalent among tionship, "...much of this is about for- but a large number are women heads- the poor. Infant mortality rises consid- giveness — of our mother and our- of-households and their children. In erably as income decreases; and for the selves — because we have been mis- fact, the share of poor people living in poor, the risk of dying under the age of guided by the myths of mother- blame. female -headed units has doubled, going 25 is four times the national average." It is about accepting the only-human from 18% to 35% in the last 25 years. When we factor in race, says educator

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII 1989 25 Ruth E. Zambrana, we see that 80% of causes half of all Black female adults access to rudimentary care. Improving Caucasian women begin prenatal care to live in psychological stress." Since women's lot, they concur, is also ele- in the first trimester; only 60% of the median income of Black house mental, for women are presently grossly pregnant Black women get such at- holds is less than $15,000, it is not overworked and undervalued through- tention. And, as if it does not matter, surprising that Black women have a out the world, a status that has pro- no national data even exists for Lati- 39% greater chance of sustaining job- found implications for mental health. nas. "Blacks and Puerto Ricans were related disease and serious work-re- Individuals like Ruth H. Gordon-Brad- twice as likely as whites not to have lated injuries than non-minorities. shaw, president of Gordshaw Profes- health insurance. Among Mexican- Although each of the 14 contributors sional Health and Development Serv- Americans, the noninsured rate is to Too Little, Too Late posits sugges- ices in Montgomery, AL, advocate a three-and-one-half times greater than tions for remedying the situation of the multi-tiered approach: make childcare that of white non-Hispanics. The mere poor, almost all favor national health provision a national priority; provide struggle to provide for one's family insurance to guarantee every person school-based health services, includ- ing dental, family life and mental health care; provide in-school childcare for THE WISE WOMAN teenaged parents; support federal fund- 2441 Cordova Street ing for 24-hour community-based fam- Oakland, CA 94602 ily crisis teams for intervention in household emergencies; revitalize af- (415)536-3174 firmative action; pass the Equal Rights THE WISE WOMAN, a national quarterly journal, focuses on feminist Amendment; and revise curricula to issues, Goddess lore, feminist spirituality, and Feminist Witchcraft. eliminate gender and race-based role ascriptions so each person is free to Includes: women's history/herstory, news, analysis, critical reviews, develop to her/his maximum potential. art, poetry, cartoons by Biilbiil, exclusive interviews, and original Still others make a strong case for rais- research about witch-hunts, women's heritage, and women today. ing the minimum wage, creating af- Subscription: $15 a year/$27 for 2 years, $38 for 3 years (U.S. funds). A fordable, sound housing for all family Sample copy or back issue: $4 (U.S. funds only). / \ sizes, and standardizing welfare bene- Published quarterly since 1980 by Ann Forfreedom. \. y/ fits so that eligibility and grants are A FREE 1 -year subscription to each Women's Studies teacher thaw \ uniform. sends in a copy of this ad. /^\\ THE WISE WOMAN, 2441 Cordova St., Oakland, CA 94602. K ^ Too Little, Too Late lays the prob- lems out in stark precision. Although it neglects to as much as mention the unique health needs of lesbians, it is an incisive look at the casualties of bad e^es#.garden government policy. Were that all the white men on Capitol Hill would read it We grow pleasurable \^_y things for women — and act with compassion and speed. ve's Garden is a warm, supportive space which provides a woman E with the opportunity to safely expand and celebrate her own sexuali- — Eleanor J. Bader ty. Created in 1974, by women for women, it is the first mail-order catalog of its kind to dedicate itself specifically to the sensual needs of LIKE COMING HOME: Coming Out Letters women. We offer a carefully chosen selection of books, quality vibrators and many other sexual-awareness accessories for women in all life- edited by Meg Umans (Banned Books: styles. Our tasteful and informative catalog has been endorsed by Number 231, Post Office Box 33280, Austin, many leading professionals in the field of human sexuality who find our TX 78764; $7.95 paperback) materials helpful in their clinical practice. To obtain your catalogue, "Last night I watched a TV move called send S100 to Eve's Garden, or visit our' elegant midtown boutique, Dell Williams 'An Early Frost,'"wrote 33-year-old Mon.-Sat. Noon to 6:30 PM. Present this ad for 10% discount. Gardenkeeper Zack to his parents. "It was about a EVE'S GARDEN INTERNATIONAL, LTD., 119 W 57th St., #1406 (on the 14th floor), New York, NY 10019 young man who told his parents that (212)757-8651 he was gay after he became ill with AIDS. One of the points expressed in the film was the disappointment of the parents that he had not shared that information about himself sooner. I have reached a point in my life that I want you to know that I am gay." So begins one of 31 letters to parents, From England come these wonderfully gentle aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins and skin care preparations. AH based on herbs and friends in Like Coming Home. But plants with natural oils. The range is extensive, Zack's letter was unique. It was one of from cleansers, toners, moisturizers, to scrubs only a few that resulted in compassion, and masks. For all skin types, understanding and acceptance. "The • No Animal Testing bad thing about the whole situation," Please Enclose $1.00 for Catalog Zack's father responded, "is the agony you have gone through. I do hope that Baraka Company Nam£ 844 North Star Mall is all behind you and you can get on San Antonio, Texas 78216 /Vklress with living in a more relaxed atmos- Phone. phere. There is no doubt in my mind that we would have a much-better place

26 ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 to live if there were more people like Like Coming Home should be incor- mind as well as the spirit. Here is a you, gay or not." porated into every sex-ed class in the volume recalling our best actions. Others were not so kind. Twenty- country, for it is one of the most con- Here are the tales of women nonvi- three year old Irv got a letter from Aunt crete introductions to the panoply of olently confronting oppression and Peggy complete with Biblical citations gay men and lesbians available. Free winning. McAllister has researched condemning his lifestyle and an injunc- of jargon, statistics and technical the history of women's nonviolent ac- tion to read select passages from the data, it is a way to make a human tions, through time and space, around Holy Book. "If you memorize and call connection — and a way to encourage the world and around the corner. She on these verses you will be helped," she those who are presently grappling with reacquaints us with the heroic heri- wrote. Irv, for his part, rejected this so- their sexuality to take action. Coming tage of women acting cooperatively called aid, happy and secure in the only out, after all, can be like coming home. and achieving great ends. lifestyle he could possibly have led. — Eleanor J. Bader Her sources are global, from the peace- And he is not alone. Despite the sting chanting women of Japan to the peace of rebuke, letter after letter affirms Eleanor J. Bader is News Editor for camp women of Greenham Commons that lesbianism and male homosexual- New Directions for Women and a England. She documents women's ity cannot be wished away. It can be ac- frequent contributor to The Guard- courageous actions in Latin America, cepted, or it can be denied, causing ian, Belles Lettres and other pro- South Africa, India and the United great pain and emotional havoc to the gressive publications States. She takes us on a joyous and person involved. "I remember before dangerous journey. The women are not this landmark in my life, I never really YOU CAN'T KILL THE SPIRIT by Parti always well organized and they do not felt like I belonged in the world, no McAllister (New Society Publishers, Phila- always win, but they are always dedi- matter how successful my work, life or delphia, PA & Santa Cruz, CA; $34.95 cated and brave against terrible odds. my numerous friends," wrote Dawn. "I hardcover; $10.95 paperback) She shows us how ordinary women, always felt like I was on the outside, Get to the bookstore! There is reason like us all, can make a difference. Some looking in. But then I was honest with to rejoice. Pam McAllister has written women lost their children, others lost myself about who I was, and since then an inspirational book. their own lives and still women organ- I have come to feel so at peace with In these dreary days of conservative ized. They organized in each local area myself and the world. I truly belong." politics and depression economics for freedom from oppression. Each Although some of the writers are less where so many feminist gains are participated to her best ability. These comfortable with the hand fate dealt under attack, McAllister's You Can't tales of resistance are so inspiring them than Dawn is, all concur that Kill The Spirit lifts the heart and that I was saddened when the book homophobia and heterosexism pose grave problems for homosexuals in the late 1980s. Some lambast religious teachings, while others critique every- thing from the nuclear family to the schools and popular culture. They vir- Addressing Today's tually beg for kindness and tolerance, if not outright acceptance. Suprisingly, too, almost every letter Environmental seeks to reassure the person receiving it that they are not to blame for this Issues sexual aberration. "It's not your fault," finds its way into so many of the writ- ings that it is shocking, a real gauge of how far we need to go before our society accepts lesbians and gay men as part of the variety of day-to-day life. Equally poignant is the reality of AIDS, as the THE RECURRING SILENT SPRING "Pat Hynes has written a book to slap the promise of "safe sex" becomes an inte- by H. Patricia Hynes, smirk off the face of conventional gral part of many of the letters. Institute on Women and Technology, North Amherst, MA environmentalism." Meg Umans has pulled together a "A woman of remarkable insight, —Patrick A. Parenteau Commissioner, Vermont Department of unique anthology, a slim but well-in- scientific mastery, and literary talent Environmental Conservation formed look at what gay men and lesbi- confronts a male-dominated, sexist- April, 1989 272 Pages ans go through. The volume is compre- scientific-industrial establishment and Softcover 037116 7 US$12.95 hensive: there are teenagers and retir- emerges as the prophetess of the modern Hardcover 037117 5 US$27.50 ees, married middle-aged men who are environmental movement. No other book US Dollar prices quoted are valid for all countries except just now accepting what they have Australia, Austria, FR Germany, New Zealand, UK and Eire. known since adolescence, and people shows so ably the struggle Rachel Carson (Prices for these countries and others are available from who have not yet had their first sexual faced and explores so brilliantly the social the appropriate Pergamon office.) Prices and proposed encounter. Men and women, they and political dimensions of her pathbreaking publication dates are subject to change without prior notice. comprise a rainbow of races and run work. Hynes holds up Silent Spring like a For rush book orders call our toll free the gamut of religious preferences. And, delicate crystal and directs its timeless number: 8OO-333-O877I since the letters are reproduced with- insights to illuminate today's environ- •§l PERGAMON PRESS out correction, we are made privy to the mental problems." _ , heartfelt words and emotions that SheldonKrimsk¥ PhD US: Maxwell House, Fairview Park, Elmsford, NY 10523 USA Department of Urban and Environmental Policy, UK: Headington Hill Hall, Oxford 0X3 OBW England propelled the writer, albeit with gram- A member of the Maxwell Communication Corporation Group ol companies matical errors. Tufts University, MA

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 27 ended and wished that we had librar- railroad. Information was passed on to Get it and prepare to be inspired. ies of resistance stories instead of a the escaping slaves by way of song. — Barbara Joans few slender volumes. Our resistance She retells the Namibia stories of has been legion but our historians have women passing crucial information to Barbara Joans is a feminist anthro- been precious few. Male historians their imprisoned husbands by singing pologist living and writing in San seldom document female courage and to them. She remembers, for us, the Ibo Francisco. Guest faculty at UCSC, most historians have been male. Women's War which used ridicule, urban advisor and private consultant The structure of McAllister's book is dancing and singing as weapons to for socially responsible firms. both unusual and engaging. Instead of protest an unfair tax. chaptering women's actions by time, This book also offers a number of A WIDER GIVING: Women Writing After A region or culture, she divides them by useful and imaginative sections. These Long Silence edited by Sondra Zeiden- activity. This is achieved by connect- include a wonderfully annotated rec- stein (Chicory Blue Press, East Street ing the common resistance themes. ommended reading list for those with North, Goshen, CT 06756; $14.95 plus Police brutality and constant arrests is no time to read, a chronology of $1.00 postage; paperback) one of the themes used in describing women's movement actions (starting This incredibly rich anthology of women's union activity in the United 1300 B.C.) a list of women's organiza- prose, poetry and autobiographical States. Tax resistance heads up an- tions for Peace and Justice and de- narrative proves it's hard to beat the other chapter whether describing scriptions of places where women insights of maturity. These works, by women in the 1940s or the 1980s. My have acted nonviolently. It could func- 12 American women writers who be- personal favorite was Chapter 7, a tion as a source or reference book for gan their serious commitment to writ- complete chapter devoted to women's students of women's history, women's ing after the age of 45, have a depth resistance activities through the use of studies or women's struggles. In spite and substance rarely seen in contem- song. Women were literally singing for of the necessarily episodic nature of porary literature. Regretfully, the po- their lives. According to Pam McAllis- the book, the unifying message of etry does not measure up to the stan- ter: "Singing has been used extensively women's ceaseless and enduring dard of the other writing and is, in fact, by women as a way to articulate politi- powers of resistance comes through rather ordinary and pedestrian. But cal grievances and to ridicule and with clarity. There are so few books the prose soars. harass individual men whose actions that give us a feeling for our strength, These are stories that remain with have been deemed harmful or unjust." power and compassion that when one you long after you've read the book; so She recalls the U.S. underground comes along it is time for rejoicing. good that it's hard to select favorites. Francine Julian Clark's bittersweet tale of a young woman who marries the wrong man, "Eligible Impulses — '44", made me laugh and cry at the same If you time. Naomi Feigelson Chase's "What Can You Do About Love", which seemed _ think at first read cynical and ironic, packs a animal delayed reaction emotional wallop in its dissection of urban loneliness. My research personal gem is Adele Bowers' "The benefits Hunting Season" in which an elderly woman lives a tranquil existence with you... her husband and her wild and domes- tic animals until her husband dies. She is left alone to cope with depres- sion and sorrow while she tries every- THINK AGAIN! thing in her power to stave off the The cruelty of animal research is an unnecessary evil. Recent hunters, to keep them off her land, to developments make animal research obsolete. Other and more stop their cruel, uncaring destruction precise methods exist and must be used. Many experiments of the environment. The ending is one involving whole live animals have and are being replaced by the of the most chilling I've ever read and, use of computers and tissue and cell cultures. I guarantee, one that lingers with you. For over one hundred years The American Anti-Vivisection Just as wonderful as the prose are Society has been dedicated to educating the public concerning the autobiographical narratives this evil abuse of animals through which you not only learn about Join our efforts. Help free the millions of animals whose the authors but also receive valuable bodies would be tortured and finally sacrificed needlessly tips on writing and publishing. The every year, year after year. editor, Sondra Zeidenstein, deserves THE AMERICAN ANTI-VIVISECTION SOCIETY an award for the seamlessness of those Established 1883 For further 204 Noble Pl.ua. 801 Old York Road narratives, as well as for the integrated Jenklntown. PA 19046 tapestry of the book itself. She is an information MS. Mr. Miss Mrs. outstanding editor. clip and mail With such wealth in one volume, I this coupon. Address . feel like an ingrate to carp about any- City. thing. However, although the work in (Not tax deductible) this book represents women from vary- -Zlp- ing backgrounds and from all parts of Enrotl me as: Life Member $50, Annual $10 — check enclosed. the country, I regret that no minority

28 ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 women are included; that, in fact, all dancers. In many cultures, close ob- The icons of matrifocal societies bear the writers are middle class and, de- servers of nature apparently found in witness. By gesture, stance and ani- spite the subtitle, most of the authors the ability to slough off skin an apt mal configuration, they sing of nour- are not neophytes and many have been metaphor for renewal. ishment, blessings and congruence published previously. Hopefully, now Sixty-three finely reproduced photo- with nature. Human faith or need that she has proven what miracles she graphs or drawings highlight this sec- construed these sentinels of a sacred can perform, Sondra Zeidenstein will tion. Throughout, Buffie Johnson cosmos and earthly home. Perhaps soon produce another, more eclectic, gives the visual its priority. today's fascination with the Goddess anthology. "The image came first and seeing seizes on a like unity. Certainly, For now, I can say only that this is the remains the most natural mode of new age spirituality, striving to cher- best anthology of its kind that I can apprehension. I attempt to recapture ish and sustain the inner being remember and I cheer all these won- the non-verbal manner of comprehend- and the planet, touches upon such derful women writers who have more ing the world." ecology. than proven that age is a plus; that With over 332 illustrations of 50 glo- The book would be an invaluable "the best is yet to be". rious color plates, Lady Of The Beasts resource for Woman's Studies, Art, —Beverly Lowy is unique. Johnson, the brilliant History, Religion as well as College American Painter, is a remarkable and Public Libraries. Men definitely LADY OF THE BEASTS (Ancient Images mentor, not only in her choices, but, in would enjoy it too and profit— as would of the Goddess and Her Sacred Animals) a way, lending her glasses to see. The any civilized reader. by Buffie Johnson (Harper & Row, San text does that. Plainly witty, it flows The references are reliable and well Francisco; $34.95 hardcover) with easy stride. By juxtaposition indexed and the eight pages of artifact Lady Of The Beasts is a book of evi- and honed description, an artist view- credits offer a "wish list" for art tours. dence. Like votive lights, icons of the point emerges. Text is the frame for —Claire M. Curtin Goddess burn in the darkness of pre- revelation. A trove of Goddess beliefs, history. Buffie Johnson, in over a four the study is a source book of our Claire M. Curtin is a writer and edito- decade search, has collected clues of earliest roots in the sacred. Whether rial consultant in New York. Her play the ancient Feminine religions. It is an coincidence or cross-cultural, similari- "Medea and Jason: Grosse Point, incredible work. Sumptuous color, ties mirror a people's aspiration for a U.S.A." recently was produced by Mi- black and white photographs and draw- benign and loving Mother lending chael Moriarty at the Corner Loft The- ings clarify the vision. Through image, significance to daily life. atre in New York City. the pivotal role of woman in early soci- ety — the grand matrifocal reality— shines forth. The Goddess material is culled from religious artifacts, cave paintings, stat- Award-winning ues, worldwide sites (mostly Asia, Europe, Middle East and North Amer- issue-oriented films ica) and range from the Paleolithic to about women's history the modern. To achieve a heightened experience and culture sense of the multifaced Lady and her familiars, Johnson organizes the parts For a Studio D resource kit and by Animal motif. Myth, fact, visual information about purchasing or encounter—the reader hop-scotches renting our films and videos in through time and place immersed in the United States contact: texture. This unusual approach, bal- anced by a handy reference chronol- the National Film Board of Canada ogy, becomes cumulatively affecting. 1251 Avenue of the Americas The bestiary includes Bird, Lion, Dog, Serpent, Butterfly, Ewe, Spider, Deer, {212)586-5131 Fax (212) 575-2382 Fish, Pig, Cow, Scorpion and Bear. YOB caa a&o reach us directly at: The Serpent segment illustrates this panoply quite well. Seventy pages trace STUDIO p the serpentine. In birth: swallowing •the National Film Board of Canada rhythms compared to birth spasms P43 Box 6100 Station A (Africa), Snake Goddess of Childbirth Montreal

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 HOFFMAN from page 3 is existential dread, anxiety, an initial experience. It has been many years taste of power — the love and support since I travelled the New York City and as such calls up some of the dark- of women — the crushing fundamen- subways. est and most threatening fears in many tal truth coming home that you are re- Everything else is unreal—surreal. of those who would oppose it. Sexual- sponsible for your own life and the life I am surrounded by hundreds of ity, although seemingly promoted and growing inside you — that you have Operation Rescue participants. No one sold endlessly, is something that our the power to choose and that you must speaks. No one knows where we are American culture is extremely uncom- understand, integrate and live with going. Finally the train stops some- fortable with on any level except as a whatever consequences — morally, where and everyone gets out. I am consumer item, a market product, an psychologically or politically — that running down 23rd St., trying to out- "industry" (pornography or a medical- result. run Randall Terry and his cohorts. We ized problem — sexual therapy). True It is here in the clinics that a different are determined to keep the clinic doors Eros is denied, and women's sexuality definition of love and salvation gets open. becomes defined by the results which played out. In its halls, abortion is very I1 a.m.: we are still there. Surrounded far too often are violent and alienating. often an act of personal growth — for by voices singing "Amazing Grace", I The only way anti-choicers deal with others an ongoing struggle a "Reluc- struggle against the desire to sing with the sex-abortion connection is the most tant Epiphany". Abortion is the them. We keep chanting, "Not the punitive: "They had their fun, now theme, the one thread that runs Church, Not the State, Women must they must pay." through all lives, the one pure com- decide their fate", "Operation Rescue Power. Within the abortion decision monality — a decision made within the your name's a lie, you don't care if process, women choose the results of context, colours and threads of each women die" — I can say them in my their sexuality, and exist in a pro- individual life — a reality of immeas- sleep now. "Racist, Sexist, Anti-Gay, foundly pro-active assertive psycho- urable complexity. Born-Again Bigot—go away". But they logical position in relation to their place There is light in abortion clinics — don't go away — until they are forced in the world. To the anti-choice men- but it is different. It is this —just this by the police. I notice that the emo- tality, women choosing and having that targets them for destruction. tional temperature is rising and that abortions is in direct opposition to God's "If Only" abortion is not an "issue" here either. plan. This thinking reaches its apex in If only I wasn't 14. "Amazing Grace." By the grace of the politics of "Operation Rescue" where If only I was married. God. The God of the Old and New the philosophical concept of a "higher If only my husband had another Testament demands that Operation moral value" (innocent unborn human job. Rescue participants rescue babies life) no matter what the gestation, is If only I didn't give birth to a about to be killed. Nat Hentoff writing given more weight and importance than baby six months ago. in the Village Voice three years ago, the woman who carries it. If only I didn't just get accepted "If only pro-choicers could see the The act of abortion and choice is to college. fetus as a baby seal in utero"...But power. It is women at their most pow- If only I didn't have such diffi- where is that uterus, Mr. Hentoff? erful, exercising the right of fetal exis- cult pregnancies. Operation Rescue sees fetuses — vul- tence. That is why it is so strongly If only I didn't have three chil- nerable, helpless — lambs to the opposed. One could argue with the dren already. slaughter. "I am the lamb of God". The results of that choice, but the ability to If only I wasn't in this lousy God who demands repentance. choose and the ability to act on that marriage. I cannot deliver that. But — April 2, choice is in a sense far more important If only I wasn't 42. 1989 we deliver a message to the Car- than the results of the choice. If only my boyfriend wasn't on dinal of New York, John J. O'Connor— This power (of choice) is traditionally drugs. a proclamation — A Bill of Rights on held by the male establishment and If only I wasn't on drugs. abortion. defined in both military and common If only, If only... The demonstrators start by chanting law — Historically, it is men who will It is 5 a.m. on a morning in 1988 and the same slogans. But today it is differ- decide who survives — not women. the lights of the city mingle with the ent. We have placed our thesis on the Abortion the act—not the "issue" has beginning of morning. The streets of great doors of the Cathedral — where no ambivalence — It is a synthesis of New York are strangely anticipatory. I statues of the saints look coldly at the the most profound order and takes finally come to understand my obses- passing activity below them. women out of the zones defined for sion with Joan of Arc. It was prepara- Today it is different because we are them and situates them in a place tion. ready for a higher level of sacrifice. which they alone define and they alone Abortion the reality has made my life Nine pro-choice people will be arrested. control. In the act of abortion, women a continual battle and me a constant Some of them planned to be — others take their lives and futures into their warrior. were caught up in the time, the mo- own hands. It is 5 a.m. on a cold Saturday morn- ment and the intense spirit of the thing. Abortion is power, abortion is love, ing and I am waiting with other pro- It is the first orchestrated pro-choice abortion is struggle, abortion is sur- choice warriors in front of the Carter act of civil disobedience in New York. vival. And it is in the halls of the Hotel where the troops of Operation All of them told me that for them abortion clinics that these realities are Rescue are gathering to begin their abortion was much more than an "is- played out. Here, there is no promise of terror tactics against a New York City sue". It was a time of pure radicalism salvation or a perfect heavenly father abortion clinic. — when the light pointed to the root who will assuage all pain and heal all Someone hands me a token for the and we addressed it — wounds. subway and before I know it I am swept Recently, I was at CHOICES on a The aboftion clinics have become the away down under somewhere where Saturday. To get into the building, I new Cathedrals of our age — its work- the smell of urine and the rush of the had to pass screaming pickets and ers the grassroots clergy. Here, there trains are the only real sensations I demonstrators — signs held high — 30 ON THE ISSUES VOL XII 1989 rosary beads pushed into my face, have high standards. I think what I very terrifying issues. women yelling at entering patients that really appreciate in a relationship with MH. After we collectivize these feelings they were murdering their babies. a man is that he always has a different and get all this positive energy to- Once in the building as I walked view from me. gether, what do you think we should do down the hall, I saw a young woman in MH. Because he's a man and comes with it? the Recovery Room. She could not have from a different place. SO. I don't have a political vision of been more than 16 years old. She was SO. He does have a different view. He's things changing unless the whole struc- just waking up from the anesthesia very different, he's a physicist. ture of our child rearing changes, our and she was crying for her mother. MH. But that's not tied to gender. educational system, our economic re- I went over to her bed, put down her SO. No, but he's got a whole different lations... siderails and held her. Her tears mixed world view. LE. I think that it would be absolutely with mine. For that moment, I was all MH. You know that radical lesbian terrific if there was another wave of mothers as she was all children. As I politics talks about the fact that you feminism, another wave of a visible held her, another hand reached out to can only have an equal love relation- Women's Movement. me from the bed next to hers and pulled ship between two women because there SO. I feel terrible for these 18 and 19 me towards her. is not that built-in power differential? year-old women. This woman was Russian and about SO. Well I think that's possible. I'm not LE. They're facing the same leadership 35 years old. She whispered these words sure I have a relationship of equality; I faced, they're as insecure as I was, to me: "You are the only one that I have in fact, I know I don't, and not because they're not daughters of women who now. I am totally alone. No one knows of what Joseph does. I still do things in are able to give their daughters a lot. about this. It was such a difficult choice a compulsive way that are about hetero- They have no commitment or desire. for me to make. It was so very neces- sexual relating. I still carry more guilt They think women's liberation is be- sary." She continued to tell me how the if I don't see our child and he does. He hind them. man involved really did not care. How spends as much time of his week at MH. They're ready to walk onto Wall much my caring and I meant to her at home as I do, but whatever time he Street and become stock brokers. this point of her life. How God would spends is good to him. Whatever time LE. With another wave of feminism insure that we would meet after death. I'm absent feels bad to me. So that and a visible Women's Movement we No, abortion was never an "issue" for creates a completely different feeling might be able to try to say that now we me. • within the relationship. want to change what's inside of these MH. Women say that very often that institutions because we've been in there BETWEEN WOMEN from page 9 they can't get through to men because and, you know what, it's not what we men are just not there psychologically. wanted. We just don't want a piece of could feel much more positively about LE. It's very tough to think about this the cake, we want to change what's myself. I could be an O.K. person. If question. There are different things inside. The Women's Movement can do these women said I was O.K. and they that I expect from Susie than from that, it can have a very strong impact were seeing more and more about me Jeremy. A sexual relationship brings on making demands about day care at and they knew I was getting more with it all kinds of complexities. Living the office, about part-time working intimate and they knew all the with someone and having a sexual re- hours, about maternity leave and pa- "mishegoss" and they still thought I lationship changes what happens be- ternity leave. Let's face it, if that's was really O.K., then that's tremen- tween people. I do depend on Susie and going to happen at all it's going to dously healing. she's completely central in my life but happen because of the Women's Move- MH. But that means that women con- there is a different level of attachment ment, so we do need another phase in tinue to be externally defined. that comes with sexual relationships. order to make changes. LE. Yes, you continually take it in, but MH. So you can accept separateness SO. I want to be optimistic but there's it has to be that way. There is no such with a man more than with a woman? not one woman who's out there work- thing as people feeling good about LE. I think there is the potential for ing today who won't say they're not themselves without relationships. merger in the sexual relationship, but under tremendous pressure and MH. But the question remains—how there is also that separateness because stress. It's not what they thought their much do you take in? of gender. lives would look like. LE. I continue to need the love of my MH. There's a tension because of the MH. Perhaps that's the price of great friends, my lover and so on. But, it's difference. What should women work competitive achievement. I don't think inside of me. "Merged attachments" towards in their relationships? that you can achieve great things with- doesn't mean always looking for how LE. I think there are two roads. One is out sacrificing. I'm doing in relation to how Susie sees recognizing that we cannot forfeit our LE. I don't think the Women's Move- me. women friendships, that we can't let ment has to accept that. SO. I don't think that is an issue with them fall by the wayside. We need our MH. For some, no? You are a writer, us. It's what makes it possible for us to women friends and we need to re-pri- and you have to sacrifice if you're com- work together, to sustain the tremen- oritize these relationships because they petitive, if you want to achieve a high dous separations. have been put on the back burner to level of excellence. MH. What differentiates the love you some extent. The second thing we're LE. That happens with a certain kind have for each other from the way you saying is that in order to do that there of visibility. But if we're talking about love your husbands or your lovers? are ways that we have to begin to talk the regular workplace, the reason why SO. They are completely different. I to each other about our differences, a woman has to work until 10 o'clock at get disappointed by my lover in a com- about our feelings of envy, competition night is because of the way the pletely different way. and anger. These are the new things workplace is structured. If she wants MH. Do you expect more of your that have happened in the past 10 to get that position she's got to show friends? years so the whole point is about being that she's going to be totally devoted to SO. I expect the same of both. I really able to speak about very difficult and the company. We could be saying that

ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 31 yes, someone could achieve a certain respondent in Rome came upon infor- ties of citizenship." level and have that job legitimately be mation that led him to believe that Plato wanted the trade of the shop- a part-time job, and your career millions of lives were being threatened keeper to be punishable as a crime. wouldn't be threatened because hers by drought and famine in Africa. He "The slave basis of classical Greek was part-time. asked the home office in New York for society fostered a divorce of theory from MH. You want it all. You can't have it permission to take his crew to Africa to practice and the development of the all. get the story. The answer was "no". speculative and abstract side of science LE. But you can't fault me for "wanting Later, as we all now know, a BBC and mathematics.. ."Disciplines such as it all". I just want to be careful with television crew, travelling through "applied mathematics" were shunned; that expression, because women "want Ethiopia, captured the stark reality of what was valued was that which had it all" and "have it all"; but what they've children starving to death. Overnight, no practical application. Necessity was told us we want and what we have is it sparked a world-wide reaction that vulgar; a degradation of the spirit; it what men have had. We don't want reportedly saved the lives of seven was the absence of freedom; it was the "what men have had". I don't want it million Ethiopians. condition of the slave. all in the sense that I want what we There's an ironic twist to this story. I This attitude affected the way women have. I want to change what men have subsequently discovered who it was at were viewed. Since procreation was a because men have suffered by what ABC that refused to let the network's necessity, sexual passion between men they've had. It's what they don't have TV crew go to Africa in 1984. It was and women ("men" meant "philoso- in relationships with their family. Rick Kaplan, an executive producer of phers" here) was impossible. Homo- MH. You want to change the definition Ted Koppel's Nightline. And, in mid- sexuality, specifically the pederastic of all. 1986, it was the same Rick Kaplan who relationship of an older man to a young SO. Right! killed a two-part series on Project Cen- boy, is intrinsic in the Platonic concep- LE. Exactly. • sored which was going to explore tion of "knowing". Women, regarded whether the news media ever over- solely for their procreative nature, LUISEEICHENBAUM, coauthorwith look, undercover or censor important shared with slaves the category of crea- Orbach of What Do Women Want stories. tures who tended to the necessities of and Understanding Women, and Indeed the media can make a differ- life. Hannah Arendt, in The Human SUSIE ORBACH, author of Fat Is A ence ... if they want to. Condition illustrated the vastly com- Feminist Issue, are the founders of The press has the power to stimulate plicated way in which Greek values the Women's Therapy Centres in the people to clean up the environ- arose from its slave society. The con- London and New York. Luise Eichen- ment; to prevent nuclear proliferation; cept of necessity was yoked to the idea baum lives in New York and Susie to force crooked politicians out of office; of imprisonment. "Freedom" meant Orbach in London. They have been best to reduce poverty; to create a truly freedom from everything that com- friends for over 16 years. equitable society; and, as we have seen, pelled life, or that was regarded as a to literally save the lives of millions of necessity. As Evelyn Fox Keller writes, THE PRESS from page 18 human beings. "Heterosexual desire does not contrib- And this is why we must look to, prod, ute to transcendance for Plato, pre- because they do not fit conventional and support a free, open, and aggres- cisely because of its association with definitions of news. I suggest it is time sive press. This is the real, bottom line physical procreation...The status of the for journalism to rethink its tradi- issue. For it is the press which deter- physical body remains that of the slave: tional definitions of news. In a time of mines which issues go on the national subordinate, subdued, and excluded nuclear terrorism, environmental dis- agenda for discussion and thought ... from the realm of philosophy. Only aster, and economic doom, it is not and which don't. thus can Platonic knowledge enjoy the news when a man bites a dog. We have a constitutionally guaran- freedom of erotic mutuality." This se- Real news is objective and reliable in- teed free press in the United States vere divorce between body and mind, formation about important events and we have the best communications necessity and play, application and ab- happening in society. The widespread technology in the world; let us seek a straction, experience and theory, "pure" dissemination of such information will more responsible press, a press that and "applied", science has affected every help people become better informed, earns its First Amendment rights. • aspect of western civilization into and a better informed citizenry will modern times, including the kind of demand, obtain, and benefit from an Carl Jensen, Ph.D., is Professor of Com- knowledge we value, the way we think administration more concened with munication Studies and Director of men and women think, and what we substance than with image. Project Censored at Sonoma State think they can do. As Evelyn Fox Keller Would it really make any difference if University in California. points out, there were not many fa- the press were to provide more cover- mous women composers, writers or age for the kinds of stories cited by GENDER from page 19 artists in the past, but no one imagines Project Censored? that women cannot write music, books, The answer is very simple: yes. "Another explanation of the Greek or paint. The fact that there are not Hunger in Africa was consistently preference for deduction is found in many famous women scientists, how- nominated as a "censored" subject the organization of their society. The ever, begs the conclusion that women during the early years of this decade. philosophers, mathematicians, and art- cannot do science, that there is some- When I would ask journalists why ists were members of the highest social thing "intrinsically" masculine about they did not cover the tragedy unfold- class. This upper stratum either com- science and mathematics in the way ing there, they would say: "It is not pletely disdained commercial pursuits there is not something intrinsically news," or, "Everyone already knows and manual work or regarded them as masculine about being an historian or about starving Africans," or "Nothing unfortunate necessities. Work injured a painter. can be done about it anyway." the body and took time from intellec- In the centuries between Plato and Early in 1984, an ABC TV News cor- tual and social activities and the du- Bacon, homoerotic union as a corollary 32 ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 of transcendant knowledge, was trans- leads to a state of alienated selfhood, of suggest that a science that promises formed into heterosexual conquest. denied connectedness, of defensive power and the exercise of dominion Bacon's use of sexual imagery as a separateness—to a condition which over nature selects for those individu- metaphor for the fusion between know- finally leads to being 'out of touch with als for whom power and control are ing and masculinity, had consequences the facts of life'". It is impotence mas- central concerns. And a science that as crucial for science as for our under- querading as power, a not unfamiliar conceives of the pursuit of knowledge standing of gender—"Henceforth, theme in psychoanalysis, but one which as an adversarial process selects for Nature becomes indubitably female: has malignant consequences for the those who tend to feel themselves in the object of actions", and her knower contemporary world, as institutional- adversarial relation to their natural becomes masculine. ized in modern science. There is a environment." Bacon himself straddled two scien- dogmatic need to make experiments The problem posed by her analysis, tific traditions, the Hermetic or Al- work, to findresult s that "fit" the model, and our concern is: "How might a dif- chemical tradition and the mechanical "And what does not fiti s not acknowl- ferent conception of sexuality, and of scientific tradition, which eventuated edged."TheHarvardBioscience Whole masculinity modify the conception of into the powerful 17th century organi- Rat Catalogue, a catalogue of equip- knowledge, of the relation of mind to zation of scientists, the Fellows of the ment for animal researchers which nature, that Plato bequeathed to us?" Royal Society, the prominent ancestor includes everything from guillotines to Her answer was latent in her biogra- of the modern scientific tradition. kill mice to "rodent emulsifiers", which phy of Barbara McClintock, who no "But his attitude toward gender and look like fruit blenders, includes this doubt stimulated this quest and was sexuality, expressed in his vision of following advice to researchers: "You herself the answer. One of Evelyn Fox science as a 'Masculine Birth of Time' might define research as the elimina- Keller's unhappy discoveries, in this that will issue in a 'blessed race of tion of surprises and the nurturing of earlier book, was "the closed mind" of Heroes and Supermen'—a force that valid expectations. These instruments science. A curious paradox in a profes- can 'hound,' 'conquer and subdue Na- should assist you in testing the value of sion that prides itself on "openness", ture,' 'shake her to her foundation', your expectations." "objectivity" and "sharing" of knowl- 'storm and occupy her castles and Such aggressive compulsion to "make edge. But science has become an en- strongholds'— retrospectively marks things work" and "concerns about trenched institution and now behaves him as a kinsman of the later Fellows autonomy...appear especially promi- like other entrenched institutions, of the Royal Society. The Founding nent among scientists". And science in whose goal is self protective of its place Fathers of modern science rejected turn becomes "...a welcoming sanctu- in the social structure. Science now some elements of Bacon's thought ary for such concerns. A science that permeates every aspect of our economy .. .[but].. .they embraced the patriarchal advertises itself by the promise of a and politics, our social thinking, our imagery of Baconian science...A recur- cool and objective remove from the educational institutions, our ambitions rent token of this is their Baconian use object of study selects for those indi- for our children. "The closed mind" of 'masculine' as an epithet for privi- viduals for whom such a promise pro- that delayed rewards and recognition leged, productive knowledge." vides emotional comfort. Similarly, I for Barbara McClintock's work was This imagery institutionalized a state of mind, whose language is common today in science: "Note for example, the language in which one scientist describes his pur- BERKELEY MEDEVICES, INC. suit: 'I liked to follow the workings of 907 CAMELIA STREET another mind through these minute, BERKELEY, CA 94710 teasing, investigations to see a relent- less observer get hold of Nature and squeeze her until the sweat broke out all over her and her sphincter loos- ened.' " [quoted in Ehrenreich and Eng- lish 1978, p. 69] The 17th century was a crucial cross- roads in the development of the mod- Berkeley Medevices, Inc. 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ON THE ISSUES VOL XII 1989 33 not the consequence of gender, but the MEN from page 12 The pride to which we aspire is not in consequence which every self-identi- being men but in being men who... fied community, whether religious or I don't know the answer to the ques- -men who are living their lives in a scientific, has with accepting new work, tion "Well, what happens to the sex- way that will make a difference. different values, different visions. The class identity we always seem to carry We must be transformers of selfhood spirit of a de-masculinized science, around with us?" But I do know there - our own and others'. If we are not, we which Evelyn Fox Keller calls for, one is a possibility for one's moral identity will have betrayed women's lives ut- characterized by "world-openness", to shine through one's life more often. terly, and we will have lost a part of "other-centered", related to "hidden The change to which we aspire has got ourselves that is precious and rare on harmonies and relations", "a form of to be predicated on a new integration this earth. • attention to the natural world that is of selfhood, a radical new identity, a like one's ideal attention to the human self that knows who it is in relation to world: it is a form of love", a knowing reality and who it is in relation to which includes "peripheral vision", truth. We need a double vision: We characterizes many male scientists as need to keep in our mind both the well, such as Einstein. But if such reality of our being men in the sex- qualities are identified as feminine, class system and the truth of the possi- and women identifed as the heralds of bility of a future without it. We need to a new scientific vision —one which is assert, "Yes, as men, we're part of it. desperately needed—they may find as And yet we are men who are trying to they make their way into the "nuts and live differently, trying to make our SORORITY from page 24 bolts" level of the scientific establish- lives make a difference." We need the ment, not singly but as a class, that discipline of action that is transforma- models of their own to follow, lesbians their role will be like that of someone's tive of ourselves and society. If our should have escaped, or at least re- informing Babylonian astrologers that antisexist action in the world stops, sisted, the traditional thinking that "the fault is not in our stars, but in our moral identity will go into hiberna- women of the same generation cannot ourselves". The shift in vision is not tion, and the longer it sleeps, the less it share living space happily over the only acute, but will mean the displace- resembles who we could become. And long haul. Their experience has been ment of a priesthood. • we must not fancy ourselves redeem- different. Women have not been their ers of our sex class, as men who will lifelong adversaries in the competition Roberta Kalechofsky, feminist, animal show the world that men are not as bad for a male meal-ticket. It should be rights, civil rights and peace activist as some have said—that's a trap laid by easier for them. and vegetarian, is a writer, publisher, a sex-class identity determined to blend And it is certainly healthier not to educator and lecturer. In 1975 she back into the comfort of unconscious live alone, especially as one enters the founded Micah Publications. Roberta masculine complacency, determined to third age. The aging lesbian couple, is a contributing Editor of ON THE forge out of self-congratulation some although frequently still hidden in our ISSUES. semblance of self-respect. society, can be a role model, caring for each other in that society in which women over 60 increasingly outnum- COMING ATTRACTIONS ber men as survivors. The composite person who emerged from my survey is a reasonably well- "Margaret Sanger — adjusted, happy individual who, de- Personal Reflections" by her official spite the strain of living as a deviant, biographer Lawrence Lader has been a productive citizen who has functioned in what has been, at least at times, an unsympathetic environment. "Susan Rosenberg, Political Prisoner: These women have lived their lives in Finding Her Soul in the Silence" their own perceived identities, remain- — an exclusive interview and profile ing true to themselves, often against all odds. Now, as we approach the end of this century, we can hope that soci- "The Foster Care System: ety will continue to become less homo- Why I Can't Write About It Anymore" phobic and move toward a broader and by Naomi F. Chase, author of more humane definition of human re- "A Child Is Being Beaten" lations. •

Monika Kehoe, Ph.D. is a Research Associ- "Sexual Malpractice: Therapists Who Seduce Their Patients" by Fred Pelka ate in the Center for Research and Educa- tion in Sexuality at San Francisco State University where she teaches the course "Hysterical Housewives (And Other Courageous Women)" —how women "Lesbian and Gay Aging" in the Gerontol- ogy Program. Dr. Kehoe has published over organized to protect their environments from hazardous waste, by Karen Jan 30 articles in professional journals,and six Stults books. Her most recent books are Lesbians Over Sixty Speak For Themselves (1988) and Historical, Literary & Erotic As- An in-depth interview with Olga Lipovskaya, Russian Feminist, conducted by pects of Lesbianism Themselves (1986) Bill Strubbe and Julie Dorf both published by Haworth Press.

34 ON THE ISSUES VOL XII 1989 FEEDBACK divorced shortly afterward to marry by foods, separated from religious sig- Pikul. She was not an innocent person nificance. Eventually, in the suburbs caught in a trap but a mature, success- of New Jersey, we sought out Ethical VICTIM BLAMING? ful woman; nor was she naive — she Culture Sunday schools seeking the As the coordinator of an outreach pro- knowingly lied for Pikul on the witness ethical core of human belief and rela- gram for battered women and as an stand. tionship to one another. advocate for the same for almost 10 Saying that Mrs. Pikul hasn't shown Coincidentally, my own daughter — years, I applaud your coverage and much sense is a fact, not victim baiting. mother of two sons — has now been indictment of Joseph Pikul. However, She exercised free choice in her deci- part of the adult Bat Mitzvah women you verbally batter the present Mrs. sions. Unless women accept responsi- at the Forest Hills Jewish Center. Pikul. Victim blaming has no place in bility for their own lives, they will As Dr. Chesler reminds us, kaddish a feminist publication. remain victims. has been the male prerogative. I am a Allow me to raise your consciousness poet and a long poetic work in progress about battered women: Battered THE WESTERN SAHARA CONFLICT may be a feminist "midrash" on "The women are not masochistic. They may The article by Major Carlos Wilson (On Marriages of Jacob". I have worried be overly trusting and naive. They are the Issues, Vol XI, 1989) presents the about my "right" to "re-write" —as a surely products of a society that teaches situation regarding the Western secular Jew. But Phyllis Chesler's women to be nurturing, forgiving and Sahara conflict in a clear, realistic, and article welcomes all of us. willing to stand by their men through historically accurate manner. Major Charlotte Mandel thick and thin. Men who batter women Wilson sheds substantial light upon Cedar Grove, NJ are con artists. Charming, and atten- the ongoing war as well as the rather I don't know where you got my name tive one minute, they can be cruel, massive United States military and but your magazine was a welcome sadistic and violent the next. Battered economic assistance to Morocco. surprise, as opposed to the tons of junk women find themselves caught in a set In view of the peaceful (if quite aus- mail I regularly toss without opening. of circumstances they never envisioned. tere) conditions now present in the Phyllis Chesler's article is worth the They are made to believe that some- Sahrawi refugee camps, the descrip- price of a subscription. The other ar- how they are responsible, in part, for tion of the brutal and horrific condi- ticles were excellent as well. the abuse. tions caused by Morocco's occupation S. Ruth Schulman Mrs. Pikul only knows her husband's of the Sahara and the extreme violence Princeton, NJ version of what happened to her prede- used in the illegal takeover is particu- cessor and she wants to believe that larly appropriate. Those terrible days GOOD OLD REAGAN DAYS she will be able to make his life so are all too easily forgotten by outsid- I read Merle Hoffman's delightful, wonderful that the dark side of his ers, but serve to steel the determina- pungent editorial and can console her personality will disappear. tion of the Sahrawis all the more. with the thought that millions are Empowering battered women to be- On a visit last summer, I can attest pining for the good old Reagan days. gin to recognize the patterns of abuse to the organization and resolve of the Tristram Coffin, Editor and to not view the incidents as iso- Sahrawi people under trying circum- The Washington Spectator lated acts is what we have been trying stances. Particularly, the industry, Washington, D.C. to do for so long. Rather than seeing resolution and dignity of the Sahrawi Domestic Violence as an interpersonal women has helped assure a cohesive THE MACHO IMAGE event between two adults, we want family life and democratic structure in It is time to promote the fact that people to see that a society that deval- the camps, itself an inestimable contri- Nature thinks so well of abortion that ues and depersonalizes women is a bution to the liberation effort. she practices it every 28 days (or about) society likely to blame the battered It is interesting to note that although — unless there has been ejaculation. woman for her own victimization. How a comprehensive United Nations peace The pregnancy preceeded by ejacula- much more empowering it would have plan is currently circulating which calls tion is the only one that interests the been if you had validated the present for a ceasefire and referendum of self- anti-choicers. Mrs. Pikul's abuse and suggested that determination in the territory, Mo- Their propaganda has been so thor- she call a Domestic Violence hotline. rocco's King Hassan II has so far re- ough that probably every child in the Claire Cozzi fused to significantly alter his intran- fifth grade knows the Woman's Life New Brunswick, NJ sigent stance on Western Sahara. Cycle. Let's make the Man's Life Cycle Thus, it appears unfortunately that the property of anyone who can read. Beverly Lowy responds: the conflict will carry on for some time This will direct some dollars into re- After many years of listening to, coun- to come. search obtainable to the very young seling and empathizing with battered In light of these facts, there will con- fathers. Many are only trying to best women, I'm afraid Ms. Cozzi will be tinue to be a need for accurate report- their role models and would welcome unable to raise my consciousness any ing on the dispute, a role admirably knowing their real needs. This might higher than it is. Ms. Cozzi is obviously filled by Major Wilson's article. pare down the Macho image of having unfamiliar with the facts of the Pikul Anthony G. Pazzanita six to eight children, before proving case and, as too many victims' advo- Wellesley Hills, MA ability to take care of one's self. cates do, she has jumped on what she I spent 17 years on Planned Parent- considers unfairness to the oppressed. RIGHTS OF SECULAR JEWS hood, English to Spanish, helping the Pikul's violent disposition and un- I have just read, with emotion that school nurses, first, in a Well Baby controlled rages were common knowl- reveals to myself a well of longing, Clinic. And dislike of the macho image edge to everyone who knew him. De- Phyllis Chesler's article "The Walls does creep in. I am 89 now, and would spite this, Mary Bain testified as a Came Tumbling Down". My back- like to see the women winning. character witness for him. At the time, ground in Judaism consisted of ca- Eleanor Stiling she was married to a man whom she dences of Yiddish, holidays marked San Diego, CA

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ON THE ISSUES VOL XII 1989 THE ELIZABETH STONE HOUSE is a women's mental health program based COUNSELING on self-help and peer support. Our prize- winning video on women's mental issues is available for rental or purchase.Oral COPYTEX CORPORATION WOMEN'S PSYCHOTHERAPY REFER- histories book available for RAL SERVICE. An organization of non- purchase.Volunteers welcomed as SHARP COPIERS & sexist therapists that will match you with a advocates for residents. P.O. Box 15, FAX MACHINES therapist who can work best with you. Re- Jamaica, Plain,MA 02130, 617-522- ferrals to qualified feminist professionals. 3417. SERVING THE NEW YORK (212) 595-6655. METROPOLITAN AREA FIGHT ANTI-CHOICERS WITH (212) 324-5290 KNOWLEDGE. "Abortion: A Different Light", produced by Merle Hoffman in (914) 592-3590 PRODUCTS 1982, explores the ethical, religious, politi- cal and sociological aspects of abortion with honesty and candor. Seven former QUALITY COSMETICS REASONABLY abortion patients tell their stories movingly We wish continued success to PRICED: Cruelty-free and hypo-aller- and honestly; pro-choice activists and attor- On the Issues genic skin/hair care products, make-up neys are interviewed in depth; anti-choicers in its goal to create a better world for all. items, fragrances. In business 25+years. are also given a chance to air their views. Send $1 for Vegan Samples. Patricia This video puts the focus of the abortion Allison, 4470-I Monahan, LaMesa, CA issue where it belongs—on women. Availa- Gold Brand Food Products, Inc. 92041. ble in Beta, VHS or %" cassettes. $350 purchase, $75 rental. Costs will be waived for fledgling or struggling feminist organiza- CATALOG OF BEAUTIFUL CRUELTY- tions but $25 to cover postage and han- 37 Montrose Ave. FREE COSMETICS, TOILETRIES, bio- dling must be remitted. CHOICES, 97-77 Brooklyn, NY 11206 degradable household products, non- Queens Blvd., Forest Hills, NY 11374. (718) toxic pet products and more! Caring 275-6020, Ext. 467. people would never use products that have been developed through painful CLOTHING testing on animals and are switching to SERVICES Cruelty-free today! For our 22-page cata- log please send $1.00 to Ecco Bella, AT LAST! Work clothes, gloves & boots Dept. OTI, 125 Pompton Plains Cross- TREAT YOURSELF to Gentle Mind- for hardworking women. Free brochure. road, Wayne, NJ 07470. We are a Body work by supportive feminist. Cert. Workables for Women, 3 Oak Valley, woman-owned business and donate 20% Rubenfeld Synergist. Effective with all Clifton, PA 15026-0214 of our profits to help animals. personal issues from stress to abuse. (212)996-5259

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DALKON SHIELD CLAIMANTS — Selling Socially RATES: Medical Claims Consultants is a unique Classifieds: $5.00 per line, 3-line organization established by health pro- Responsible minimum (40 characters or spaces per fessionals to help claimants obtain fair compensation fortheir injuries. MCC staff Products, Concepts line, including punctuation). is experienced in valuing claims and Display Classifieds: $40 per column- provides assistance in obtaining medi- or Services? inch (2%" wide; 3x rate $35). cal records, filing claims, and negotiating Then ON THE ISSUES! classifieds are well worth your consideration. Four with the Trust. MCC works with support Please enclose your check with your ad times a year ON THE ISSUES reaches groups in the US and is endorsed by copy and send to: ON THE ISSUES, Dalkon Shield Action Canada. Services over 150,000 active and caring readers. are available to ALL women at a reason- Try us. You will find ON THE ISSUES 97-77 Queens Blvd., Forest Hills, NY able cost. For more information, write classifieds the most effective means to 11374, Attention: Ad Director. For MCC, 10625 Jones St., Suite 101 A, reach a whole new audience. more information call (718) 275-6020. Fairfax, VA 22030 or call 1-800-274- 0095. 37 ON THE ISSUES VOL XII1989 Run BY women FOR women ^^i^^ Since 1971 A N.Y. State licensed facility ^•|> Merle Hoffmaa Founder/President

Choices Women's Medical Center Inc.

The highest quality medical treatment in a positive, supportive and educational environment. We make feminist concepts a reality. All Women's Reproductive and Gynecological Services including Sonograp_h y, At CHOICES all patients are encouraged to practice "Patient Power", a participatory approach to healthcare, conceived and instituted by Merle Hoffman. Patient Power 1. Patient Power is the right to question your doctor. 7. Patient Power is knowing all your options. 2. Patient Power is not being intimidated by the medical 8. Patient Power is being informed of your rights and establishment. responsibilities. 3. Patient Power is making medicine work for you. 9. Patient Power is comparison shopping for doctors and drugs. 4. Patient Power is knowledge of the power of your own will to health. 10. Patient Power is being an informed consumer. 5. Patient Power is awareness of available medical choices. 11. Patient Power is integrity and responsibility. 6. Patient Power is assertive questioning of the medical system. 12. Patient Power is a discipline of self awareness.

Medicaid Blue Cross 1199 Visa Mastercard Amex Open Mon. - Sat. 718/275-6020 97-77 Queens Blvd., Forest Hills, N.Y. 11374

Choices Bulk Rate Women's Medical Center, Inc. U.S. Postage 97-77 Queens Boulevard PAID Forest Hills, New York 11374 Permit No. 63 (718)275-6020 Mechanicsburg, PA