The most frequent comment we receive from you is this
question: How does one go about becoming a
"self-defined" woman?
Answer: Since you are asking the question, you have
already started. Continue on by becoming aware of what
is all around you. Examine how your male dominated and
controlled culture has defined ALL women. Think about
the programming you received growing up and how that
programming has continued and been reinforced. Study
how you have judged other women and men by the stand-
ards established by that culture and how you allow
yourself to be judged by both women and men. Evaluate
those habitual standards and see if they are valid.
Fiona Apple raised more than a few eyebrows with her
acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards. Named
best new artist, Apple told her fans in part: "You
shouldn't model your life about what you think that we
think is cool and what we're wearing and what we're
saying, and everything. Go with yourself."
The following are cues to illicit *your* specific re-
sponse based on *your* personal programming. They are
for you to accept or reject or build on or add to.
Mr = master; Mrs = master's slave; Ms = my self. Self
identity is as important as freedom. Miss stands
alone, is insignificant, was not chose, ie missed and
defective. What's in a name? Are "sir" names the only
ones that count?
Human forms or body types are many and varied. Both
women and men are tall, short, thin, fat, muscular,
weak, tan, brown, red, black or white. Why then is it
only the woman's body that must be "enhanced" or
"covered up" or "eliminated"? If you think that look-
ing good in cloths is why you dress to the dictates of
a male decreed, female fashion then you are letting
someone other than yourself define you.
Anorexic, bullemic and even male steroids! Never mind
the health risk -- just look at this great bod!
Body hair occurs in both genders. It has a specific
purpose which is the same for both genders. Why is it
OK for males -- even facial hair, but the sight of
underarm or leg hair on a woman an anathema?
There has never been a war fought, a global weather
crisis or a disease caused by a bad hair day.
We are all influenced by both women and men. What we
need most of all is to be aware of this and how it
affects our thinking. In a previous article (1997:
46), we have mentioned how the GOP was telling its
members to soft pedal the issue of D&E's which places
restrictions on a woman's human right to the medical
treatment that she and her doctor agree upon. Well
that was true at the time, but it angered the powerful
political/religious (made in the image of) wing of the
party who are coming to the next meeting of the RNC
insisting that "their will be done." Watch that debate
as it will separate the fundamentalists from the prag-
matists and give you a great voters guide to boot.
Also note how you may be affected by some commercials
that are starting to air on TV. One that we saw re-
cently featured two or three women, pissing and moaning
over how terrible it was to kill babies. "Oh, do
people really do that? It is such a terrible thing.
How can we allow that to happen, etc" ad nauseum. Note
the programming for women in this and how there is
nothing about why such a procedure should be available
for a woman's health and/or life -- just pathos and
disinformation.
Another interesting thing going on that we noted is the
media coverage being given to a *woman's* support group
for "mothers staying home where they belong with their
children and just loving it" called (get this!) FEMALE.
My, how positive the media is. It fairly gushes ap-
proval. Tons of quotes from these mothers saying, "how
great it is to stay home with my children etc."
Interesting that there is a need for "support" for
women who are submitting to the male culture's require-
ment for happiness and fulfillment. Hey, we ALL support
their right to choose.
But, not one word about how it should be a woman's
choice or that some women MUST work. Any of you remem-
ber when we women started moving out of the home into
the workplace? Not much support from the media for
that, just condemnation for being "F-word-ists".
Message here is clear -- control. Our message is: WITH
CHOICE, ***WE*** HAVE CONTROL.
#
GenderGappers 1998 - 2
"MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING" OR A SLIPPERY SLOPE?
So what does it really matter in the grand scheme of
things if we lose one, seldom used medical procedure
for women? Are we making "much ado about nothing"?
We've all heard that comment along with: "The President
was sent a bill that allowed this procedure to save a
woman's life so you should be satisfied with that."
We aren't satisfied and with good reason. We are also
disgusted with the disinformation, outright lies and
the way the media repeats them. If that bill was
signed by the president, the first doctor that used the
procedure would be sued -- and no one would dare to use
it again. The anti-choice crowd have coffers full of
money already to hire doctors who will testify in court
that the woman in question would *not* have died.
Right now the cost of medical treatment is sky-high
because of the huge payments for malpractice insurance.
Imagine how high these would go for an Ob-gynocologyst.
How does one prove that a woman would have died without
the procedure ***unless she died?*** We are told by
the media that the AMA is against this procedure, but
the media stays mum on the fact that the American
College of Obstetrics and Gynecology do *NOT* want it
outlawed.
Will Shakespeare wrote, "The law is an ass." If so, we
can be sure that the political/religious fundamentalist,
who are bent on restricting women's human rights,
will mount that ass and ride roughshod over us. Then,
the dilation & extraction procedure would be
eliminated for all cases, and that is just the first
step in their overall goal which is to deny ALL types
of birth control for women. Clinton understands this
and insists that not only should the procedure be used
to save a woman's life, but also ***for her health.*** A
Caesarean section is not always an alternative (but more
on that in another article).
A recent primary election in California produced a
winning republican anti-choice candidate to run against a
pro-choice democrat. During the campaign, special
interest ads by Gary Bower and his Storm Troopers
(euphemistically called family research council) were
said to have influenced this primary. All news media
carried these ads free to the rest of the country and
they are a sign of the disinformation to come.
The ads are chock full of the usual "scare and
misrepresent tactics". One starts out by showing a
several-weeks-old live baby. Thereafter, the inference
is, that the procedure, they call PBA (we won't energize
their terminology) to inflame emotions, would kill the
baby shown.
It would not be a pretty picture, but if
they are going to condemn this procedure they should
show one or more of the feti (fetuses) that a doctor
decided should be extracted FOR THE HEALTH OF HER/HIS
WOMAN PATIENT. Let them portray the monstrosities of
an embryo gone wrong; an accident of nature with a head
the size of a basketball, for example. Shouldn't we
demand truth in advertising?
We desperately need doctors to come forward and cri-
tique these ads but we understand why they dare not. Any
health professional, who appears in the media, is
targeted -- her/his practice, patients, family and self
are subjected to terrorists actions.
The meeting of the RNC at Palm Springs last week sure
let us know where this party stands. Did you notice
how the "debate" was solely about "infanticide", while
nothing was said about "women", about "patients", about
"human rights"? However, they were clear and united
about one thing: "say anything, do anything to get
elected so we can override the President's veto."
This is just the first step as they are pledged to
continue to deny women the reproductive care of their
choice - a constitutional right. This issue IS a
slippery slope. We must all contact others and spread
the word through e-mail, the Web, letters-to-the-editor
and any other means available, since the media is not
interested in researching the facts and will not be
until women start dying.
One of the problems we have is that the anti-choice
groups have controlled, and are controlling, the lan-
guage and the media uses their language. We must
change this by entering into the debate using the
correct terminology.
While it is true that public opinion polls show that a
majority of Americans are against "PBA", if the question
is, "Should a woman have the right to choose to have
an abortion", the majority gives a resounding yes, UNLESS,
the poll question adds, "for any reason."
We must get the correct language back into this debate
and frame the issue from our prospective -- women's
human rights. Now the issue is firmly framed as reli-
gious women (baby/child protectors) vs f-word-ists (baby/child
killers) by the media. We need more Senators and Represen-
tatives like Republican Senator Snowe of Maine who bravely
stood up for our President's veto and told the senators:
"This is for women and their doctors to decide, not government,
and certainly not the senate."
#
Twanda@vbi.champlain.edu
GenderGappers articles may be forwarded if you wish,
and translated into other languages. We are pleased
to announce that GenderGappers is now archived in
the liz library. You may access at:
http://www.gate.net/~liz/gappers
Many thanks, liz, for putting 'gappers on the WEB!
{***PLEASE NOTE: A Caesarean Section may be and is used
in child birth for medical or other reasons. The woman's
pelvic structure or other factors may make this mandatory
or she may prefer this birth procedure.}
GenderGappers 1998 - 3 NO ZIPPERS, NO VELCRO
There are persistent claims made, by anti-choice pro-
tagonists, that the dilation and extraction (D&E)
procedure is not necessary because a woman could have
a Caesarean section (CS). Interesting. They decry the
"rending of flesh" which may occurs in a D&E, yet
totally ignore that the fetus is generally dismembered
when the CS procedure is used.
Of course it goes without saying that those who would
deny women their human right of choice do not care one
whit about the rending of a ***women's*** flesh. One
would think that they believe women's abdomens and
uteri have zippers or velcro fastening.
Well, we don't. Rather, most of us have intact skin
and we're very fond of it. This very important organ
does a lot more than keep our insides from spilling
out. Its excretory function is so great that it is
referred to as our third kidney.
Just beneath the epithelium (that's the outermost layer
that you can see and touch) lies a supportive connec-
tive tissue filled with cells whose function is to
quickly fight any introduction of bacteria or other
material that might threaten the body. These cells may
also release chemicals into the blood that summon aid
from our lymphatic and blood-forming tissues. Plenty
of nerves and blood vessels live here too.
Beneath this is the smooth muscle of the abdomen (the
"crunch" muscles) which are of great import in contain-
ing and maintaining the functions of the intestinal
tract. Here also is more of the ubiquitous connective
tissue which surrounds, protects and isolates organs
and organ systems effectively compartmentalizing areas
to prevent the spread of invasive diseases. Just
consider all that you have heard regarding the "super
bugs" and note that our medical science has no
antibiotics that will destroy them.
The uterus is located in the abdominal cavity along with
some other important organs. Whatever you may have read
or heard, it is not just a bag to hold a fetus. It is a
fantastic vessel, firmly attached at its lower aspect to
the vagina via the cervix. Its inner surfaces maintain an
elaborate construct, called the placenta, which protects and
nourishes the developing fetus.
The maternal blood supply to this organ is awesome.
Exchange of nutrients, oxygen and metabolic waste be-
tween maternal blood and fetal blood occurs through
"smart" membranes. The developing embryo sets up this
elaborate life-support system.
The uterus exists to grow and, at term, expel a
*fetus*. Obviously one does not find babies in a
uterus because babies are air breathers and would
asphyxiate.
Surrounding the inner surfaces of the uterus are three
layers of smooth muscle which run in different directions.
This allows for the expression of a fetus at term or when
labor is induced, as it may be when a D&E procedure is
employed.
As one who has dissected, or been present at, hundreds
of dissections of female cadavers, I have never seen a
zipper or velcro fastening ***anywhere***. Women are
human beings. We are not a separate, disposable specie
that anyone may slice into at will. We have the con-
stitutional right to determine our own reproductive
activity.
{*** PLEASE NOTE FIRST PARAGRAPH}
It is sadistic thinkers who would advocate cutting open
women's bodies, and slicing through a fantastic organ
like the uterus when there is *a normal, natural channel
to abort a fetus*. That there are those, professing to
be religious, who would force this on us by law is
egregious beyond the pale.
Each of us, with the advice of our physician, makes the
call. We can choose, if the situation demands, to have
a Caesarean or we can choose to have a dilation and
extraction, BUT, it MUST remain OUR CHOICE.
#
GenderGappers 1998 - 4 "HELL HATH NO FURY . . ."
Yes, we are furious at all the scorn directed at us!
Once again the media, engorged with a salacious sex
story, are putting us all in a specially constructed
box.
They interview women who supposedly represent *all*
women and then tell us that WE ARE ALL ALIKE. This
really angers us to be likened to tribal worms and
flocking birds.
**WE**ARE**NOT!** We are human beings. Individuals
with minds and intelligence and the mass media is not
going to tell us what to think and how to vote by using
terms such as, "women's issues" or "soccer moms".
Their latest expression is, "LOSERS!" Yup, they inter-
viewed a woman from some organization we have never
heard of who said: "If Clinton is lying, women are
losers because he has been a very supportive president.
If Monica is lying then women are losers because she is
a woman and all women will be thought of as liars."
Just as the conservative-supporting media took over the
words and agenda of the anti-choice forces, they are
promulgating the words and the agenda of the anti-
Clinton forces -- AND, they are adept at using women to
do this. They have squarely framed the debate as
*women* (good wife/mother) against those #!%&*. (Those
symbols designate their disgust and hatred in the appel-
lation used, which is generally *f*-word-ist.)
They have marginalized us out of our gender, out of our
human self and out of our human rights. There is now
the perception of man (human), woman (human) and *F-
word-ists* (nonhuman troublemakers). Note how many
references there are now to the N.O.B. -- National
Organization of Broads.
On nearly every radio/TV news or events program, you
will find a "ry-chus" lady accusing all self-defined
women of hypocrisy, claiming that we came to the aid of
Anita Hill because we didn't like Clarence Thomas; but
have sadly neglected poor, little, innocent Gennifer
Flowers, Paula Corbin Jones and Monica Lewinsky because
we like President Clinton and his *F-word-ist* pro-
grams.
Because media polls report that women continue to rate
Clinton higher than men do, self-defined women are sub-
jected to a vicious kind of treatment by both media
moderators and rye-chus females. Rudeness is de rigueur.
Recent example: Patricia Ireland, President of N.O.W.
and Ann Cotter, a right-wing-lawyer with the sound and
attitude of a pitbull from hell, were interviewed by
Judy Woodruff on CNN's _Inside Politics_. At first,
Ireland was very effective, making the point that
women's groups did approach PCJ and were rebuffed;
and that there was no evidence that Lewinsky was ever
hassled by anyone except Kenneth Starr.
Then Cotter just swept right over her with the obvious
collusion of the moderator, Woodruff, who failed to
moderate and maintain order. ***Understand this! We
do not fault Ireland***. You cannot outshoot a howitz-
er with a B-B gun. There was nothing, given the cir-
cumstances, that she could do except try to out yell
Cotter and give CNN what they were looking for -- a cat
fight. To Ireland's credit, she realized this and re-
sisted giving it to them.
Telling one lie after another in a deep booming tone,
Cotter refused to share the interview. Those of you
that have heard her may have wondered how she came by
the robust and powerful set of vocal cords that allowed
her to project a basso profundo that any male would
envy.
Of course there is the possibility that she has been
able to train herself to speak this way, but odds are
that her sound is the result of hormonal intervention.
(Sad to relate, many women and girls are now taking
steroid hormones for a variety of reasons including
weight loss, physical enhancement and *voice modifica-
tion*. The effect of steroids on a person's health is
devastating.)
Whatever the cause, she was formidable. Women
who go on radio/television interviews should prepare
themselves for the same kind of rudeness and its ef-
fects. We suggest that they ALWAYS bring with them a
set of large flash cards (shades of Ross Perot). If
they find themselves rudely drowned out like Ireland
was, they should hold up an appropriate card. It will
attract the attention of the moderator and the camera
will turn to it. Some suggestions:
WHY ARE YOU AFRAID OF PEOPLE HEARING THE TRUTH?
IS RUDENESS A FAMILY VALUE?
WHY ARE YOU SO ANGRY?
Is there a right-wing conspiracy? Listen to hate radio
and check out their web pages and newspapers. We've
been doing this for years. Because of the similarity
of language, phrases and charges that are continually
expressed by callers/writers, we have no doubt that
there is a right wing source for this garbage. It is
aimed at bringing down the Clinton presidency using
rumor, innuendo and terrorists threats (one example
being Kennie Starr's grand-jury-Starr-chamber where the
only truth is what Kennie wants to *hear* and if you
don't comply you go to jail -- ask Susan Mac D.)
The right-wingnut cacophony of hatred reached an amaz-
ing level following Hillary Clinton's appearance last
week on several television programs. Bay Buchanan has
demanded that Hillary use a baseball bat on her husband
in service to women. We suggest that Bay use her
baseball bat on brother Patrick in the service of all
humanity.
Hillary does not need a bat. She has strength and
courage of conviction, intelligence and self defini-
tion, along with the support and admiration of self
defined women all over the world.
BATTLE ON, HILLARY!!!
#
GenderGappers 1998 - 5 "STARZ G.O. P.OWER"
A boy was sent out of the village with the sheep and a
horn. He was told that if he saw a wolf, he must blow
the horn and the villagers would come to drive it off.
The boy got bored after a while, blew the horn and watched
the villagers come running. They scolded him and went
back to the village, but he did it again and again. Then
one time a wolf really did come but when he blew the horn,
the villagers didn't...
For the past six years we have been hearing boyz blow-
ing their horns and each time there was no wolf. In
the beginning there was the Whitewater horn, then
Travelgate, Fostergate, Filegate, Chinagate and the
latest, Goldberg/Tripp-tapes gate.
And as President Clinton's job rating stands at around
70 %, they wonder why we have stopped reacting to their
cries of "wolf".
Remember all of the toots from Al DeAmato? Nearly everyday,
he said he saw a *smoking-gun-wolf* but it never mate-
rialized.
A three judge panel removed Bob Fisk as the special
prosecutor for Watergate and appointed a partisan crony,
Kenneth Starr, who revisited everything that Fisk had signed
off on. He blew horn after horn of *staff-leaks*, trumpeting
that there were wolves everywhere. There were no wolves,
but he did scare up a chipmunk or two for some $30 Mil.
In Arkansas his army of investigators established
their own cottage industry. Arkansans first heard of
Starr as one of Paula Corbin Jones's early band of
lawyers.
Since last summer, they have watched his investigators
trading information with PCJ's, as both groups strip-
mined the state looking for women to come forth with
`dirt on Bill'. Large trucks were parked in cities
like Little Rock. Their sides blazoned with solicita-
tions to women.
Few in Arkansas, and around the country, can forget how
badly he used witnesses such as Steven Smith and Sarah
Hopkins; and especially, Susan Mc Dougal, because she
would not lie to the grand jury.
Now he dickers with Monica's lawyers to make a deal.
She must testify as Starr directs or else no deal. As
with Susan and the others, the truth is immaterial to
him. He demands from Monica *what he wants to hear.*
He has lost whatever objectivity he might have had and
totally follows orders which, like Salome's, are: --
"Bring me the head of Bill-the-Clinton on a platter."
Prominent jurists are beginning to speak out about his
"abuses of power" and "overzealousness" because he
held Monica in a hotel room WITHOUT AN ATTORNEY
for eight hours.
These jurists are appalled at his attempts to wire
Monica and send her into the White House to spy, as
well as his use of the FBI to wire Linda Tripp in
conversations with Monica. He did this *before* he
obtained permission to extend his investigation into
this area.
Partisan connections exist everywhere. Jones's lawyer
was Tripp's lawyer. Goldberg, a rabid critic of Clin-
ton and trafficker in conservative books, urged Tripp
to tape Monica's phone conversations. An anonymous
caller alerted lawyers for PCJ about Tripp and Lewinsky
and the two women were called to give depositions in
that case.
Every day there is a new revelation (wolf!) from "an
impecable-Starr-source". It is disseminated, quoted
widely and soon debunked.
Scratch a Starr and find another puppet-controlling-
wire leading to a Helms or a Faircloth, for example.
They, like Starr, support big tobacco interests.
Our vote for the worst friend of the century is Linda
Tripp but we can spare some pity for Monica. We hear
that she admits to lying a lot and her attorney has
supported this. Is she much maligned or a flake troll-
ing for sexual trophies? We don't know and the media
leaks only contribute to our confusion.
Is Monica a product of our Barbie-doll culture that
conditions girls and women to find their significance
only from serving men? How sad that she, living with
all of the advantages of wealth, education and an
emancipated period for women, will always be remembered
for winning "her presidential kneepads."
On the other hand, the courage and decency of Susan Mc
Dougal is something all of us should and must emulate.
HELP HER, PLEASE!
Demand that your representatives (or Human Rights Commission)
support Rep. John Conyers (D - Mich.) in his attempt
to get Starr removed on charges of prosecutoral misconduct.
This includes leaking grand jury testimony, serious breeches
of ethics, as well as *pressuring witnesses to lie*.
Susan has already been incarcerated longer than any
other person on a civil contempt charge and needs
access to medical services that Starr denies her.
We scanned a vast array of magazines on display in a
store this morning. Most had women on the covers and
all of the women pictured had some of their breasts bared.
There were only a few magazine covers of men. They were
all fully clothed.
The horns keep blowing and we wonder, "Is there a
wolf this time or just one in sheep's clothing blowing
the horn?
... And the leaks go on.
#
GenderGappers 1998 - 6 VAST RIGHT-WING BOONDOGGLE
There sure are a lot of women in the news lately. Vast
right-wing conspiracy or not, women seem to be on the
line and in the action. Players, even. Is this be-
cause of their actions or are they being acted upon?
As the President's approval poll hit 79%, the RNC elec-
tion strategists continue to tear out their hair won-
dering what went wrong. We reported a while back that
they were determined to get women's votes by dividing
us and thus destroy our huge, powerful gender gap.
Years ago, the RNC knew that their far right wing,
dedicated to the erosion of women's reproductive
rights, was costing them women's votes. So their Top
Dog and Money Man, Richard Mellon Scaefe, started fund-
ing schemes to turn women against President Clinton.
The way to do this, he reasoned, was to anger women by
showing Clinton to be an adulterer and sexual harasser
(shades of Anita Hill!). They figured that women would
rush to the side of any "woman-victim" and thus abandon
support for him and the rest of the Democratic ticket.
There were rumors of State Troupers procuring women for
then Governor Clinton. From these rumors, the _Specta-
tor_ (a Scaefe-finanaced-Mag) uncovered Paula Corbin
Jones. Then, women were vilified by right-wing fembots
for not "rushing to her aid like we did for Anita
Hill." We were further accused of hypocrisy, as they
tried to shame us, working every angle to influence our
opinions and emotions.
When presidential attorney, Bennett, announced
his intentions to look into PCJ's past, certain women's
groups rose to the bait and yelled, "foul". This
brought great joy to Mud-throwing-ville. They had set
the hook and now all they had to do was reel us in with
their high moral value line.
As all this was going on, fate stepped in, taking the
form of Lucianne Goldberg, suma cum lauda graduate of
the Republican College of Dirty Tricks, and literary
agent. She had a client named Linda Tripp. Tripp had
told her about an intern in the White House that
claimed she was having an affair with the President--an
intern that just loved to spend hours on the phone
giving Tripp a blow by blow of the "affair".
Tripp thought this might just be the basis for a book
and Goldberg urged her to "tape your conversations with
her and send copies to me."
Talk about conspiracy! How interesting that the only
conspiracy that the right-wingnuts don't believe is -
THEIR OWN. They still turn a blind eye to the conspir-
acy between Lucianne Goldberg and Linda Tripp to illegally
tape Monica Lewinsky's telephonic fantasies.
Now, as contrived leaks are reported by the media in-
stead of news, the right-wing spin jockeys wildly ride
the morality card. Their thesis is that the president
is immoral and has "despoiled" a young (21-year-old)
"child", which, they believe will resonate with women.
In addition, they piously reveal that "children are
being harmed by the words used by news reports describ-
ing alleged acts, because children look up to the
president and are now confused and frightened".
Welcome to the real world, strategists. We live in a
culture that has always disrespected and objectified
women. We live in a culture where many women objectify
and disrespect themselves.
As your sanctimonious tut-tutting goes on, we, the
public spend some $4.2 billion a year renting pornographic
movies...
...and _Sports Illustrated_ just published an extra 26
million issues of its "swim suit edition". It features
scantily clad women who are roughly the age of the
intern, Monica Lewinski...
...and movie theaters show movies like _Striptease_, to
packed houses as more than a third of the TV programs
seen both daytime and early evening have sexually based
themes...
...and any precocious 3-year-old knows all the words to
_Smack My Bitch Up_!
Get a life, guys! Do you REALLY THINK OUR CHILDREN
HAVEN'T NOTICED? Who are we, as a country, as a cul-
ture to flip our collected wigs over ALLEGED AND
UNPROVEN acts between consulting adults?
As the presidential polls show 79% approval rating, we
women, and many men are showing the conservative media
that we THINK FOR OURSELVES. We are sick of their
secrete sources; unproven allegations announced as
fact, and the constant showing of inflammatory photo-
graphs etc. designed to accuse and confront, rather than
illuminate.
Why an 79% approval rating? In the words from a movie,
Americans are saying to the RNC dirty tricksters and
their lackeys in the media, "WE'RE MAD AS HELL AND WE
AREN'T GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!"
#
ERRATA: 1998 - 3 A funny thing happened on the way
to adding "ing" to the word rent (as in tear), we got
the "t" changed to a "d" OK but somehow the Evil Pixels
slipped in an "er" changing the word entirely! So,
where we typed "rendering" we really meant to write
"rending" (in the first and in the second paragraph).
Thanks for the heads up, Danczarina.
Gendergappers 1998 - 7 "AS GOES MAINE . . ."
Interesting doings along the East Coast lately.
We're really pleased at all the media coverage of the
bombing of the New Woman All Women Clinic in Atlanta.
Nearly every day there has been some news item concern-
ing the ongoing search for the prime suspect, Eric
Robert Rudolph.
Of course we realize that all this media coverage and
FBI/police action was *not* due to it being a Women's
Clinic that was bombed. It was mostly due to the fact
that an off-duty police officer was killed.
Whatever the reason, there has been a sustained effort
to apprehend this individual who is believed to be a
soldier in "The Army of God." A side affect of this
effort is that attention is being given to the always
present threat to women's health clinics.
Whenever the death of the police officer is mentioned,
the injured nurse is mentioned and the Women's Clinic
is mentioned. So, we don't begrudge the media/police
emphasis being on the officer's death but it suggests
something to us.
Since law enforcement officers take care of their own,
A threat to one is a threat to all.
Perhaps every worker in our health clinics should spend
some time establishing credentials in law enforcement.
This might tend to make ***every*** threat against our
clinics important enough for the full court press going
on right now.
In contrast to the media hoopla concerning the Atlanta
incident, we saw one short report on CNN of an incident
in Florida. Most newspapers have been silent on this
one except for some local Florida papers.
Dr. Ali Azima, who performs abortions in two Florida
county women's clinics, wrote to the sheriff of each
county. He reported that he had been threatened, and
asked them to enforce the laws relating to threats to
women's clinics and harassment at his home.
Lee County Sheriff John McDougall, writing on depart-
ment stationery, called the doctor a baby killer in a
certified letter response to the doctor. He wrote: "We
will do everything within our power ***to assist the
protesters who wish to protect the misguided mothers
who come to your clinic of death***."
Sheriff McDougall also commented to the press.
"Everyone's worried about the manatees and endangered
species, but it's like to hell with the babies."
McDougall is a Republican who was first elected sheriff
in 1988 and has been twice reelected.
We have not as yet heard of any action being taken
against him for failing to enforce the laws of the
U.S., and his clear abuse of the power and responsibil-
ities of his office.
And did you notice how quietly a whole state lost a ton
of dignity and freedom when it's "voters" repealed a
law that protected the human rights of lesbians and
gay men?
A law that gave them no special rights. It just asserted
that people could not be discriminated against because
of their sexual preference.
How did this law get recinded in Maine -- a state that
cherishes human rights? Easy answer. The irreligious
right and unchristian coalition marshaled their forces
and GOT OUT THE VOTE. The free women and men of Maine
DIDN'T.
There is a saying: "As goes Maine, so goes the nation."
Now, any woman in Maine, or any other state without
equal protection laws, can be fired from her job or
lose her apartment, for example, just because someone
wants to get rid of her.
We are already so close to losing our reproductive
rights and other gains we have made this Century that
it is scary. So is the following poem but please read
it anyway because it is also thought provoking.
Just remember that portents and prophecies have always
been about the concerns of men - not about men's pos-
sessions (like us). Perhaps now is the time that this
was changed. Perhaps now we have seen the power in
women's votes. Perhaps now we are beginning to find
the courage to shape our own future.
* * *
THE SECOND COMING
by W. B. Yeats (1926)
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold,
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
THe blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
#
GenderGappers 1998 - 8 ROCK THE PROs!!!
It is difficult to believe that there are adult women
that have no memory of a time when the terms, WOMAN
DOCTOR, WOMAN LAWYER, WOMAN ENGINEER, WOMAN VETERINARY,
WOMAN POLITICIAN, WOMAN NBA, WOMAN MILITARY, OR WOMAN
ANY-PROFESSION, were oxymoron(s) -- contradictions in
terms.
"What about Teachers? Secretaries? Nurses?"
They were not considered Professions. They were
"positions suitable for women until they married".
And also for those "not chosen" (old maids) or widows.
These "service" positions offered little respect and
even less payment for services rendered and were
always supervised by male professionals.
Hold on. There was one Profession that women have
_always_ been allowed to enter -- "The World's Oldest
Profession - PROSTITUTION!
It is a Profession for women that is enthusiastically
supported by men
men
jailed, fined to the limits of the law and beyond (with
few exceptions). Their *clients*, however, *men* or
*Johns,* are usually never punished for breaking their
own laws regarding prostitution.
John-Paul Sartre wrote in _The Words_: Culture doesn't
save anything or anyone, it doesn't justify. But it's
a product of *man*: *He* projects *himself* into it,
*he* recognizes *himself* in it; that critical mirror
alone offers *him* *his* image."
Culture never used to be a product of women. It does
not save anything or anywoman, it does not justify us.
We may now have projected ourselves into it _if_ we
recognize ourselves in it; that critical mirror alone
now offers us, also, _our_ image.
Professional women are contributing new and greater
dimensions to the culture. But do we yet recognize
*HER* self as a stable feature of it? Are we women
*permanently* imaged in that critical mirror or is this
image eroding?
One has only to look at the effect the backlash has
already had on woman's new-found employment and educa-
tional status for some answers.
# Everyday, there is more pressure to repeal the
Affirmative Action Laws. If the government no longer
supports equal education and employment, women will
most certainly loose ground here.
# Recently, a survey of women doctors has revealed that
a third of them had experienced sexual harassment. And
many more had experienced what is called, `hands off'
harassment - a hostile work environment. There contin-
ues to be reports of harassment of women in the other
professions also.
Vicki Schultz, Yale law professor writes in the April
Law Review, "Harassment has the form and function of
denigrating women's competence for the purpose of
keeping them away from male-dominated jobs or incorpo-
rating them as inferior, less capable workers."
This is what many women in the workplace have been say-
ing: harassment is more about power used to keep women
down than it is about lust or desire.
Yet, the media lovingly featured a woman named, Rosalie
Osias. She has given $10,000 to Monica Lewinski for
legal fees. Osias was highly critical of women's groups
who complained of sexual harassment in the workplace,
stateing that sex was "a natural" occurrence in the "real
world." Because "in the real world, women use sex to
move up to higher positions, money and power."
# Women's Clinics and staff are under constant threat
of violence.
# Everyday, there are both overt and covert attacks
made on single, working-outside-the-home women, wives
and especially mothers, in so-called women's magazines
and Web pages, on TV and radio.
And everyday, there are media and cultural pressures
which define women as homemaker, mother, wife. Women
are being told how badly they are harmed by the stress
of working outside the home and that they must be
guilty for leaving their children.
# New, glitzy sites spring up on the Web offering
instant gratification to the "conforming woman" -
forever *girl*!
Who will be left to stand in the trenches of woman's
struggle for parity when the old guard falls? Fortu-
nately, there are many stalwart young women who already
realize that rights and choice are not passed down like
photographs from generation to generation, but must be
constantly struggled for. These women are actively
engaged in building the future, inspired by the inequi-
ties of the past.
But it is sad that girl-women crawl the Web for endless
chats about blue fingernail polish and sex.
*Man's* culture has promised them so much more excite-
ment, so many rewards and all they have to do is culti-
vate their appearance and their body while they dull
their mind with trivia.
It is possible that in the future, they will no longer
need to plan and prepare for their Professional career.
They won't even have to choose it as it could be again
the only Profession allowed for women, by default - the
world's oldest Profession.
#
GenderGappers 1998 - 9
MILESTONES :-) AND MILLSTONES :-(
As March rolled in softly and lamb-like in our neck of
the woods, we are reminded by the TLC oozing from the
media that this is Women's History Month.
:-) The Olympic games produced a bunch of gold metals
for, of all things, a woman's hockey team! WNBA is
still going strong and SI has instituted a women's
sports magazine which does NOT compel the women to
dress in bathing suits.
:-( There is still no woman's face on our paper money.
Italy put Marie Montessori on the 1,000-lire bill;
Ireland has Mother Catherine McAuley on a 5-pound note;
The Brits et al, of course, have had the Queen. Germa-
ny, Israel, Mexico and Switzerland have accomplished
women pictured on their marks, pounds, pesos and
francs. Are we afraid of brainwashing our children if
they see that women are important people too?
:-) Lieutenant Colonel Eileen Collins is slated to
become the first woman to command a mission in the 37
years of spaceflight. This Elmira, N.Y. native was
also our nation's first WOMAN shuttle pilot.
:-( The United States has not ratified the United Na-
tions Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW). It continues to languish in the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee because of the
objections to its contents held by several senators
including Senator Helms, chairman of the committee.
There is little chance that it will be voted out to
move forward in this Congress.
:-) The Supremes added clarity and punch to antidis-
crimination laws by placing sexual harassment right
bang in the middle of them. Subsequent rulings moved
the law beyond overt sexual behavior by stating that a
hostile environment may also be brought about by,
"discriminatory intimidation, ridicule and insult...
sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the condi-
tions of the victim's employment." By making it ap-
plicable to males, as in the recent decision, the law
has been given the teeth that is always lacking when a
ruling applies to women only.
:-( The first step to abolish women's right to choose
has been taken by the Republican majority. Following
the mandate of the irreligious right and the unchris-
tian coalition, it has again passed a bill outlawing
certain late term abortion procedures. President
Clinton has vetoed it and they await the next congress
to override the veto. This will surely happen if their
majority increases or if more anti-choice democrats are
elected.
:-) The senate, by a vote of 58-37, voted to reject the
conservative effort led by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,
to eliminate the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise
program. This is an Affirmative Action plan that helps
women and minorities.
:-( Only a third of insurance companies treat oral
contraceptives as a part of women's health care.
:-) Susan McDougal is out of jail, if only for a short
time. She has FINALLY been allowed to see her doctor
concerning a lump in her breast. We think the reason
she was let out of jail to see her doctor is because of
the pressure placed on Special Prosecutor, Ken Starr, by
GenderGappers and other concerned people. Keep that
pressure on and check out this URL:
http://www.kenstarresign.com
:-( The so-called "attack ads" are hitting California
elections once again and the word is that they will be
used throughout the coming elections all over the
country. These are the ones that show a month-old,
chubby baby with a voice-over claiming that it is the
"baby" that is killed by a late term abortion proce-
dure.
:-) First Lady, Hillary Rodham, in fine fettle doing a
rockum-sockum on the forces of the evil empire without missing
a beat in her constant advocacy for women and children.
#
GenderGappers 1998 - 10 "AS THE TWIG IS BENT . . ."
One big reason for hate-radio's attraction is that
callers give only "a" first name (real or fictitious)
and can maintain anonymity. They do not have to take
responsibility for their hateful and, most usually,
slanderous remarks. A radio program that panders to
these baser instincts entices those who have a need to
feel more knowledgeable, more powerful and more compe-
tent than others.
One of the constant callers to our local hate radio
program is a woman who calls herself "Margaret". Per-
petually angry about everything, "Margaret" holds forth
four square against anything and everything she decides
is liberal. She is a master (mistress?) of disinforma-
tion and erudite spin.
She is a righteous advocate for any conspiracy theory
that makes democrats, and especially the Clintons,
guilty of everything from petty theft to murder. But,
"Margaret" saves her most vicious comments for people
of her own gender who have had the temerity to succeed
in areas formerly assigned only to men.
She ferociously attacks the rank and file of what she
refers to as, "those (expletives) who want to be men."
The expletives she uses are the "*F*word-ists" and
"broads".
Reserving her maximum vindictiveness to attack any type
of professional woman, she gets livid when the "talk"
concerns women doctors. _SHE_ would never go to one of
them. "Because of the liberal preference programs,"
she sputters, "women have been accepted where they do
not belong and where they are incapable of functioning.
The liberal professors just pass them through and set
them loose on us. I would never hire a woman doctor or
woman lawyer or a woman of any profession."
Recently when the radio hate-show host interviewed a
woman college president, "Margaret" called in to chal-
lenge in a deprecatory way everything the college
president said. Again her thesis was clear. Women
just get these jobs because of those liberals and their
preference programs. "Everything you said was stupid
and incorrect. You are just taking our taxpayer money
and spending it on foolishness. Women just don't know
how to plan and accomplish goals. Women should never
be put in charge of a university!"
Of course "Margaret" is the darling of those who be-
lieve that women should not be allowed in the military.
"Women make our `fighting men' weaker because instead
of going all out to defeat the enemy, they would try to
protect the women - all men do this naturally since it's
genetic."
While it's tempting to dismiss "Margaret's" tirades, we
really need to listen to women like her and understand
why they have these opinions and why they are so vehe-
ment about expressing them. By listening, one comes to
hear the sorrow and frustration of a child who has
striven desperately all her life to excell, in order to
gain her father's approval. Nothing ever worked. Over
and over daddy makes it clear that only _males_ are
important. She, "Margaret" is a female and that is
that. _Female_ accomplishments just don't count!
For a long time, mothers were blamed for any problems
that a child might have in life. Mothers have always
been a convenient dumping ground for blame of any kind,
so "Siggy F." was in the cultural groove on this one.
But, for some time now, we have begun to understand how
damaging the actions of a sexually predatory father are
to his daughters. We have yet, as a society, to real-
ize and do anything about fathers that condition their
daughters to hate their own gender and thereby hate
themselves.
Mental molestation, because this is what it is, is just
as devastating to a woman's life as physical molesta-
tion. Conditioning like this from birth can cause all
a person's efforts to fail and she turns the pain of
failure inward as self hatred. Relief is found when
she can transfer that hatred to a successful woman.
"As the twig is bent so the tree's inclined."
But, a woman doesn't need to follow this pattern. The
important word here is _inclined_. A women can chose,
as many do, to delete daddy's malevolent message and
use her intelligence and energy in positive ways. She
can learn to get along without daddy's approval because
she can learn to look within herself. She has erased
daddy's instructional tapes and is playing her own.
Others, like "Margaret" will never try to change. Her
inner child is having just too much destructive fun
hurting other women. But the real payoff for her is
how highly the males in hate-radio prize her and com-
pliment her. She does not understand that it is
because she is serving their ends. She thinks that
she has finally gotten daddy's approval.
For "Margaret", ultimate approval and fame is being
allowed to spout her hatred for 10 minutes on the
Big Daddy Rush Limbaugh show.
#
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