vol. 1, no. 1 NOV 6 Rethinking Feminism eakin MORE COLLFE 1981 the newsletter of the Alice Feul Women's Center PERIODICAL | In recent years, feminist theory has been increasingly integrated into mainstream American culture. However, hostile attitudes toward the feminist movement and toward feminists themselves have continued to exist, even in the Swarthmore community. Feminists are stereotyped as hysterical man-hating fanatics, yet in reality it would be difficult to find any feminist who fits this description. The issues which feminism forces us to confront on both:a political and personal level are so sensitive that many people instinctively attempt to dismiss the women’s movement by invoking this popular stereotype. Many of the original reasons why feminism is important and many of the important values which feminism represents have been forgotten in the controversy which surrounds the issue. Most people understand why feminism was needed in the past although there is continuing controversy about its validity in the present. Few people would argue that society should take away women’s suffrage or prevent women from being educated, yet in the not-too-distant past these issues were extremely controversial. We now look back on these days with great indulgence toward their blindness; however, today we remain just as blind to many modern- day inequities. Despite affirmative action, women are still systematically excluded from powerful and influential positions. On the average, women who work full time still only earn 59¢ for every dollar a man makes; in fact, female college graduates statistically earn less than males with only an eighth-grade education. Outside of the economic sphere, our society is still plagued by the mistreatment of women such as wife abuse, incest, and rape. The odds are frightening; one in four women can expect to be raped and virtually all women will be subjected to sexual harrassment. These are but a few of the battles which have yet to be won. Feminism is not just a movement for the liberation of women, but a broad social movement striving for the equality of each individual. Feminism emphasizes the importance of such values as co-operation, tolerance, nurturance, and the freedom for each person to achieve her or his potential. Feminists are not against men as individuals. What they are against is the oppressive and outdated social structure which forces both men and women into positions which are false and antagonistic. Thus, everyone has an important role to play in the feminist movement. It is ironic that feminism has been characterized as anti-male, when in fact it seeks to liberate men from macho stereotypic roles such as the need to suppress feelings, act aggressively, and be deprived of contact with children. Some of the most intense opposition to the women’s movement comes from women themselves, many of whom feel that feminism stands for things that they don't want, such as the weakening of the family unit. But feminists are not opponents of the family: in fact, feminism seeks to recognize the long-denied fact that women’s traditional work is as important to society as the traditional work of men. This does not mean, however, that individual women should be forced into roles they have not chosen, however valuable these roles may be. Every individual should be free to integrate achievements at home and in the workplace in a manner that is personally satisfying, rather than determined by society. Mad EY / Feminism affects everybody; it is an issue on which it is impossible not to take a stand. Most of the hostility toward feminism comes from misunderstanding of feminist values and from fear of change. It is our hope that people will take the time to recognize how the women’s movement has changed their lives and to re-think their position on feminism. We hope that COMMON SPEAKING will stimulate this re-thinking of feminism. In succeeding issues, we will be printing a series of Perspectives on Feminism; contributions are welcome from all members of the community. Events Thursday, October 29: Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Swarthmore Branch October Membership Meeting.Dupont Science Building, 8:00 p.m. Swarthmore WILPF and Swarthmore College Young Friends will co-sponsor “Dr. Helen Caldicott Speaks’ —a videotape of a speech which Dr. Caldicott gave at. the Delaware County Women's Conference in May, 1981. Discussion will follow. Friday, October 30: Meg Christian: A ConcertAt the Scottish Rite Cathedral, 150 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, 8:00 p.m. Tickets available for $7 af Giovanni's Room, 12th and Pine streets in Philadelphia. Saturday, October 31: Confer- ence on Midlife and Older Women. Martin Luther King High School, 122 Amsterdam Ave, New York City. Contact: Zan Taber, NOW, 85 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10011. (212) 5303- 0996. “Right to Know How To” Conference. Sponsored by POSH and PILCOP of Philadelphia, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. AFSCME Center, 3301 Walnut St., Philadelphia. For information, call 735-7200. Tuesday, November 3: Demon- stration against Jerry Falwell, head of the Moral Majority, Inc. Marriott Hotel, 6:00 p.m. Assemble on City Line near Monument Ave. For more information, contact Donna at x7376. Thursday, November 12: Swarth- more Branch WILPF Board Meeting. 3:30 p.m. at the home of Adele Silverman, 1215 Wildman Arms Apts., Swarthmore. Friday, November 13: SANE Peace Award Dinner. Honoring Dr. Helen Caldicott. Special guests: Paul Warnke, chief SALT II negotiator, Willian Wimipisinger, Fresident of the Internatioal Association of Machinists, Congressmen Bob Edgar and Bill Gray. Tickets available at $25/person by calling SANE (564- 6244). The dinner will be held at the Holiday Inn, City Line Avenue. androgene contrapposto Il once or twice we went sunbathing, me with my shirt off, spilling gingerale down my neck and chesf, and you fell asleep, hair sprayed between your arm and cheek, and damp; and the wind thrashed blossoms from the ornamental trees and flung them curled, moist against my legs. that was before the man in the suit came. the man in the suit came across the field and stood with ants crawling up his shiny black shoes and the grass in shreds on the soles and said, “| wonder if you would put your shirt on, there are children who walls through here, in fact one of my sons has seen you, so would you put your shirt on.” “he lies,” | said, “see here, all these red-white marks across my breasts?” (he looked away.) “when | hear voices, | roll over. | lie on my stomach. they can look at my back all they want. that’s all. just my back.” and my legs with the beautiful black-gold hair, opaque as any good stockings. the man in the suit goes home. tonight I'll be his dinner quest, sprawled and wanton on the kitchen table one hand between my legs, one on a breast, leering at his wife who pauses, momentarily, then puts another saucer in the sink. later I'll hear | danced, naked, on his front lawn. but first you woke, cold wind on your neck, and gathered the textbooks, the towels, the gingerale, brushed the grass from the wrinkles of your elbows. | reclaimed my teeshirt from the sticky ground, stuffed it past my shoulders to my shorts and tucked it in; and you went home. and | went to work; where | took off my shirt again, standing in a clay-stale studio with terrazzo floors and five legally but not completely blind sculptors, and very bright lights for hours and they complained they couldn't see my hips. so | unzipped my jeans but they said, “no, it's much too cold, it's much too chill, you mustn't, you'll get pneumonia, we'll do your hips next week.” this week | am the winged victory of samofthrace. their putty is absurd compared to what | see: shoulders malachite; legs, the wings and no armature. “| like this more than paint,” one says, because with sculpture | can feel if your breasts are the right size.” my breasts are the right size and in the right place : and when | check later they are still there, when after supper and tea the earnest photographer stops by and after photos of my hands requests “not cheesecake,” (blushes) but if you'd just—” his film is black and white and his shutter is just as fast as the tic above his lip. he would prefer I'd dress before | answer the door. but if you could see what happens in the mirror when | am bent to my own stance, rattan round my bones, sweat trembling down my ribs: sandalwood, rust; copper faced on hips the white of garlic, lucent white and | am the androgene contrapposto and the smell of sawdust, twine. © Shoshana T. Danie! -¥ Sunday-Monday, November 45- 416: Disarmament Conference:- * The Arms Race and Us. The Fourth Annual Disarmament Conference will be held at the Riverside Church in New York City. Following the session in N.Y.C., the Swarthmore WILPF group will go to Washington, D.C. on November 17. Sunday-Monday, November 15- 16: Women’s Pentagon Action. Women's groups return to the Pentagon to protest Reagan Administration policies. Contact: Becky Hall, Shoshana Kerewsky or Women's Pentagon Action, 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY. 10002 (202) 483-4284, or see the Women’s Center board. Saturday, November 214: Artists for Choice. A benefit for the Reproductive Rights Organiz- ation. Performing will be the Avante Theatre Company, Anna Crusis Women’s Choir, Edwina Lee Tyler, and A Piece of the World: Women’s Percussion and Dance Ensemble, N.Y.C., Sonya Sanchez: Poet, Augusta Clarke:- Philadelphia Councilwoman, Jean Hunt for the Reproductive Rights Organization. $7 general, $10 sponsor, $4 limited income. Cavalry United Methodist Church at 48th and Baltimore, 8:00 p.m. Tickets in advance: Giovanni's Room; Judson's Bookstore, Progress Plaza, 1500 N. Broad Street; Maplewood Cheese Shop, Maplewood Mall, Germantown; Christian Assoc- iation, 34th and Locust Wall, U. of Penn. Sunday, November 22: Tea for Russian Women.Swarthmore WILPF has been asked to help entertain three delegates to the US*Soviet Women’s Seminar at Bryn Mawr. Two of the visitors will be Soviet delegates. The three women will be visiting Swarthmore until Wednesday, November 25. If you would like to help entertain them call Betty McCorkel at 544-6769 around dinner time. f | am Black and a woman at the same time. This fact holds endless political possibilities. But we all know whenwe have such a choice that fighting for equality as a Black person is much more important. Besides Black women have always been liberated in their heads. They've never let their men step on them and they've always had to work for a living. Besides, equal opportunity for White women, because somehow it’s amore socially acceptable cause, is actually making things harder for Blacks, especialiy Black men. Anyway the civil rights movement became unnecessary in 1968. Black people have all that they need. Do you think it’s time that the turned to help somebody else? First of all, Black women do need feminism. There is sexism in the Black community. Although it may stem from different origins, and have different dynamics, it exists. When it is encountered it hurts. | was at a meeting not too long along where we were discussing Ntozake Shange’s play FOR COLORED GIRLS. Two of the men in the room said they felt “washed out” afterseeing it. It just didn’t portray Black men in a favorable light. They felt that somehow somebody should of put a good word in for the men. | mean all Black men weren't that way. One of the men then proceeded to object fo The Women’s Roomon the grounds that. it showed all men to be whimps. | do agree that all Black men or all men in general are not whimps but | see no difference between the potential offensiveness of “whimpy men” and “she’s a brick house.” I'm sure every Black woman has heard Black men say things that make her cringe. So how come there aren't more Black women involved in the women’s movement? First of all there is a kind of “experiential myopia” in the women’s movement. For instance, take one favorite feminist scenario: Woman marries at very young age probably before she knows what she is doing. They have kids. Wife stays at home all day taking care of the kids. Husband dies or husband asks for a divorce. is forced out in the job market for the first time. she's never worked for pay in her life. This is a viable scenario for many women. But Black women have always had to work for pay even if it was very little. The fact that they got to work as cooks and maids for White people has as much to do with being Black as it has to do with being a woman. Secondly, it is hard to tell for a Black woman where oppression is coming from. Even when women got the vote in this country there were still Black women in this country who couldn't vote because they were Black. When women began to enter the good universities of this country, there were Black women who couldn't get in because they were Black. Some of the early advances of the feminist movement did not have effect on Black women because of their color. Finally, there is a difference in the cause of sexism among Black men. Some Blacks are sexist not only because of their sex but ALSO because of White racism. Whites have always associated the more negative aspects of “maleness” with the Black male. They were considered to be oversexed, always after innocent White women, shiftless and lazy. In short they were considered to be just a different kind of ape. Black men never got to take advantage of the more positive “traditionally male” characteristics such as being a leader, being strong, having good judgment, being independent. They have missed out on the more positive aspects of manhood. Black males will have to be liberated as males first before many of them will begin to take feminism seriousy. For this they need the support of Black women. In short Black women have two fights to fight, each no less important than the other. The feminist movement has not done enough to consider the basic differences between the experiences of women other than the White middle class. When you are White and have enough to eat you can worry about whether or nof your consciousness is sufficiently raised. If you are other than White and middle class you have a lot more to worry about before you have time to consider yourself as a woman. If the feminist movement is to attract women from different cultures they must help all women develop themselves as people. Some might have more worldly needs than others. But we have to learn to accept them all. —Franetta McMillian Cystitis—Women’s Health Next to the common cold, cystitis is perhaps the most common health problem for women at Swarthmore. Nurse practitioner Barbara Smetana estimates that Worth Health Center treats about twenty cases of cystitis a month. Over fifty percent of Swarthmore women can expect to contract cystitis during their college years; sometime in her life, nearly every women gets it. Cystitis is a general term for inflamation of the urinary bladder. It is much more common in women than in men because women have a very short urethra, so that bacteria from the intestine are easily carried into the bladder. Ordinarily, most bacteria are flushed out by urination and don't have the opportunity to establish colonies in the urinary tract. However, if something interferes with this natural defense mechanism, such as an obstruction that prevents complete emptying of the bladder, the bacteria can multiply and cause an infection. Conditions that can set the stage for urinary tract infections include irritation and swelling of the urethra or bladder as a result of sexual intercourse, pregnancy, bike riding,or the use of irritants like bubble bath, hygiene sprays, douches, or the diaphragm, and psychological stress and fatigue. In young women, sexual activity is the most common and most distressing precipitant of cystitis. Many women first contract cystitis when they first become sexually active, change sexual partners, or increase the frequency of sexual intercourse. Although cystitis can be treated easily and is usually not serious, its symptoms can be both annoying and alarming, especially to a women who has never heard of it before. Symptoms of cystitis include intense pain on urination and a constant need to urinate, even when the bladder is empty. Occasionally, blood may be present in the urine, which leads many women to fear severe illness, such as cancer. Some women suffer repeated attacks of cystitis throughout their lives. However, at its best, cystits can be quickly treated with antibiotics or sulfa drugs. At its worst, it can spread to the kidneys and cause pyelonephritis, a condition seriously impairing kidney function. Thus, if you suspect you may have cystitis, it is important that you have a urine culture as soon as possible and receive proper treatment. If infections become recurrent, you should probably see a urologist, who will check for an obstruction or structural abnormality of the urethra, possibly requiring surgery. Of course, the best way to deal with cystitis is to exercise good preventative measures. Drinking lots of fluids can help to prevent bacteria from building up in the bladder. Many women find that cranberry juice alleviates symptoms of cystitis and helps to prevent recurrence. You should wash your vulva and bottom regularly and be careful to wipe yourself from front to back after using the toilet, so as not to get bacteria from the anus into the urethra. Always empty your bladder before and after intercourse, especially if you are using the diaphragm. Women who use the diaphragm and experience recurrent attacks of cystitis should probably consider switching to another contraceptive method. If you exercise proper preventative measures, there is a good chance that cystitis will not become a life- long problem. pronouns ... can be fun Trivial and unnecessary, ungrammatical, ugly, difficult, and unpronounceable. These are the complaints raised against attempts to demasculinize the English pronouns. Take the “unnecessary” class first. Man includes human, they (who?) say and him includes her. Yup, includes. We are part of a category which names them and includes us. When man first descended from the trees, she formed a nomadic society. Right. Why not use the generic she and claim that it includes men? Tradition rears his ugly head. Trivial. This is an easy charge to counter. If it is trivial then why the hell raise such a fuss over an attempt to change such a minor usage? If it is trivial to you, then please accede to my request, because it certainly isn't trivial to me. The ugly argument is essentially one of grammatics, which use and Official sanction could to some degree change. “When one eats alion they get sick” is now in several dictionaries as an accepted form of the grammar. He or she is considered to be too long. While time is certainly of the essence and if you're going to catch the day you'd better start soon lest the early worm escape you, no three letters extra isn’t too much. But better than that would be s/he. This alternative gets called unpronounceable. Please read the following sentence aloud. Dr. & Mrs. Blank’s et co. Ltd.,est. 1874 Frankly, | think we could handle s/he. A friend suggests consistent use of the generic she. This, | think, should be viewed as a temporary method , useful as a consciousness raising device, but purely interim. | don’t think he thinks so. And a final alternative. “Where did that bug go?” SMASH. “| got co.” Co? A new word meaning him or her and the possessive, very simply, is co's. Co is especially useful for discreetly inquiring about a friend of unspecified gender without forcing the interested party to make assumptions. Objections raised to co are: It's too difficult, it could never work, too new, take too long to learn... | lived with people using it, and within two weeks the above dialogue about the ever- present mosquitoes came from my mouth. It's not that tough. But, here we come to what is practical. Professors probably won't yet respond well to co. And using generic she in class can earn some caustic looks and sarcasms directed at "These Modern Feminists.” S/he is probably safest and useful and easy for now and for here. But it's still fun to write: to study properly, a person should be seated upright at her desk. COMMON SPEAKING would like to hear people's responses on which professors do what and reactions in class, and to publish letters informing each other on specific sexist and non-sexist attitudes on Ongoing Interests National: The New States Rights Anti-Abortion Constitutional Amendment was introduced on the House floor on October 5 by Senator R. Hatch. , Additional hearings were held on October 14 and 19, and more will be held on November 4, 5, 12, and 16. Testimony or statements can be entered into the public record by sending them to: Senator Hatch, 108 Russell Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20510. The Women’s Center should be receiving a copy of this. bill soon for anyone interested in reading it. State: Everyone who got involved in opposing the Abortion Control Act, either by attending the public hearings and rally in Philadelphia, or by writing letters, will be glad to hear that the bill was defeated in committee by a vote of 13-141. However, Freind and Cunningham are now considering various parlia- mentary procedures which might allow them to bring the bill to fhe House floor despite its defeat in committee. Alternatively, since a vote against the bill in the House would eliminate it from consideration for the rest of this legislative season, its sponsors may choose instead to wait: and tack it on to orher bills as an amendment in hopes that it will eventually be passed without drawing attention from pro- choice forces. Until the Abortion Control Act has been decided upon, the Delaware County Chapter of NOW will be organizing phone-banking in opposition to passage of the Act. Phoning will be done every Wednesday from 7:00-9:00 p.m. in Media. Transportation will be provided for those who are interested in participating. For more information, contact Donna at x7376 or Beth at 328-5035. A good source of information is the Planned Parenthood Hotline: 629-1000. It tells you what's going on and where to find out more about it. Local: Metropolitan Hospital is currently in the process of considering whether or not to further cut their abortion services & (only first trimester abortions are now performed). On Saturday, September 19, about 20 Swarthmore students went to a demonstration held in front of the hospital to voice support of pro- choice policies. Since then, many other students have been active in telephoning or writing letters to Sidney Kahn, director of the hospital. A decision (originally scheduled to be made several weeks ago) has not yet been reached and community input is still being sought and encour- aged by the hospital administra- tion. Metropolitan Hospital's number is: 328-9200. The Women’s Center is located in two small rooms upstairs in Bond. The Center is staffed every weeknight and Sunday after- “noons. Please drop in, talk, study, relax, and make use of our library of books by, for, and about women. Sunday 1-3p.m. Monday 7:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday 7:15-9:15 p.m. Wednesday 7:30-9:30 p.m. Thursday 2-5 p.m. Friday 7-9 p.m. Statement of Purpose The Women's Center News- letter will be published monthly to provide information about women’s issues on the local and national levels and is a forum for women on campus. We welcome articles, suggestions, or letters from any member of the Swarthmore community. Submissions for the next issue should be sent to Ruth Sergel through college mail by November 30. Staff Shoshana Kerewsky Jennie Allen Ellen Dye Lauren Gabor Wendy Hoben Debbie Hollander Fran McMillian Donna Mullarkey Cecilia Rodriguez Ruth Serge! Emily Silverman Lisa Utter The text of this newsletter was set in 9-point Serif and Serif Bold.