GenderGappers 1997: 41 - Extras

Gendergappers 41 - "A KINDER AND GENTLER" POLITICS

(N.B. We had planned this issue to celebrate the 50th
birthday of our First Woman, however, your response to
Gendergappers #32 caused us to decide to address some
of your questions and suggestions since they have a
bearing on our Hillary Rodham article. Many thanks for
your great feedback about *your* local hate radio.)

Anyone who was attentive to politics during the late
1980's will remember the chairperson of the Republican
National Committee, Lee Atwater, who served during
Bush's term. In his book, he tells how he started a
plan that is still in effect, although Gendergappers
quickly caught on to his trickery and more voters are
getting it every day.

Atwater's plan was simple but very effective. He based
it on a survey showing that a large majority of media
reporters were Democrats. This is true since report-
ers, for the most part, are products of liberal college
curriculums. What he did not reveal (nor has our
"free" press) is that a large majority of the owners
and editors of our media are Republican. It is at this
level that editorial spins and slants are made, not by
reporters.

So Atwater sent the word out to all the faithful by
telephone, fax, mail and word of mouth: Whenever you
write an article or call a talk show, talk up anything
positive toward Republicans in the media and if there
is any story detrimental toward Republicans, call it
unfair and the result of "THE LIBERAL MEDIA."

We've written before concerning hate radio, both the
national and local. You'll hear "liberal media" men-
tioned whenever news reports show Republicans
have just as many warts as Democrats. However, when the
news contains anti-Democrat reports, suddenly all the
callers, and especially the hate radio host, quote the
various media reports with great glee (ignoring entire-
ly their comments of the previous day when they dissed
all media reports as liberal).

Lee's plan worked better than he could ever have imag-
ined and planted in the public mind a liberal bias that
just does not exist. The key to his plan's success was
repetition, the idea being that if people heard a lie
often enough, they would come to believe it.

It also worked because Republicans own the hate/talk
radio airways. Democrats have made attempts to chal-
lenge that supremacy but have failed in most media
markets. There are many reasons for this such as
sponsor preference for the business-favoring Republi-
cans; the general political preference of the kind of
person who calls in to a media market (local hate
radio) to complain and a Republican penchant for being
mean spirited. This talent put the "hate" in hate
radio and made for "interesting" radio.

Democrats did try to compete for the black hearts and
angry minds of radio audiences but ended up completely
outclassed since they failed to compete with the viru-
lent and highly partisan Republican radio hosts and
callers. They also failed to erase the Lee Atwater
disinformation concerning the existence of a "liberal
press".

Few who have listened can fathom how these callers,
many who call themselves Christians, can, day after
day, call in to trash any person who is not a Republi-
can. They get their "facts" from such sources as
Limbaugh (the voice of the RNC), Leddy and Falwell, for
example. Falwell has made millions with his tapes
"proving" that the Clintons killed their good friend,
Vince Foster, and "proving" that Hillary is a lesbian,
as well as countless other accusations of impropriety
on the part of anyone associated with the White House.
Despite the millions that Starr spent as special
council, there has been no indication that those
"falwell-facts" have a modicum of validity. Even
Starr's announcement did not stop hate radio fanatics
from insisting with certainty, the vilest reports from
Falwell just had to be true. They are still busily
supporting Paula Jones, as are the other "religious/political"
groups.

If caller venom cools down, the hate radio host will
provide interviews with authors, such as Martin Gross,
that exhort listeners to hate and distrust women,
racial minorities and emigrants. Gross gives new mean-
ing to the words "mean spirited" as he goads callers to
stamp out political correctness wherever they think it
exists and use force to do it.

Why should we listen to these fanatics who deal in
disinformation? Hey, ya gotta be impressed with their
single minded rage and persistence in the face of
truth. In our locality, listening to hate radio is a
favorite pastime among uncommitted (nonpartisan) vot-
ers. There is just nothing else in the media that is
funnier than the daily venting of the acephalics.


Gendergappers 42 - WE DROPPED THE BALL BIG TIME

(N.B. Louise Woodward, our hopes and thoughts are
with you. May the Judge set aside that terrible verdict
or failing that, grant an appeal. A life sentence for
a teen age *woman* when recently a teen age *man* got
a suspended sentence for driving drunk and killing
2 people! Justice by gender -- INDEFENSIBLE!)

Those of you who subscribed early on in this series
will remember Gendergappers #10 - _Bury Them Deep And
They Didn't Exist_. This article told how men have
systematically, through the centuries, devalued and
destroyed women and their abilities by wiping out their
accomplishments and excluding them from men's history.
We say men here because women were not generally edu-
cated or allowed to contribute to written history until
this Century. They did keep private records for this
Century's women scholars and archaeologists to find and
publish.

During the 1990's, we have been witnessing a despicable
attempt to kill and bury a women who is not even dead.
More than anyone else in our present day, this woman
has exemplified the _SELF DEFINED WOMAN_. She forti-
fied and extended our belief that women are intelli-
gent, courageous, trustworthy, strong, capable and
*human*. She also threatened the establishment,
scared the hell out of Congress and changed the image
of the Executive Branch of our government.

As our First Woman, Hillary Rodham Clinton, celebrates
her 50th birthday with the media critical as usual
accusing her of having "hidden herself away" implying
guilt, we hold up her image with pride and ask, "Who
are the attempted murders?" There are many.

Interestingly enough, there is a book just out by a `DC
society hostess', Sally Quin, who readily admits that,
(she) "...helped kill Hillary Rodham Clinton because
(Hillary) mapped her own course as First Lady instead
of asking DC society mavens like herself for advice."
She claimed that this was reprehensible and went on to
say that Hillary was also responsible for many of the
blows she received because she "acted as a lighting rod
for the President."

Then there was, and still is, the immense contribution
of the hate radio hosts and their groupies. They were
aided and abetted in heaping vitriolic accusations
against Hillary by radical right ministers such as
Falwell and Roberts as well as pond scum like Leddy and
Limbaugh. These groups supplied books and tapes which
accused her of such things as killing Vince Foster and
holding lesbian orgies in the White House. Hate radio
groupies avidly listen to the tapes and books, then
call in to tell the radio audience that all of this is
absolutely true. Lee Atwater's advice was never so
well taken and performed. Repetitive accusations took
their toll on the ongoing popularity polls so loved by
the media so she, in effect, was forced to retire
(excluded) from the Clinton reelection campaign.

Helping all this hate along was Al D'Amato and his
Congressional Committee along with special prosecutor,
Kennie Starr, aided and abetted by the Washington Press
Corps. The electorate, us, were constantly told that
"proof would be found in the form of a smoking gun that
would show the First Woman to be a crook." Sure,
ostensibly they were going after the president, but
when they couldn't get him, they hoped to sling enough
mud at Hillary so it would come off on Bill.

And finally, the real culprits that contributed most to
this attempted murder -- ***US!!!***. Nearly all of us
women who should have been right up front to support
and defend this innovative leader just either turned
our back on her, criticized her or ignored her. We
reverted to the ancient programming instilled in us
over thousands of years by men who demanded our com-
plete attention and loyalty. Women were and still are
brainwashed and cut off from each other. We are taught
to hate, be jealous of and distrust other women. We
should be ashamed of ourselves for abandoning her
BECAUSE SHE NEVER ABANDONED US.

Because of a media that viciously hounded her every
step, she worked quietly, and mostly behind the scenes,
to assure human rights for women all over the world.
Oh yes, now we remember the fantastic speech she gave
in China, right? - and more recently in South America?
She worked with women in other countries and in this
country to raise the standard of living for them and
their children. She wrote a best seller, _It Takes A
Village_ and put ALL (that's 100%) of the profit from
that book into children's charities and help groups.
We know she influenced and supported our President so
he would continue to veto the anti-choice bills that
congress passed. We have seen her hand in the appoint-
ment of many women to high offices in the president's
cabinet and in the appointment of judges, commission
heads and many other positions.

Since her popularity polls are now indicating the high-
est levels since 1993, we believe that more and more
women have removed the traditional blinders from their
eyes and are taking another look at who she is and what
she has done.

Too bad we had to waste all those years when we could
have had a highly visible, erudite champion dedicate to
our struggle for equal human rights leading us from the
side of the highest office in our land.

Happy Birthday, Hillary. We hope that your next 50
years will return to you the long withheld thanks from
a grateful country and its womankind.


Gendergappers 43 - IN-JUSTICE BY GENDER

If you have been paying attention to the sentences
that are handed down in our courts, you will have
noticed how many judges rule according to the gender of
the person. Now with anything of this kind, there are
exceptions, that is, one will find examples where a
judge will sentence a woman who commits the same crime
as a man in the same way or even give her a lesser
sentence. However, generally we see a pattern where
women with first time convictions are given jail time
where men with multiple convictions are still getting
off with time served and community service.

Some of you have sent us the following examples of
injustice by gender that you have observed:

1. A woman who was convicted of sexually molesting her
children was sentenced to life imprisonment while her
husband, convicted of the same crime was given no jail
time at all. The State assumed guardianship of the
children who were allowed to regularly visit the father
without supervision.

2. Linda Smith in S.C. got life and almost got the
death penalty for drowning her two boys. Yet men
usually get puny sentences like the man in Waterbury,
Vermont who killed his kid and got 6 years. And yet
men kill almost 2,000 children in the US every year and
they never make the cover of TIME magazine.

3. A woman got 23 years for lying to a bank to obtain a
loan. She told the bank that she had a settlement
coming for a train accident. A man killed another
man and the killer never did go to jail.

4. Time after time, we read of men in the dock for 5,
6, 7, or more DUI charges and driving without a valid
license (because it had been taken from them on previ-
ous DUI charges) who are released with nothing more
than a mild, "go and sin no more."

5. Of course, one that affects all women is the mild
slap on the hand usually given a stalker or a batterer
who is the victim's S.O. or husband.

6. And just last week a judge released, on his own
recognizance, a man in his 20's who was caught in the
act of raping an ***18 MONTH OLD GIRL***.

We keep hearing how things have changed so much here in
this country. We are told of the new laws and public
awareness of stalking/batterers. This may lead one to
think that things are better, that women are safer in
their homes because we are an enlightened country. We
need to think again. This abomination is endemic!

It's not hard to believe the abuse heaped on Kenyan
women because as a recent report states, "Kenya is a
country where wife-beating is not only prevalent by
largely condoned." What is more surprising is the
courage of a 30-year-old Maasi woman, Agnes Siyiankoi
who has defied the tradition that she silently submit
to the abuse of her husband -- she has taken him to
court, a rare occurrence in this country where "If a
man does not beat his wife, he is looked down upon as a
weakling." Siyiankoi goes on, "When I run to my fa-
ther's house after every severe beating, my mother
comforts me and tells me to return to him saying, `look
at the scars I've gotten from your father's beatings'."

Despite our avowal as a culture that we frown on wife
beating, our legal and judicial system has changed very
little, and there is still a large amount of
public opinion that supports a man's right to beat his
wife. Sadly, there are still women that think they
deserve to be beaten.

The role of Gendergappers-for-change has never been
more vital to our human rights. Changes in public
opinion and judicial process must come from intelli-
gent, aware judges but the majority in Congress has
prevented hundreds of Clinton's judicial appointments
from being confirmed. We all must note the conditions
in our own state and make sure we vote in our local and
state elections. Most localities have battered women
support groups/homes that can always use our support.
As long as our culture holds to the belief that men are
superior to, and therefore own women, we can expect
very little to change. Possessions do not fight back
against injustice, human beings do.

Time to stop saying that it can't happen here. It does
happen here. If you need a nudge, read the book _Black and
Blue_ by Anna Quinlan.
#


Gendergappers 44 -
A DOLEful WAY OF BRIDGING THE GENDERGAP

Did you miss the unusually muted reporting of the media
that former Senator, Bob Dole, had a face lift? Some
people who knew him well were interviewed to confirm
how much younger he looks now. Well, that's surely his
right, but we are much more interested in the story of
why. Think GENDERGAP!

Increasingly, Dole has been putting himself into situa-
tions so he will be interviewed and at each interview
he touts the candidacy of his wife, Elizabeth, to be
the first woman president of the United States.

In strategy meetings, the RNC has been anxiously
searching for ways to overcome what they have found to
be a serious problem -- the gender gap. Women's votes
are increasingly becoming a determining factor in the
outcome of elections. We women who form that gender
gap are voting for the preservation of our hard won
human rights -- rights that some candidates for office
wish to take away.

Since these strategist believe that women are essen-
tially devoid of the intelligence to understand and
vote on the issues, they think that a woman presiden-
tial candidate will get the 'Gappers vote, simply
because of gender. The only problem they see is that
many men would feel uncomfortable voting for a woman so
that's where the face lift and new Dole image comes in.
The male electorate may be assured that Elizabeth Dole
will be directed and controlled by her "prince consort"
-- Bob, a "nearly-young" man who is certainly qualified
and who could be assumed would *really* be in charge of
the office.

So what does this woman stand for? For one thing, she
is absolutely anti-choice. She does not and will not
support women's human rights. Is the loss of your
human rights worth having a woman for president?

On another front, this time Florida, one of the
"Shrubs" (as Molly Ivins calls them), Jeb Bush, is
running for governor again. We understand that he,
too, sees that the gendergap (women) defeated him when
he ran last time. He is actively courting all minori-
ties and especially women, promising all sorts of
goodies. Look him over, Floridians, and especially
look over his supporters. Do you want to retain your
constitutional right of church/state separation?

In any event, understand and pass on the information to
your friends: the conservatives owe the religious
extremists big time for political contributions. They
think that Gendergappers are airheads -- women. They
think that all they have to do is put up either a
female candidate or a "pretty" "sexy" male to get our
vote or downplay the "reproductive choice" issue.

PCJ is once again in the news, along with her handlers,
as her suit against the president comes closer to the
courtroom. The media has finally taken a close look at
where the money is coming from that supports her.
Surprise! It comes entirely from groups financed and
supported by conservative religious extremist groups.
One of these well financed entities has put out radio
and TV ads asking women who have been propositioned by
former Governor Bill Clinton to contact them. Accord-
ing to their ads, they want to help you and although
money is not specifically mentioned, it is definitely
implied that it will be "worth your while". Just imag-
ine what could come out of the woodwork with an ad like
that. We've heard from some women who are calling the
number often to tell them about the immoral proposi-
tions they've gotten from conservative candidates.

Finally, what are we going to do about the president's
nomination for head of Affirmative Action, Bill Lan
Lee? The Senate Republicans have killed this nomina-
tion in committee by refusing to allow it out for
action by the full senate. They were led in their
HATCHet job by Sen. Orin Hatch, author of a recently
released album of religious songs. (Remember the words
spoken recently, at an RNC gathering, by the christian
coalition's, Pat Roberts? "It's payback time.")

If you are a woman and you are reading this, you'd
better believe that Affirmative Action is still impor-
tant to you. If you don't know why, ask any woman who
worked outside her home or attended college before Title IX.
#


Gendergappers 45 - I'VE GOT THIS BRIDGE IN BROOKLYN...

One of the `issues' said to be hot politically is
affirmative action. The rhetoric is really something
special as speaker after speaker tells us how we are no
longer a racist society. They tell us how wrong it is
to give populations in our society (that have been, and are
still discriminated against) some legal protection.
"It's not fair to them," they howl piously
with real tears in their eyes to show their sincerity.
"We should treat all people equally."

But notice how the oratory speaks only to race. They
think that women are too stupid to realize that affirm-
ative action laws were what got us into universities,
graduate studies, sports, industry and business, etc.
By only mentioning race when they speak of scrapping
these programs, they hope to lull us into a very false
sense of security.

Meanwhile, back in the real world where we still have
affirmative action laws on the books, a female state
trooper, Maureen Wesinger, in Boston "was told to use
the public bathrooms and a shower in a dog kennel so
her male colleagues will have a comfortable area to
work out." This was after the women's locker room
disappeared from the building plan and a men's gym took
its place. It came only a month after four troopers
filed a discrimination complain because they were
automatically assigned to desk duty while pregnant.

California has already rung the death knell for affirm-
ative action, with the result that selection, by some
colleges, of racial minority students decreased markedly.
We have not yet heard much about how women have been
affected, but why should we -- they now have no re-
course. We only learned about the black students
because Jesse Jackson went there and held a rally. Who
is going to ring the clarion call for women?

True, women have increasingly been elevated to higher
positions in universities but this does not mean that
we can expect it to continue when they take away the
penalties that affirmative action formerly levied when
a university was out of compliance. Add to all this
the big media push that is again insisting that all of
our problems are caused by women who work outside of
the home. Nearly every columnist, newscast or sitcom
brings up this subject and trots forth woman after
woman who confesses that she would really rather stay
home with her children and how she is quitting her job
to do this. We are under a media blitz intending to
incite guilt right now, but where are the voices of
women answering, "baloney!"

This kind of propaganda from the media is similar to
what was (and still is) trotted out regarding choice.
The millions of women who responsibly choose abortion
and then went on with their lives are ignored and the
few women who thirst for attention are featured, pious-
ly holding forth their guilt and tears to lay on the
"pay off" alter of the religious extremist. Just ask
PCJ how generous these payoffs are.

Speaking of Paula, her handlers now have her demanding
that President Clinton be required to demonstrate his
penis erect. The reason, she claims, is that it will
show the proof that she has correctly identified it.
This is not producing the effect the conservative
extremist hoped for, as more and more people are begin-
ning to see that the whole PCJ situations is just a
ploy to embarrass the president. Instead of creating
outrage, they are hearing our laughter.

The claim that she can make a positive I.D. is spe-
cious. Following is a portion of an article by
Will Durst, writing in _The Progressive_:

"Just when you thought it couldn't get weirder,
Paula Jones has petitioned the court to have
President Clinton's genitals examined *while
aroused*. She says the unique characteristic she
can identify is that his penis was bent while
erect...

"A condition affecting men ages forty-five to
sixty, whose symptoms include a bent erect penis,
is called Peyronie's disease, and is caused by
scarring or the build-up of plaque in a cavity in
the shaft of the penis. So I guess the moral here
is: Men, don't forget to floss."


Gendergappers 46 -
"I'VE LOOKED AT LOVE FROM BOTH SIDES NOW"

You can feel it in the air as our political suitors and
their hired guns rev up their verbal motors. The hunt
is on and 'Gappers are the hunted. As we have noted
before, the gender gap has been increasing over the
years and it has not escaped the notice of the politi-
cal parties. They are out to woo and win us because we
represent a political force. Sadly, some women just do
not recognize this and refuse to inform themselves and
vote or we would be even stronger.

There is not much new, though, in the advances from the
Demogs. With only a few bumps here and there, their
love has been constant. Most of them actually loved us
before there was a gender gap. The really fun thing to
watch and experience are the mechanized, untrained
groping of the Repugnats. However, we must not let the
rhetorical musk, created by their lust for our votes,
cloud our vision.

We know from experience that we cannot trust the media
for factual information on candidates so we must get
our facts from prior performances. In either party,
there are those who have consistently supported women,
but just as the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree and
leopards don't change their spots, political conversions
are always suspect.

[Time out. We should again clarify our position on
religion or spirituality for our new subscribers. We
support every person's right to her own concept be it
Goddess, God, Nature, The Force or Whatever. We
*oppose* those who try to force their religious beliefs
on others politically. To make clear what we are
writing about, we always use the term "political/reli-
gious" to delineate exactly what we are opposed to.]

The word has been given to Repugnant candidates that
they must soft pedal the abortion issue. Policy advi-
sors see their opposition to women's reproductive
choice as a major reason why many women withdrew from
their party. In addition, the irreligious right and
the unchristian coalition have secretly indicated to
candidates that they will be allowed to deviate from
the god (political/religious) position so they will not
alienate women. These candidates are further assured
that they will still receive campaign funds but if they
are successfully elected, in the words of Pat Robinson,
"It's payback time."

Specifically, that means unwavering support of the
agenda set by the political/religious right groups. On
this agenda for congresspersons are _mandated prayer in
schools_ and, _overturning the president's veto on
choice_. This is the veto that assures women's human
right to consult with her doctor and have any medical
procedure necessary for her health and well being. Men
have that human right, it is only women who are target-
ed. It is only women that are threatened by a congress
pledged to overturn the president's veto.

There are those who profess to stand in the gap while
mounting a stealth attack against women's human rights.
We, however, ARE THE GAP. We occupy this space and we
will not be stepped on or crowded out. We must indepen-
dently and fearlessly check out and assess the records
of those people who offer themselves as candidates.
We cannot allow ourselves to abandon our good judgment
and vote for every woman candidate simply because of
her gender. Likewise, we cannot vote for every person
according to her/his political party. Just as there are
women who identify only with the male political/religious
power structure there are men who refuse to follow their
political party's anti-woman platform.

Above all, we must be adult enough to know that no
office holder can *always* perform exactly as we deem
correct. Just as there are political conversions there
is political expediency. What we've got going for us
is the knowledge of our political power and their
knowledge that we know we've got it. Some candidates
still think of women as air heads, empty minds that will
fixate on a cute guy candidate, or vote because the candi-
date is a woman, or believe that our human right of choice
is unimportant.

We will increasingly be looking at, and evaluating,
love from both sides of the political arena as the
'98 congressional elections and those in 2000 approach.
We've "been faking it" long enough, let's be aware that
many politicians still are.

"It's love's illusions I have found, I really don't
know love at all."
#


Gendergappers 47
"A WOMAN NEEDS A MAN THE WAY A FISH NEEDS A BICYCLE"

Remember that bumper sticker? It's the Preamble to the
Woman's Constitution. After thousands of years, exist-
ing as property, we finally freed ourselves only to
believe the lies told by church and enforced by state.
So for some time, we stayed enslaved believing that we
had no ability to live a life on our own. We were
incompetent beings, incomplete unless mated to a male.
True, the shackles were gone not too long ago, but some
women were held fast, none-the-less, by economics, religious
teachings and lack of education. As more of us broke
free, all of us could believe the impossible --
that each woman, like each man was a competent and com-
plete human being.

No, this is not a down-with-marriage opus. It is simply
the recognition that WOMEN ALSO ARE HUMAN AND CAPABLE
WHETHER ALONE OR MARRIED. Where a few years ago,
not having a husband doomed us to a life of poverty,
despair and derogatory labels, today there are choices;
today there are WOMEN'S lives to celebrate -- starting
with a person named Janet Reno, Attorney General of the
United States of America. A woman who chose her life's
work and chose not to marry.

We all learned in school that there were three branches
of our federal government: judicial, executive and
legislative (most will allow that the media has become
a fourth branch). Last week, Attorney General Reno
once again courageously announced a decision without
fear or favor toward the executive, legislative (or
media) branches, despite a veritable morass of testos-
terone-loaded threats. She blew off the top-cop, FBI
Chief, Louis Freeh. He reacted by leaking a missive he
had sent to Reno in a frantic and futile search for his
cajones. As expected, the Bevis and Buttheads of the
Repugnat majority in Congress, nearly drowning in their
own smegma, hurled bolts of accusations at Reno along
with dire threats to depose her. A.G. Reno just
smiled, complimented her detractors, thanked Louis for
his input and continued doing her job -- with not a
feather ruffled!

She was given the name "El Reno" by the media which
continued to print and feature every critical remark
they could in hopes of creating "a typical woman's"
response to threats -- a tearful, mea culpa so they
could CNN it to the entire world.

However you evaluate Reno's decision, her actions were
heroic. She reminds us of another woman who chose to
remain unmarried, Susan B. Anthony. By sheer force of
will, Anthony drove herself, and a small group of
women, to force the creation and ratification of the
19th Amendment to the Constitution.

A reporter named Nellie Bly interview Anthony in 1896
giving us a sense of this remarkable person in her own
words. Anthony seemed always to maintain a great sense
of humor even though women and men alike attacked her
constantly for not following the `biblical rules for women'.

When asked what her greatest ambition was, she an-
swered, ""Oh, my!" with a laugh. "The right to vote.
Not that I care for myself, but I want to see discrimi-
nation against women killed."

Asked what was the greatest forte in life for a woman,
Anthony replied. "That she must first be a woman --
free, trained, and above old ideas and prejudices, and
afterwards the wife and mother." And, of course, by
her own life, she insisted that wife and/or mother be
choices -- free choices.

Today, with the 21st Century fast approaching, the
media is making lists of famous people and important
happenings of the 20th Century. So far, we have not
seen one list where Susan B. Anthony (or any of the
women she worked with) appeared. In fact, we have not
seen any woman listed in the top ten names. In addi-
tion, nowhere on the lists we have seen thus far is
there any mention of the 19th Amendment.

Susan B. Anthony lived just 6 years into the 20th Cen-
tury. The right to vote, that she worked so hard to
get for us, was never given her. How can any of us
justify sitting out any election? Surely each of us
can inform ourselves on the issues; talk to friends
and relatives; offer rides to the polls or child sit so
a mother can vote. Maybe Anthony's name won't appear
on any of the man's lists, but we can give her memory
something better and more lasting -- the justification
of her faith in us.
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Gendergappers 48-
WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND SOME OF THEM ARE US

Recently, we saw a review of a book, by a woman, advo-
cating that we return to the use of the word "girl" for
"woman". For anyone who remembers how women were
constantly referred to in such a derogatory way, this
was as reprehensible as hearing that a black man was
advocating returning the use of the word "boy" for a
black man. Who can forget our employer saying to anoth-
er man on the phone, "I'll have my girl call your
girl," when he was speaking of competent, intelligent
adult women?

Or what about how we hear our gender referred to on
radio and TV as -- chick, babe, broad, bitch etc? Is
it really so hard to say, "WOMAN"? We believe not. We
believe that this degradation of our gender is inten-
tional and is part of a massive backlash. A backlash
against women (empowered by Affirmative Action Pro-
grams) demonstrating that they are smart, competent and
skilled in all manner of activities. A backlash that
was caused by the reaction of insecure males to women
supervisors, superior officers, judges, doctors, law-
yers, police officers or attorneys general.

However, it is the political/religious power structure
that has provided most of venom, cash and impetus in a
drive to force women, AND THEIR VOTE, out of the work-
force and back under the control of men. These activi-
ties, of course, being greatly aided and abetted by the
media which almost exclusively broadcasts the rhetoric
of backlash.

So much for the efforts of mankind. Women have met
this threat and are holding their own. Harder to
overcome, unfortunately, are the slings and arrows that
are directed at women by women. Some of us just do not
perceive the threat that is coming from them. All of
us must become aware and combat this "5th column in our
midst" in every way that we can. Listen, really listen
to what is coming at us from the media whether it be
books, newspapers, TV, movies and especially HATE RADIO
-- this abhorrent, malignant and dangerously invasive
growth against our movement. One thing for sure, you
will not hear the media advertising books written by
women who truly serve our movement with constructive
criticism, authentic facts and sisterly support.

But, they sure promote books and deeds by anti-woman
women. You know who they are but we'll list a few that
we have noticed or been told about. Many of your
comments to this list suggested that #1 should be:

Mona Charen, who has never met a self-defined woman she
didn't hate. She insists that our country and its men
are now weak and this has been brought about by, "the
feminization of America."

Camille Paglia, who claims to be in the woman's move-
ment, creates her own definition of it and then blames
everything wrong in the world on women and our move-
ment. Molly Ivins in _Nothing But Good Times Ahead_
does an excellent review of the pag. She sums up with
this line: "What an asshole."

Katie Roiphe, used her connections with the press to
write a vicious attack on feminist students that chal-
lenged and did not accept Roiphe's thinking in college.
Of course she was supported by the male dominated press
in claiming that date rape doesn't exist.

Arianna Huffington, a total antitheses of what the
women's movement is all about. Her thesis: Any woman
can marry a million or two and be liberated. Women
don't need brains.

Laura Ingram, a columnist who continually puts women
down and unceasingly sucks up to media males like Imus.

Susanne Sommers, makes us retch -- yeetch. Identical
twin of Mona Charen, separated at birth.

Naomi Wolf, who characterizes our entire women's move-
ment as sexual. She claims that all women are cunts,
sluts etc and the way to liberation is by sleeping with
and being used by men. It's our nature, she sez.

Why do these women attack our movement so viciously?
Well, it isn't a new activity. Women have been trained
for thousands of years to act this way. Early on in
our movement, we encountered women who were used by the
establishment as a buffer between the males in charge
and the women who were looking to advance. We called
them "queen bees" as they jealously guarded their lord
and master's turf. They were made to feel important
and powerful by virtue of their loyalty to men, against
the enemy -- us. This left the male upper management
free to claim that "We don't discriminate against
women," whenever a woman was effectively `knocked-off'
by the queen bee.

Like the women listed above, they believed that power
and worth comes from men and that to succeed they must
act, dress and project the image that men have defined
as female. Simply put, they lack the courage and
convictions to define themselves.

Happily, there are more and more visible, self-defined
women for us to use as role models. Sadly, if the
media notices them at all it will be largely in a
derogatory sense. We, however, have a choice of what
we can believe in and how we act to express our person-
hood. In doing so we learn that there is NOT just one
type of women (feminine, empty headed, cloths and boy
crazy) but many, many types -- as many different types
as there are women. We learn that our gender has a
continuum of human characteristics the same as other
human beings do -- and, with courage, we may choose
our own place.
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SUSAN MC D. DAY

We are reminded again by the media that Susan Mc D. is
serving time in jail. We are shown over and over, the
image of a woman in chains with nothing to shield her
from the photo-op scheduled by special prosecutor,
Starr.

Should she be in jail? Yes. She was found guilty by a
jury of her peers and sentenced to many years in jail.

Is that what she's in jail for? No. She is in jail
because ***she refused to lie.*** After her convic-
tion, Starr offered her a deal. Implicate the Clintons
and you will not have to go to jail.

_We do not condone Susan's criminal actions, but we do
salute her as a modern day Joan of Ark. A strong woman
who would not compromise her principles and lie to save
herself._

Our culture has commemorated the selfless deeds of men
by celebrating on their birthday. Many of these men
had as flawed a past as Susan Mc D., but they are still
celebrated for something extraordinary that they have
done. We know that there have been women worthy of
acclaim throughout the ages that were largely ignored
at the time and only now appear in anthologies or lists
but let us change this and acknowledge at least one
woman hero in REAL TIME - right now.

We suggest that women celebrate the courage and
strength of Susan MC D.; that we commemorate the day
she was taken in chains to jail for *NOT* lying; for
*NOT* putting her own comfort above the truth and for
showing the world the *true mettle* of womankind.

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Gendergapper EXTRA - Holy MOTHER Joan

We received several posts reminding us about the
story of Pope Joan. Although we have found no other
confirmation of Walker's theory, it rings true to many
people. You decide for yourselves.

(We thank Lea for sending the following post which tells
the story of Pope Joan)

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Lea writes:

Here's one who got stoned in the street and buried in
an unmarked grave:

POPE JOAN

reference source: The Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and
Secrets, Barbara G. Walker, p475ff.

"Catholic scholars now deny that there was ever a
female pope...[but] the church accepted Joan's pontifi-
cate as historical fact, up to the beginning of the
17th century."

Joan was an Englishwoman who knew more of the scrip-
tures than any man, and she was elected pope [A.D. 854]
after disguising herself as a monk who became noted for
scholarship.

Pope Joan became pregnant, and during labor her dis-
guise was uncovered, whereupon she was driven out into
the street, stoned to death and buried in an unmarked
grave. Joan was the only pope ever stricken from papal
records... When Emmanuel Royidis wrote her biography in
1886, the book was banned by the church and he was
excommunicated.

A Vatican custom arose in the wake of the "myth" of
Pope Joan: "Candidates for the papacy had to seat
themselves naked on an open stool, to be viewed through
a hole in the floor by cardinals in the room below. The
committee had to make its official announcement: Tes-
ticulos habet et bene pendentes, 'he has testicles and
they hang all right'."

Walker comments: "It seemed important that 'Holy Mother
Church' must never be governed by a Holy Mother!"
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_I AM WOMAN, HEAR ME ROAR!_

All of us who were around when a fresh wind from Aus-
tralia, named Helen Reddy, raised our soggy conscious-
ness and blasted our minds, hearts and spirits wide
open are now thrilled anew by another Aussie, Dale
Spender.

Lisa writes:

"Saw a great speaker recently: Researcher, broadcast-
er, teacher and author of over thirty books, including
the internationally acclaimed _Man Made Language_ and
_Women of Ideas_, Australian DALE SPENDER makes a rare
appearance in Los Angeles to present her newest book,
_Nattering on the Net: Women, Power & Cyberspace_ in
which she conveys her sheer delight cruising the
Net and poses many provocative arguments about women's
participation on the Internet.

"I have read many of her books over the years, and it
is so exciting to see she how see has moved into the
technology area. She talks a lot about women getting
in *now* and designing the future of technology for
ourselves before it is designed by men; and realizing
that the power base has shifted from print to electron-
ic media -- which women need to embrace and master! She
draws an analogy between the publishing industry and
how books by women have boomed over the last 25 years
as the industry realized they were profitable. But, in
the beginning there was always the argument of scarcity
and how publishing a women's book would deny a man's.

Now, of course, with the Internet, there is no scarci-
ty, it's unlimited. Also, she talks about her fasci-
nating research on how boys and girls use computers,
different ways of encouraging girls and women to em-
brace technology, academia's resistance to the Inter-
net, the way the new multimedia generation is changing
society, etc."

... and from Jennie, in Australia:

"Dale Spender is great. She lives just around the
corner from me in fact, and writes a biweekly column in
the local newspaper (for which she is regularly branded
a *F*nazi man-hater lesbian, because you can't write
"bitch" in our newspapers ;).

"She has written several books, she is a histo-
rian and general critic of male egos. Some of her
books are: _Man Made Language_. Which talks about how
English has developed to denigrate and belittle women
etc., _Learning to Lose_, and _Invisible Women_, about
women's education. And _Women of Ideas, and what men
have done to them_, which is fairly self-explanatory."