WOMEN AND HOT KITCHENS

We have all heard the saying, "If you can't stand the
heat get out of the kitchen." You may have noticed
that you and other women have never found the heat of a
kitchen comes anywhere near the heat a woman faces when
she dares to leave it. And, the heat she receivers on
leaving it is nothing to what she must endure IF SHE IS
SUCCESSFUL.

Finland is a country where women rule. They got the
vote 90 years ago and today the Vice President is a
woman and women comprise 1/3 of the parliament (1/2 of
them have advanced degrees). How the males and step-
fordwives females laughed and taunted, making bets on
how long it would take them to run the country into the
ground. It didn't happen. The women showed themselves
well able to govern -- in addition, Finland has low
teen age pregnancies and abortion is not only free but
legal. The men still grumble.

When Prez Clinton appointed Madeline Allbright to the
top cabinet position of Secretary of State, the talking
heads and their sycophants declared that he did it
because he wanted to run the State Department himself.
If he had appointed a man, he could not do this since a
man would, of course, be capable of directing State's
activities -- the inference being that a woman couldn't
because a woman needs direction (from a male, of
course,) where a man would be able to think for himself.

The case of our Attorney General, Janet Reno, is most
amusing. When first appointed, the media/pols said the
same thing about her. Then, when Reno appointed spe-
cial prosecutors, they raved about her INDEPENDENCE AND
GUTS. When Clinton was elected for a second term, the
media/pols became hysterical. "Clinton must reappoint
her," they screamed. "If he does not, he should be
impeached." Now we are returned full circle. She is
said to be "under his direction" -- a mere woman, once
again since she has not followed the orders of the
(mostly) male congress and appointed another special
prosecutor. Wow! Talk about `damned if you do and
damned if you don't'.

As a gender, we have not been very adept at accepting
the `slings and arrows of outrageous fortune' which are
aimed at any of us who has the guts to run for public
office or rise to the top in our chosen profession. We
understand that boys learn to accept criticism and deal
with it because of their "tribal" upbringing. They
early on learn, through sports and cultural acceptance,
to compete, win and lose. They bond with each other
for mutual support. They are taught to strive for
their own and their group's advancement. To accept
criticism and to give it.

Girls are not. Well, there are hopeful signs now that
more women are getting into sports and other activities
that were once denied to them (Many thanks to Title 9 &
11). Generation X has some formidable members as do
the Boomers. The Beat Generation is still in the
battle but getting a tad worn out -- they were on the
ramparts and have been struggling for equality for
years and must soon pass on the torch. Right now, it's
really up to all of us to get into our government and
make ourselves heard. Remember, it's not biology that
is destiny, it's history. Ignore it and it repeats,
and all your protests will continue to fall on deaf
ears and closed minds.
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NOTICE: A WARNING ABOUT A NY & VT AREA STORE:

It has been brought to our attention that a company
called, "MEMORY etc." (now operating in NY & VT)
is a place to stay away from. They sell computers
and upgrade components. They advertise satisfaction
or your money will be refunded, then sell a defective
computer and refuse to take it back unless the buyer
pays a very large fee and even then, they examine the
returned computer, claim the problems were caused by the
buyer and increase the return fee. They have recently
defrauded an older woman of $1700.00 and we have also
heard of many other cases where they have not lived up
to their advertising promises. *We ask that you pass
this information along to your friends, and also direct
it to NY & VT people on any of your other lists. Thanks.