The Battalion
'ber 13.
hursday • November 13, 1997
Guys and Dolls
Sexual misconceptions, death of feminism continue poor gender communication
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ie wouldsf Social interactions not only
limsiluirsd dd meaning i<"hu olluMAvise
pir teamsiii iland existences, they are cru-
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ie Americar
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an:
ipecies. Unfortunately we are
letermined to allow politics,
tionthatso anguage, philosophy and every other transitory con-
ept that civilization has ever created interfere with
he pursuit of our single constant need, togetherness.
Our inability to resolve our differences has re-
luced us from the noble creatures who once be-
I ieved ourselves formed in the image of God to pa-
ietic simps arguing over whom is more victimized.
Many women endlessly complain that they are
:aced with an oppres-
1 live male-generated
mage of beauty. The
truth is, men have al
lay. nost nothing to do
|o their fan nidi creating our im
| Texas, "s age of the “ideal
woman.
It affect pk Actually, it is
lideleine.l women who drive
Ijs scheduii themselves to be the
jiday. plasticized, underfed
urroundt kittens of love. Long
lolingfal ago women realized
|n the w® that by doing striking
lay on th things to themselves,
men might pay more
|descriptio|attention to them.
The notion of the
male-generated ideal
falls to illogical,
rhetorical pieces
when we hypothesize
what would happen if
the women of the
world held an 8 a.m.
press conference to
announce that from
won they were
gonna let it all hang
out— eat what and
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hsed many
ilskedout
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jetta had
I, , | whenever they want to, only exercise when they feel
fci acte to | anc j thought strikes them.
l°Mshnl ^ len y° u 8 et ri gh T down to it, men just wouldn’t
* e e d i be anywhere else to go. There might be a brief pe
riod of experimentation with fruit, but by noon of
that day, men would adjust to this change by loving
women just the same.
Each sex is the other’s captive market, and as such
it’s built into our genes to accept the best of whatever
comes along.
The competition to bag an American man is not
arace to some male-determined finish line. It is a
135million-chick catfight, where women are dig-
jsix-inch heels into the non-painted faces of
feir sisters who have better things to do than look
feBarbie.
We men never said we only wanted Barbie diough.
Meanwhile, men are busy trying to be indirect,
clever, and non-obtrusive in our attempts to pursue
"'omen that we end up looking even more clueless
than we really are.
We have placed ourselves under such pressure to
tot appear predatory that we can’t effectively ask a
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women if she has a boyfriend.
The question itself would be too blunt, so the ob
ject is to steer conversations to topics where a
woman might divulge her relationship status.
Sometimes the manipulation happens smoothly,
sometimes not.
“Oooh. It’s getting late. I have to feed my cat,” the
woman will say.
“You should get your boyfriend to feed it,” the
frustrated man will suggest.
“I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“AH HAH! Would you like to go see a movie this
weekend?”
The biggest impediment to cross-gender rela
tions is our inability to politically swallow the
phrase “separate but equal.”
The fact that this phrase was used to justify racial
segregation in America earlier this century is so re
grettable, because if the phrase didn’t have such
negative connotations we might use it more often.
It is both ironic and humorous that a culture that
so values diversity is so loathe to recognize outside
of the confines of self-
help books that men
and women are funda
mentally different.
And we should be
allowed to revel in
our disparities.
Our educational and
political developments
have made these differ
ences unimportant
from an occupational
standpoint, but no act of
Congress or civil rights
leader can erase the im
pact these differences
have on us socially.
If we allowed our
selves to celebrate the
differences between
men and women we’d
stop feeling so sorry
for our sexes and we
might actually have
some meaningful
communication.
Men wouldn’t abdi
cate their natural aggres
siveness (which should
n't be confused with
violence) and women
would appreciate our honesty and directness.
Women, similarly, would stop looking for vic
timization ground every corner and take guys at
face value!
Our current perception of “diversity” is too rigid
and cowardly to truly accept the consequences of the
reality it describes. This abstract concept of diversity
is to be prized and celebrated, but people who take
the next logical step and acknowledge that men and
women might benefit from different behaviors in
their social lives are called old-fashioned or worse.
Guys, girls are smart enough to know when
you’re fishing for a date, so you might as well ask
and accept the consequences.
Girls, be happy with your particular brand of
beauty and be honest enough to acknowledge that
men too are sometimes undervalued because of
their outsides.
It feels good to take a break from the games
sometimes, doesn’t it?
Jeremy Valdez is a senior chemical engineering
and journalism major.
Michelle
Voss
columnist
ike yesterday’s spoiled
cheese, feminism is
Istale, moldy and rot
ten. And, just like that
stinky cheddar in the
fridge, feminism needs to
be tossed in the garbage.
In fact, everyone needs
to come to the realization
that this word is passe.
Feminism was a move
ment. Today, feminism
may not even exist.
Unfortunately, many
young women are wary about calling themselves
feminists. They fear that others will stereotype
them as steel-toe-boot-wearin’-lesbians.
When in fact, they are normal girls who want a
husband, kids, and a subscription to Southern
Living.
In actuality, all women should be feminists.
Feminism should be
about supporting
the choices of all
women everywhere.
Feminism should
mean that women
have options in life,
not that we should
all conform to the
leftist agenda and
throw away our
Wonder Bras.
However, with rad
ical left-wing women’s
groups, such as Na
tional Organization
for Women, running
around for the past
twenty years under
the banner of femi
nism, most women
are reluctant to call
themselves a feminist.
The so-called
feminists of the 90s
are snotty white
suburbanites who
care nothing about
liberating women.
Instead, they at
tempt to push their
leftist dogma on the minds of women across the
nation, telling them that they are still slaves to
oppressive patriarchy.
What a bunch of hooey. The notion that women
are frail victims of men is ludicrous and radical
women’s group know it. Yet, they are engrossed in
their political agendas and determined that all
men are part of a conspiracy to enslave women.
First of all, to think that feminism is capable of
liberating a woman is asinine. Liberation is such a
personal and psychological experience that a na
tional movement with the prefix fern can never be
inclusive of what liberation truly means for women.
The major fallacy of radical feminism is that
they beg the political, business and social worlds
to “let us in” rather than “set us free.”
Second, the leftist feminists such as Patricia
Ireland and Naomi Wolf demand that women who
are true feminists will conform to their confining
system of rhetoric.
A true feminist, in their eyes is Pro-Abortion,
screams sexual harassment every time a man
walks by and demands that we implement federal
day care programs.
In direct contrast to the radical groups, there
are thinking women in this nation who are Pro-
Life, wear lipstick and are very fond of men.
Finally, left-wing feminism is guilty of robbing
women of their individual identities by creating an
atmosphere of hysteria.
Rhetoric from the major feminist groups skew
personal responsibility, blaming men and society
for everything from the glass ceiling to their finger
nail polish chipping.
Another nasty obstacle for the women’s move
ment is the media who abuses the label feminist
by narrowly defining feminism as careerism.
There is something floating around in our lan
guage that tells girls there is something wrong with
them if they want to raise a family. Motherhood
has become synonymous with oppression thanks
to radical feminists.
Believe it or not, women will get this strange urge
to have a child at some point in their lives. It's called
nature, it’s how we
propagate the species.
Claiming to have
rescued women from
oppressive patriarchy,
radical feminists have
only encouraged
women to be at odds
with nature by arro
gantly asserting that
liberated women pur
sue a career and forsake
their families.
Yet, feminism should
mean that women are
free to either choose
motherhood or choose
a career, not that we all
should conform to a
certain ideology.
This article is not
discounting the role of
the women’s movement
in the advancement of
civil rights for females
in industrialized
democracies. I do noth
ing but applaud the
mutual efforts of
women and men who
pioneered efforts to
raise women above the status of cattle, economi
cally and politically.
I am sincerely indebted to women like Abigail
Adams, Virginia Woolf, and Mary Wollstencraft, all
my grandmothers in the women’s movement.
However, this contemporary bourgeois femi
nism is incapable of uniting women or even help
ing women to achieve their true potential. Young
women everywhere should feel outrage at the way
radicals have dragged feminism through the mire
of extremism.
We need to reclaim the women’s movement as
our own. This movement does not belong to fringe
groups, but to women everywhere.
We need to have our voice, that is what libera
tion truly means, that every woman is free to speak
her mind.
We need to redefine what the women’s move
ment can mean for the next millennium and for
ourselves. It is time to toss out the stinky, rotting
feminism of days past.
Michelle Voss is a sophomore English major.
Contributions of feminist movement
continue to remain unrecognized today
Mandy
Cater
assistant
opinion editor
F eminism is dead.
Feminists are all
radical, lesbian
man-haters whose
goals in life are to “be
men.” These piteous,
uninformed cries
plague the feminist
movement in the
modern era.
The problem the
feminist movement
faces is not that it is
dead, quite the con
trary; the movement
has been so successful that people do not
even recognize it anymore.
Feminism faces so many misconcep
tions. Both sexes today frown upon groups
such as the National Organization for
Women, calling them “radicals, extremists
and left-wingers.” Of course, these are con
sidered horrible things today, but if people
evaluate the roots of feminism, they might
have a different opinion.
Early American feminists such as Eliza
beth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
Were, indeed, radicals. They campaigned
against a powerful male patriarchy in order
to ensure that women would someday have
rights and liberties they felt their gender de
served. Thanks to women such as these,
American women now have the right to vote
and the right to work outside of the home.
These ideas certainly were liberal in their era.
Many women today complain about the
e Mls of feminism, and yet, they regularly ex
ercise their rights to vote and have a career.
On another point, a feminist, Margaret
Sanger, was a major force in legalizing and
raising public awareness about birth control.
Her efforts helped put an end to crude abor
tions with coat hangers and in back alleys. To
day, over half of all women use birth control,
probably without even thinking twice about it.
This brings up an interesting question:
how many people today who campaign
against the evil feminist movement actually
are feminists? The answer is many.
Whether people would like to admit it or
not, feminism is alive and well today. If it
was not, there would be no women in office
in state and national governments. Women
would not have the option to take leading
roles in churches, temples or synagogues.
Women would not even be able to attend
universities.
What feminism is all about is change. The
movement involves making sure that
women have the opportunities and choices
they deserve.
Feminists are radicals, but also are pio
neers and civil libertarians. While there are
lesbian feminists, it is not a part of the
membership requirement. For the record,
neither is wanting to be a man.
Feminists are women who want to be able
to create their own destinies. They are house
wives, doctors, grandmothers and political
leaders. In fact, feminists are everywhere.
Feminists are not about crying “harass
ment” at every opportunity, but they are
about women having the right to work and
live their lives free from insults, abuse and
discrimination.
As far as feminists encouraging women
to abandon make-up and “attempt to be un
attractive,” as many people think, this, too is
a misconception. Feminists Naomi Wolf, Pa
tricia Ireland and Gloria Steinem are all at
tractive women.
The point that feminists stress on this
subject is simply that it should not matter.
In other words, women do not have to be
beautiful, stick-thin skeletons; that is femi
nism’s message. Membership requirements
do not outlaw mascara or shampoo.
People can claim feminism is dead all
they like. But until people stop taking ad
vantage of the rights that the feminist move
ment won for them, they should really rean
alyze their arguments.
Feminism may not be as vocal or radical
a movement as it was in past decades, but
this is simply because it achieved many of
the major goals it intended to reach. Yes, it
may be a more quiet movement today, but it
still thrives. People are simply working be
hind the scenes to ensure that the rights
women have stay firmly in place.
Feminists still fight for family planning
rights, equal opportunities in the workplace
and for tougher legislation for violence
against women. Feminists do not expect
women to be uberwomen, they just want
them to be able to be themselves.
The bottom line is, feminism is a move
ment for choice. If that is radical, so be it.
Mandy Cater is a senior
psychology major.
Tai
MAIL Call
White tradition
permeates A&M
Robert Brown’s,column on “mul-
ticulturalism” should have definite
ly been an eye opener to the non
sense the Confederate flag stands
for today and what is used to mean.
Congratulations to Mandy Cater for
the insertion of her true belief with
her quote saying it is ok to have the
Confederacy stand for racism and
hatred as long as you hide it — it’s
disrespectful to curse in front of
your parents, but it’s ok if you do it
behind there backs.
It is amazing how much Texas
A&M white student body (the ma
jority, not all) strive to continue ill
willed traditions. Tradition might be
the foundation of this school’s elat
ed spirit and unity when it comes to
football, and that would be fine if
we spent all our time on the football
field. But, one should ask them
selves here, in all this spirit and uni
ty, how many times have they
passed a fellow Aggie with his or her
car broken down on the side of the
road with a Texas A&M sticker shin
ing on the rear glass of their car. The
fellow Ag must feel good, like a
team player, stranded at the side of
the road. The Corps is the oldest
tradition here. Their tradition is
having an all white male school. Has
anyone ever taken the time to see
how poorly and discriminated fe
males are treated in the corps? Bon
fire, if you are male and can take
racist jokes, we want you, if female
and cannot take sexist jokes, go
make some Kool-Aid for the men.
When it comes to anything but a
football game, the school spirit is
segregation and subdued hatred
among each other. Everyone for
themselves when the football game
is over would be a more accurate
description of tradition, and if you
are not white, you know where we
stand! The school flag, the Dixie flag
— a symbol of racism, is the true
symbol of this schools tradition and
will probably be its downfall.
I think it would shock these cur
rent day, Dixie flag sailors if they re
alized that the Civil War was a fight
among whites over differing opin
ions on slavery. It is obvious how il
literate these Dixie flag sailors are in
striving to uphold all the hatred of
whites on blacks. If I stole the one
wrench you have to work on your
tmek, you should be mad at me for
stealing your wrench, not at the
wrench. If I stole the saddle off your
high horse, hate me, not the saddle.
I am not suggesting that there
should be inner hatred, or anything
remotely close to that among white
people. What I am suggesting and
pointing out is this misconstrued
hatred is unfounded and does not
make sense.
It is no wonder that hate groups
like the KKK need the Confederate
army as backing to defend these
misguided, misrepresented and
absurd hatred among white and
black people.
Gregory Osbourne
Class of’99