The I
Battalion
O PINION
Page 5 • Wednesday, July 7, 1999
e hospital
prescript
ianovich
ring to
ready l
i he mac;:
nethingljL
aid. “Butj
f really pq
irking all
Red light special
abaret owners should value community virtues over profit, keep adult venues out of Bryan
u
n
t ll
Bent
Caipib
MCDANIEL
ow ironic. The
same week
Bryan officials
ented their com-
1998 ttMuty as one of the
iens, Gtc|l in the country for
up of rcMAll-America City
J Bipetition, plans to
d Kentticmd a brand spank-
i U.S. rcSnew “adult enter-
SA Baske jjnment” bar in
I «n’s backyard became public,
ido, Fla, ^Property owner Don Ball has leased a lot
- Bie Industrial Park Center to John
lick. The cabaret is supposed to open in
■ober, bringing titillation — at a price —
pite Ripko a city desperately trying to clean itself up.
n, Fermat. The saddest part is many of the parties
all year ivolved in bringing the cabaret to Bryan
cooled til to see the irony of its arrival. Because
in call temlt entertainment has become so custom-
ernandez ry in big cities like Austin, Houston and
0 for mosBas, towns like Bryan seem ready just to
lug and bear it when they give in to red
|l It districts of their own.
fcut nonchalant acceptance of the
i j laret is irresponsible and detrimental to
mar I community. Red light specials should
on Red Soft be given the green light by either the
aparra Suers of the bar or the citizens of Bryan,
he sbonsfc ome locals — and certainly the owners
was thecjwill object to such a stance,
could no:|i F ' rst ’ advocates of the bar will dress up
i edged I® business with transparent euphemisms.
1 New yllnstead of calling the product what it is
mtes | a short °f sex f° r sa l e — they will
ed as twcl 11 an a ‘ r sophistication to call it a
^ ^Jcsbaret, ” as if its promised choreography
|d musical routines betoken cultural en-
pment instead of cheap thrills,
his ijumhiM of course, the trick of thinking of more
datable names for smut is not a new one
year
Garciap.
® anie ' to the industry.
KUI A S ^' s same marketing tool that calls
ballparK. Bpj 0 i nts “gentleman’s clubs.” There was
lime when that word meant something,
lit the main patrons of these establish-
, lents are the same “gentlemen” who have
i GntteyJ pg, names f or their private parts and read
Manny the newspaper just to ogle at the lingerie
id Indiari ; a ^ s vy ow c hi c .
weland Secondly, after surrounding their wares
with a disingenuous mystique, they will of
|Course bring up the money,
f Akruck'actually offers pfbfit ds a justifi-
fction for his enterprise if hiring women
e only otte'tip parade themselves in front of horny men
h besidejcm be ennobled with such a name. To the
ich. The bftggestion that some members of the corn-
iron’s caii'j
is
yir,
nzafe.
munity may oppose this seedy use of his
property, Ball was ready with an answer.
“I don’t believe there’s a Bible-thumper
out there who would have done differently
with the same monetary offer,” he said.
Translated, this excuse amounts to say
ing, “The money made me do it.”
Such rationalization is all too common
these days. Morality gets trampled in the
marketplace because money is valued over
virtue. Where profits are, entrepreneurs will
be; too — clothed or not.
Both of these defenses obscure the truth
about the adult entertainment industry. The
truth is that peeping toms are not gentle
men, and bare bottoms cannot be reduced
to a bottom line.
The truth is that pornographic shows are
wrong.
The cabarets are wrong because they de
grade women. They purposely twist femi
nine beauty into an object to be ogled at.
The dignity of the women employed by the
likes of Skruck is stripped away from them
along with their clothes; they are treated as
eye candy and nothing more.
The cabarets are wrong because they de
stroy families and relationships. They offer
men and women short thrill rides in lieu of
committed relationships, and those who are
in committed — even married — relation
ships are only encouraged to indulge in for
bidden pleasures. Communities of relation
ships that must compete with the allure of
supposedly no-consequence philandering
will not survive.
The cabarets are wrong because they pil
fer lust instead of love, and as a result, they
gratify base desires instead of noble ones.
Skruck promises the title of the cabaret will
be “nice, short and tasteful,” but the plea
sures it sells will only be nice and short, as
well.
You can call it “adult” entertainment if
you like, but it is really the most childish
form of leisure around. It delights in imma
turity instead of commitment, and it makes
excuses for itself because it stuffs the piggy
bank with cash.
And although the city cannot technically
stop Skruck, one can still hope for — and
work toward — the day when men like him
will grow up to be real gentlemen, temper
their freedoms with some responsibility and
think more of the welfare of.women and
the community.
Caleb McDaniel is a junior
history major.
Mark McPherson/The Battalion
t. : ■
performa.-]
about h; Leaving early
RBkfaUr . , w
having|^ood for grads
ring dos« | n response to Caleb Mc-
ime’s f'Daniel’s July 6 column.
: is tied«f
i homenn | graduated in the first cer
emony in May. When I found
utthe College of Liberal Arts
vas walking with the College
If Engineering, I knew it was
Canseco ;jj 0 j n g t0 long.
*ays | heard some people com-
:o plain that so many left.
Canseco "I gut m y parents made a
the po";good point: because people
■st p^fjeve leaving in waves rather
80’s, than at the same time, exiting
■ 40 WReed Arena and its parking lot
/s last I' 1 went a lot smoother.
;ue in ho Besides, my family went to
of the sf
MAIL CALL
see me graduate and no one
else. I would venture to say
that many of the families went
to see their loved one walk
and no one else (with the pos
sible exception of former Pres
ident Bush, but even he left
early). Let them leave.
It also helps the flow to lo
cal restaurants.
Many of the college of engi
neering grads and their fami
lies were probably eating
desert when we were singing
"The Spirit of Aggieland.”
Perfect timing for the next
wave of reservations to invade
our favorite eating establish
ments.
Carino Casas
Class of ’99
NOW’s policies
hypocritical
In response to Mark Passwa-
ters'July 5 column.
As a conservative woman, I
could not agree more with
Passwaters’ column about the
hypocrisy of NOW. Patricia Ire
land was quick to denounce
Bob Packwood, but she and
the rest of NOW have been
deafeningly silent with regard
to Clinton, Moran, and any
other politician who is pro-
choice.
Ireland may as well just
spare the group any charges
of hypocrisy in the future and
change NOW’s name to the
National Organization to Sup
port Pro-Choice Democrats.
Ellen Daniel
Class of VI
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E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com
Popular women’s sports
re-invent feminine ideals
T here used to be
a time when the
only two
women sports figures
were Martina
Navratilova and Mary
Lou Retton — two po
lar opposites of the
feminine spectrum. Aaron
One could scare MEIER
the lines off the tennis
court. The other was so pixishly petite,
her voice made dolphins wince in pain.
But lately women in sports have be
come more than a nice pair of legs in a
tennis skirt.
There is the WNBA, which started out
as a potential League of Their Own in the
making, but has been growing in popular
ity in its third season. There has been
record-setting attendance at this year’s
Women’s World Cup games with the U.S.
team taking center stage.
While at one point mothers encour
aged sexual stereotypes by sending their
little girls to ballet lessons and their little
boys to soccer tournaments, now Mom
puts both kids on opposing co-ed teams
and watches as Beth sends Todd home
crying.
Finally, the world has learned that
chicks dig sports. But more importantly,
the social stigma of women in sports is
slowly disappearing.
While at one time the vast majority of
female athletes would find that there was
no life after the NCAA, today professional
and amateur leagues exist for women in
terested in practically every sport.
While it used to be considered unlady
like to sweat or run up and down a court,
two years ago a Miss U.S.A. finalist was a
player on the University of Missouri bas
ketball team.
Also, according to a recent AP article, a
high school in Maine had a nation-wide
first. Its prom queen was also the football
team captain.
Even collegiate women’s sports are
gaining public attention. The Texas A&M
Volleyball team had its own mini-super
star this year in Stacey Sykora. She domi
nated her position as an outside hitter
with an on-court personality that made
her the Janeane Garofalo of the team.
Prissy Sharpe, forward of the women’s
basketball team; Melanie Wilson, goalie
of the soccer team; and Clara Ho, a fresh
man NCAA swimming qualifier, have all
left their mark on their sport and A&M
athletics as a whole.
Not only are women breaking into a
field that was once strictly reserved for
the “stronger” sex, nowadays they are
surpassing men in many ways.
Today’s women athletes realize the im
pact they have on the youth of America.
While male athletes like Charles Barkley
and Latrell Sprewell flaunt their irrespon
sible behavior, women such as Lisa Lobo .
of the WNBA and Mia Hamm of the U.S.
Women’s Soccer Team take their roles as
role models seriously.
In the sport of tennis, it is evident that
the women’s matches feature more stars
than their male counterparts.
Ask the lay person to name a male ten
nis player and two names come to mind:
Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Ask
them to name women in the sport and
names such as Graf, Williams, Davenport,
Seles, Hingis and Kornikova come pour
ing out.
At this year’s Wimbledon, the quarter
final match between Venus Williams and
Anna Kornikova had so many onlookers
they were practically hanging over the
balconies to catch a glimpse of the two
prima donnas of tennis.
Even the sacred cow of professional
sports — endorsements — have come
knocking on the doors of women athletes.
With the Women’s World Cup under
way in the United States, Nike has pro
duced a series of commercials touting the
strength of the American team. Never be
fore has a trip to the dentist been such a
team-bonding experience.
Individually, Hamm, who has been
called the Michael Jordan of the soccer
world, has been in several Gatorade spots
going head to mid-chest with M.J.
While ticket sales to women’s events
may not be up to the male leagues and
the money involved may not approach
the mind-numbing figures awarded to
men, if the ladies keep up the excitement
and integrity of their sports, then “I shall
have two fillings.”
Aaron Meier is a senior
political science major.