Letters to the Editor
Sandra M
Published Letters: 578 Editor's Choice: 139
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The Bushes and Kennedys are dynasties as potent as Gandhis and Bhuttos
[Read the article: A woman's place is in the Styles section]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...they just haven't found a woman amongst them to put forth/back.
Perhaps when we live in a world where woman aren't exhorted to consider themselves "pre-pregnant" in order to protect the fetus (never mind the mother - she's just the incubator) then we will live in a world where people can imagine a woman in the top role.
It's hard to be considered a leader when you are required to submit to the whims of organizations from the FDA to the Women's Pro Wrestling Federation who would could tell you you can't go to the State Dinner featuring alcohol and sushi until you take a pregnancy test 'for your own good'.
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How Did They Ever Get Men to Admit *Needing* a Map?
[Read the article: Men read faces (but not books) better than women]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...from a woman who has spent countless hours hostage to fortune to a man driving around ignoring the map saying "I can find it! I can find it!"
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Barfy-sounding indeed
[Read the article: Vagina warriors: Once more unto the breach!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I didn't care for the vagina monologues (and why monologues? why not dialogues?) I thought the whole point of feminism/women's lib was to expand my definition of self and worth *beyond* my vagina. It was weird sitting there and hearing movie starts read scripts about how they don't like to look at their 'cootchies' and can't say the word 'cunt'. Perhaps it would have been more valuable if the stars used their own words instead of pre-prepared 'acting' monologues -- it might be interesting to hear whether Jill Eikenberry shaves or how Whoopi masturbates and does Darryl Hannah suffer from odornoia (the fixation women have that their natual odor 'down there' is fishy or unpleasant even on the best of days).
As for the whole Return of the Vagina, who is the audience? I mean, who isn't against violence against women? Here's the only answer that matters: the only people not against violence against women are the people who commit violence against women, and my guess is they won't be buying tickets to Eve's celebrity lovefest.
I think these events do nothing more than 1) make Eve Ensler famous, 2) keep Eve Ensler busy, and 3) give celebrities an opportunity to donate their time to a cause so politically correct and toothless that it represents no risk to their image. Eve's Vagninapalooza ghettoizes the issue of women's violence, which does the issue a disservice - violence against women and violence against children is everyone's issue. Pretty movie stars mouthing platitudes 'until the violence stops' is not going to reduce the number of women getting punched, raped and ripped off one iota. Better laws and enforcement in matterss of domestic violence, more severe penalties for infractions, and a long term social efforts such as education and culture-based consciousness raising among males at an early age is the answer.
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To Tyler (nice moniker, BTW)
[Read the article: Men read faces (but not books) better than women]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You state about Katherine's post " in true female fashion, you did not actually deal with the question at hand -- instead, you changed the subject, and turned the discussion into how much of a victim you and your gender are. That does two things simultaneously -- it prevents any kind of reasoned discussion of the actual issue, and it puts anyone who disagrees with you on the defensive."
Actually, this tactic is not exclusive to females so much as devious debaters everywhere. Go see "Thank You For Smoking" -- the main protagonist (or antagonist, depending on your satiric perspective) gives a beautiful speech to his little boy about how to win a debate by ignoring the question and redefining the issue in a territory/terms that are simultaeously irrelevant but, in pc terms, unimpeachable. Male actor talking to male child; dialogue written by a male, based on a book by a male, in a movie directed by a male. Nary a female in sight. For another excellent example of a person of the male persuasion ignoring the acutal question/issue, changing the subject and turning the discussion into something more suitable for his purposes, see the movie "Thumsucker" - a *boy* on the debate teams rises to fame and plaudits using this very tactic in a movie written and directed by (drum roll please)....MEN!
It's not a good debating tactic, but it's often a *winning* tactic - for boys and, as Katrherine shows, sometimes girls too.
Just to be clear.