High School Woman Power

On the WERE Kid Power program, a 17 yr. old high school woman organized and led a panel discussion on sexism. Merle Polis's Kid Power program was turned into a Woman Power program that evening. The following is a personal view of the show by the young woman who organized it.

I sat down at the Beef Corral on Euclid, nervously awaiting my guests. My watch said 5:15. They were supposed to meet me at 4:30, and we were supposed to be at the station by 6:00. "What if none of them show? What will I do then? How can you have, a panel discussion with. out a panel? If they do show, how am I supposed to know who they are?"

But finally, alleviating much of my nervous. ness, every one of my guests showed up, and we soon found ourselves trucking down to WERE. As we entered the building, I clutched on to my introductory notes, hoping that they would be my psychic crutch before I gathered up enough courage to talk ad lib to an audience numbering in the scores of thousands. We sat in the waiting room, nervously cracking jokes and taking deep breaths. My guests were a 14 yr. old junior high school woman, a young black woman, and two high school women from Lakewood.

As I sat down, I put on my mike and nervously smiled at my guests. I had been on the air be fore. I told myself "It's no big thing, hoping that it would help me become less self-conscious. I had the power to persuade or to dissuade, to turn on or turn off, I felt that tremendous power of the mass media, as we turned that station into a woman's station for a full three hours that night. People power and kid power became womanpower as our sisters out there related to us and we related to them and to each other. All that had been disjointed as a bunch of loose ends became united. We were women. We were op-

pressed. We were sisters. That was enough. We reached out to the women in the audience as they reached out to us, each sharing a part of their soul, a part of their suffering, a part of their joy.

That's not to say that there were not women and men that called to voice their opposition, but for one night they sounded like the strange ones, they were the voices in the wilderness, as the signal of sisterhood came through loud and clear.

We discussed what sexism was, both in terms of definition and experience. We likened sexism to racism, relating in racial terms the common bond of oppression. Our bitterness at being put down was tempered by our joy in our expeiences of sisterhood. We talked about school being the

breaking out in hysterical laughter.

As we concluded our show, we discussed the problems we have with our older sisters. We re sentedbeing treated as something less than their peers, and we felt the need for some sort of high school women's group, whether it was political or a combination of the two.

The show was finished, and my sisters left. As we parted our ways, I asked myself"Will we ever get it together, young sisters? Will MINORity women ever speak on their own behalf again? Or was this oasis just a mirage, sinking back into the desert of ageism and sexism?”

Well, sisters, I am still awaiting your reply.

place "where society tries to put its trip on you Protests Male Bias

(Student as Nigger).

High school isn't just for four years, it's for the rest of your life. It lays the foundation for all of your future career and educational decisions, and so it's four years you can't afford to have messed up by someone trying to fit you into some kind of a mold.

We found that there was a great amount of interest in the sports question, as some callers tried to make us out to be crazies who thought that women were 7'8" multi-muscled Amazons who were geniuses at playing tackle football. We simply asked that if women were so physically inferior to men, why then were men afraid of ability tests to determine team members? If the women couldn't hack it, then men had nothing to worry about.

My own background as a Catholic became a popular subject of discussion, as some people got the mistaken impression that the Catholic Church had gotten me involved in the feminist movement. It took all I had to refrain from

Women in the Student Athletic Trainers course held at Case Western Reserve University in August charged an all-male panel with bias against women. The women, predominantly of high school age, were outraged at comments by one of the panelists asserting that women as trainers were worthy only of bandaging small cuts, and were really not too helpful. The argument continued with discussion of discrim ination in the allocation of funds for women's athletics. The panel maintained that women's sports don't make any money. Evidence to the contrary is the Cooper Raney Tire Women's In vitational Softball Tournament held in Brook park in July. This was a first in Cleveland and it will be held again next year. Surely, that is some indication of financial viability.

The panel was not the only culprit. Instruc tors for the course were all ma le and displayed attitudes of condescension toward the women. The one exception on the faculty was Mr. Lyrin Wallace, organizer of the course. He stated, "I am glad to see so many women turn out for this I hope to see more this is a wide open field for them. To ignore the fact that women get hurt that isn't too intelligent."

f

I guess it takes a few more years before they find out they're the weaker sex !..

The souls of women are so small That some believe they've none at all. Samuel Butler

When a woman is a martyr it's taken for granted, when a man is a martyr he's Jesus Christ.

Anonymous

What a misfortune to be a woman!.. And yet the worst misfortune is not to understand what a misfortune it is Kierkegaard

Women Softball Champs Cut

Raney Tire will represent Cleveland in the National Finals of the American Softball Association Championship Tournament to be held August 28 through September 2 at Elk Grove, California. In the past, two women's teams have gone to the Finals, and there is still a chance that The Donnettes, runner-up in the area tournament, will be able to go. The ASA,decided that only one women's team would go this year, even though there are six men's teams going, as usual. Donnettes Coach Don Wooten

page 4/What She Wants/September 1974

states, "I'm upset because the girls are upset, but I am still hopeful for a chance to go and hopeful that we will be able to get the financial support we need for the trip." Raney Tire has gone to the finals for several years in a row, and it seems that the decision as to whether there would be one or two teams representing the area depended upon the outcome of the final game of the area tournament. John Nagy of the Department of Recreation said, "Not enough teams in the area entered the tournament, that's

how we determine how many teams go to the finals." Why, then didn't they cut the numb of men's teams?????

Watch the Cleveland daily papers for news of this tournament and if nothing is reported write the Press and the Plain Dealer protesting the lack of coverage of women's sports. L. pors to the American Softball Association in protest of their obvious discrimination against women would also be in order,