BITS and Pieces...

LNS OWNED BY WOMEN

which some people continue to profit at the expense of others."

The report was designed for educators to use in analyzing their schools' texts, and as a supplemental resource for classroom use. It is available for $7.95 from the Council on Interracial Books for Children. 1841 Broadway, New York, New York 10023.

One important source What She Wants relies on for material is the Liberation New Service, now in its eleventh year of printing weekly packets of articles, graphics, and photographs. In their "Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation", which they are required by law to publish periodically, WSW learned this month that LNS is published, owned, and managed by the staff: Cathy Cockrell, Ellen Garvey, DIRECTORY OF WOMEN'S MEDIA Sarah Plant, Barbara Plog, Sandra Shea, and Nancy Stiefel.

A Directory of Women's Media and an annotated, cumulative index of media research and activities has been published by the Women's Institute for Freedom of

BATTERED WOMEN SUE NEW YORK CITY the Press. The Director includes some 500 entries:

Twelve women who have reported being beaten by their husbands filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court against the New York City Police Department and the City's Family Court administrators.

The women say they have been unlawfully denied assistance by police who refused to arrest their husbands and by Family Court personnel who denied them access to judges who could issue orders of protectlon.

The suit charges the police not only refused to arrest -assaulting husbands but also did not tell the women that they are entitled to make citizens' arrests with the aid of the police. The suit says police also did not give women medical assistance and protection by removing violent husbands from the home, action mandated by state law.

State law also calls for battered wives to have "immediate" access to a judge to request a temporary order of protection. The women charge that they were told they would have to walt weeks before they could see a judge.,

One of the women charged that the police would not arrest her husband when he came to "slap, punch and choke" her in front of their two screaming children after he found that she had filed for divorce. Police refused to arrest the man even though he "was still hitting" his wife when the cops arrived and they had to pry his hands from around her neck. Police told her husband to leave, but she now lives in constant fear that her husband will return and kill her.

The callousness of the system is manifested in the charge that, after numerous beatings by her spouse including hospitalization for four broken ribs, she went to the Family Court for protection and was told that she would first have to bring her husband with her for an interview with the court's family counselors.

REPORT ISSUED ON RACISM AND SEXISM

IN NEW TEXTBOOKS

New York (LNS)-White, male, upperclass perspectives still predominate in recently published U.S. history textbooks, charges a new report on the presentation of women and minority history in juntor and high school texts. According to the findings of the Council on Interracial Books for Children, released in their report "Stereotypes, Distortions and Omissions in U.S. History Textbooks," publishers have made only superficial improvements over older U.S. history texts.

"The new texts we examined fell far short of presenting historical reality, said Dr. Robert B. Moore, who directed the textbook project for the Council. Moore acknowledged that new texts have shown some improvement as a result of feminist and minority pressures on publishers. But "heightened visibility of previously ignored peoples," he cautioned, "has not assured an accurate depiction of their reality.

"To the extent that racism and sexism are dealt with In textbooks, they are treated as isolated mistakes of the past. They are never analyzed as ongoing structures by

page 12/What She Wants/November, 1977 EU spravanol/ %12 10dV/ VGPT Liedrasno,

+

These figures take on new meaning when taken into consideration with a study done the the University of Michigan which reports that being unemployed takes a far greater toll on the mental and physical health of women than men. Dr. Rachelle Warren of the University of Michigan states that "while women in general report twice as much stress as men, unemployed women report almost four times as much stress as unemployed men."

An interesting revelation made by the study is that blue collar women have the most problems and receive the least help from anyone, including their spouses. This places them under more stress from a layoff than their white collar counterparts or males of either job status.

periodicals, news services, columns, presses and publishers, radio/TV groups, art/graphics/theater and music groups, courses on women and media, speakers L.A. PROPAGANDA bureaus, distributors, bookstores, special library collections, directories, catalogs and other women's media groups and individuals in the U.S., Canada and a few in other countries.

For a copy of the Director send $8.00 to Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press, 3306 Ross Place. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008, and ask about other Institute publications.

NO RIGHTS YET

FOR CALIFORNIA GAYS

• New York (LNS)-The California Court of Appeals ruled recently that gay people have no legal protection from job discrimination until the state legislature passes such a law. "The legislature has no determined that employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is contrary to the public policy of the state," said the court. "We see no reason to establish such a rule by judicial decision."

So far, about 39 communities across the country have passed legislation protecting gay people.

NATIONAL GAY LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE

(OGRC)-The 1977 National Gay Leadership Conference was held in Denver, Colorado July 29 and 30. Two representatives from each recognized gay organization in the country were invited to attend.

The Denver meeting consisted of presentations by national leaders and activists in the movement such as Jean O'Leary, Ginny Apuzzo and Elaine Noble. The program included presentations on the media campaign in Dade County, religious aspects of the gay rights struggle, the current activities of various groups, and a seminar on racism, sexism and other “isms" in the gay community,

A critique of the conference was made so that the next national conference proposed for a year from now will provide people with more advance notice, better outreach to minority gays and more emphasis on a workshop rather than a lecture format. In addition to receiving tips on how to build a local gay power base, along with much encouragement to organize locally for gay rights, the conference was useful in that it provided access to numerous individuals with expertise in fields such as media, fundraising and lobbying.

WOMEN AND UNEMPLOYMENT

Recent U.S. Department of Labor statistics show that female heads of household suffer 9.3 percent unemployment as compared with 5.3 percent for male heads of household.

-

·

NEW YORK (Militant/LNS) — Los Angeles Police Chief Edward Davis says that women's liberation has brought America to the verge of "a crime wave like the world has never seen before". Because mothers now want to "act like husbands are supposed to act", they are raising a generation of savages.

"If mommy believes in swinging, and that there's no viability to the truth, that you can lie, you can cheat, you can steal, then the piddling 17 and 18 percent increase in crime now is going to go up so that it's going to shock hell out of you," Davis told the Los Angeles Breakfast Club.

Responding to Davis' speech, Ruth Miller, president of the Los Angeles Coalition of Labor Union Women, said, "Someone ought to tell the chief that today's work force is 40 precent female. These women leave their homes and are out working in some of the lowest-paid jobs in the city-not because they don't want to be ''mommies' but because they need to eat."

TALKING ROBOT A CHAUVINIST PIG

Portland, Ore. (AP)-Sam, a well educated male chauvinist robot, was stationed in a department store as a promotional gimmick using his 4.800 word vocabulary to insult customers and make passes al young women.

The $4,000 robot looks like a king size aerosol can with a translucent bubble head and flexible arms. He gets around on three rubber wheels and is guided by a computer. His taped responses are triggered by certain key words uttered by humans.

"What's your name?" somebody asked him. "My name is Sam Struggle Gear," the robot answered metalically. "What's yours, dummy?"

Perhaps emboldened by a friendly comment and a kiss on his plastic forehead from Portland State Univer sity student Alice Ericsson, Sam turned and announced "I like girls." Later, waving his accordion arms, he moved unerringly on the lone woman in a group. "I like this one," he said. "What's your name?" Somewhat startled, the woman replied. "Sandie Murphy."

After a machine whirring pause, Sam asked: "You fool around?" "No," said Ms. Murphy. "I'm married " "That's all right with me." Sam said. “Us robots like women with experience."

Someone told Sam he was being rude. Sam stared at his critic and growled: "How would you like tire marks on your belt buckle?"