Cleveland Women Take Back The Night

Help us make a political statement on Friday night, August 3, and support Cleveland Women's Take Back The Night. Women have the right to walk where and when they please. Lend your voice in the declaration that violence against women does not have to exist. Call:

Mickie Prokop 371-2210 Pat McNeil 531-9290 Sandra Coster 321-6889

Battered Women:

A New Law Helps

Battered women recently received a measure of protection when the Ohio Legislature passed a new criminal law, Ohio Revised Code Section 2919.26, known as the Domestic Violence Act. Under this new law, a woman or other person who is beaten can call the local police department, who have a duty to arrest her husband, boyfriend or other family member immediately.

Once the man is picked up, a hearing must be held within 24 hours to determine whether a Temporary Protection Order will be issued. The woman must appear in court to testify to the beating and the need for such an order. These orders, which can be issued and enforced by any municipal court judge, restrain the husband from molesting or harassing the wife in any way, including carrying firearms, drinking, or entering the residence or place of employment of the woman. If the man violates the order, he is in contempt of court and can be arrested again immediately.

This law sent into effect March 27, 1979' and some police are still unfamiliar with it. If you are beaten and the police who come to your home refuse to arrest your husband, go to your nearest police station and swear out the necessary complaint. Your husband will be picked up at home or at work, and the judicial process described above will go into effect.

Centerep Stars Women

Women and Other People, a musical review that examines women through the eyes of such astute observes as Dorothy Parker, Emily Dickinson, Charlotte Bronte, Colette and Dory Previn, will be performed at Center Repertory Theatre, 1630 Euclid Avenue in Playhouse Square, through May 13. A benefit performance for WomenSpace will be given May 1.

The production, directed by Marge Champion, has two performers, Julie Adams and Marilynn Lovell, both of whom have impressive professional credentials in movies, TV, and on the stage.

For information and tickets, call Centerep at 566-7300.

NO WOMEN ON BENCH

Neither of the two newly-created United States District Court judges in Northern Ohio will be a woman because not one woman's name was placed on the final roster of candidates. This situation has arisen despite the establishment by Senators John Glenn and Howard Metzenbaum of a Judicial Nominating Commission which functioned in conjunction with the Ohio Bar Association. While the Commission ostensibly was established to assure the equal consideration of men and women candidates for the positions on the Federal bench, it has, in fact, perpetuated the male domination of the Federal judiciary without firm guidance to the contrary by either of the two self-proclaimed champions of equal opportunity.

Previous statements by both Senators regarding the need to appoint more women to the Federal bench appear to have been little more than hollow platitudes. Furthermore, the Judicial Nominating Commission serves effectively to insulate the Senators from accountability and criticism regarding the selection of nominees for appointment to the Federal Bench.

This writer sent letters to Glenn and Metzenbaum decrying the lack of women nominees for the two available District Court judgeships. Senator Glenn, in his innocuous response of March 7, 1979, suggested that "there must be qualified women lawyers and judges in the State of Ohio who, if apointed, would serve with distinction on the Federal Bench.' Indeed there are, Senator Glenn. But it is your responsibility to locate such candidates and ensure

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that they are equally and impartially considered for nomination.

In his equally innocuous reply of March 27, 1979, Senator Metzenbaum stated that "I am aware of your concern in this matter and will make every effort within the parameters of the selection process to assure that women and minorities achieve proper representation on the Federal Judiciary." When the established method does not produce the desired end, that method must be changed. The Senator fails to acknowledge that it is the selection process itself which must be changed if women are to be provided the opportunity to serve on the Federal bench in Ohio. Until it is changed, "the old-boy network of lawyers and politicians" will prevail, resulting in the exclusion of women from nomination and subscquent appointment, as observed by Thomas J. Brazaitis in his incisive article "Women Shut Out" (Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 20, 1979).

We must develop and maintain vigorous and sustained efforts to sensitize those in decision-making positions that women must be appropriately represented in a non-sexist judicial nominating organization. This will assure that women will be affirmatively recommended as candidates for the Federal bench and consequently appointed.

-Marnie Sweet

Marnie Sweet has an M.A. in Urban Studies and is on the staff of the Department of Planning and Urban Development, Akron, Ohio.

Celebrate Voluntary Motherhood

Mother's Day is one of the most commercial holidays celebrated in the United States. Flowers, candy and long distance calls reap lots of profits as we "remember mama". Unfortunately, the commercial platitudes of the day leave little room for reflection on the real meaning of Motherhood. Seldom do the cards or banal sermons on Sunday talk about the ambivalence or real sacrifices involved in choosing to be or not to be a mother.

Each of us is someone's daughter and many of us are mothers. We're all (or most of us are) aware that deciding to be a mommy presents some tough choices. We want and need the good feelings; of nurturing a growing thing, of loving and of having love returned. But in this society the trade-offs for the mothering role can be harsh. Without day care and with enormous prejudice and inflexibility in the work-place toward mothers, being a female parent often means giving up or postponing a career, loss of much-needed income and total acceptance of the "no fun" chores of parenting: dirty diapers, discipline problems and the occasional suffocation that comes when you realize another human being is totally dependent on YOU.

Worse still can be the loss of identity. Like one of the negative aspects of marriage-being "Joe's wife,"-one is no longer Carol or Kathy but "Mommy". And Mommy must be Donna Reedlike-warm, rational and competent at all times. This is one of the sacrifices few ministers mention when glorifying Motherhood in their Sunday sermons. Of course today, Motherhood doesn't have to mean a loss of self. We can opt not ever to be a parent, delay parenting to attain other goals, or choose motherhood itself as a commitment. We can (given the right partner) shape new roles and negotiate the chores of parenting. Those of us who choose to remain childless can love and share and contribute to the lives of our friends and their children, becoming significant support people, while creating a new kind of extended family,

When motherhood and parenting are voluntary,

the benefits of nurturing must far outweigh the hassles. The greatest blessing of contraception and legalized abortion is that cach of us can embrace our children without ambivalence or bitterness but with

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the recognition that being a parent was a matter of choice-one made happily,

This Mother's Day let's leave the patronizing of Mom behind and celebrate, parents and non-parents alike, the role of voluntary motherhood and the joy of wanted children.

-Chris Link

May, 1979/What She Wants/Page 3