advert."ements

century photography

JANET CENTURY

Studio Commercials / Location / Portraits / Celebrations / Documentary, 1570 Belmar Road. East Cleveland Ohio 44118 Telephone 321 9401

WEST SIDE PEOPLE'S

FOOD COOP

4241 LORAIN AVE • 281-1904 tues.& wed. 4-8 fri. 9:30-2 sal. 10.3 a nonprofit alternative to rip-off food stores

CLASSIFIEDS

Advocate/Counselor positions available to work with women in crisis situations Must be able to deal effectively with families from diverse backgrounds and their children. Duties include advocacy, intakes. lollowup support. crisis/hotline intervention. For further information please submit resume and references to

Women Together. Inc. (a 24-hour residential program) 3201 Euclid Avenue 2nd Floor Cleveland. Ohio 44115

(431-6267)

4

Salary negotiable. An equal opportunity employer

Read Women and Revolution, Marxist women's journal. Headlines: "Iranian Women Face Islamic Reaction! No lo the Veil! For Jorkers Revolution!" Published by Women's Commission of Spartacist League. Subscribe: Spartacist Cox 1377. GPO, New York, NY. 10001 $2 00/year, quarterly.

Woman and two children would like a roommate. Rent negotiable. Call 941-6530 after 6:30 pm. West Side.

Women and Alcoholism (contined from page 9)

2. When faced with a problem, do you often turn to alcohol for relief?

3. Are you sometimes unable to meet home or work responsibilities because of drinking?

4. Have you ever required medical attention as a result of drinking?

5. Have you ever experienced a blackout--a total loss of memory while still awake-when drinking? 6. Have you ever come in conflict with the law in connection with your drinking?

7. Have you often failed to keep the promises you have made to yourself about controlling or cutting out your drinking?

If you have answered "Yes" to any of these questions, your drinking behavior is probably affecting your life in important ways. Above and beyond all the other activities which you consider central to your life, taking charge and looking for help has to become a number one priority For if you wait too long, these other activities won't mean much to you either.

Recovery from alcoholism and chemical dependency is possible. Most often one cannot accomplish this alone. The self-help organization of Alcoholics Anonymous is recognized as the most effective treatment for addiction. Most treatment settings, such as Merrick Hall, use AA as a central element of their programs. Most alcoholics approaching treatment feel hopeless. Life without their one comfort seems impossible.

Most recovering alcoholics find their network of

Letters (continued from page 2)

The Growth Coop, etc., could not have existed without the energy of the countless lesbians who helped create them and contributed to their existence. We cannot take these community efforts for granted.

The women of this community deserve our praise and gratitude for the significant addition these organizations have made to all of our lives. They also desperately need your financial support. Most everybody is on the brink of folding for lack of energy and money.

It may be a reflection of the times that there is so little excitement and support. All our efforts are frustrated by the lack of enthusiasm and input. Over

Decbody's

WEDNESDAY

JULY 25th

Ellen McIllwaine

with special guests Mary Martin and The Tunas

Shows at 8:30 and 10:30 Ticket Price $3.50

Corner of Cedar and Taylor Roads in Cleveland Heights

321-4072

peers the most helpful support in overcoming their addiction. Their success changes their outlook on life completely. Into the second year of recovery one often hears the alcoholic making this unlikely statement: "If I had not become an alcoholic, I would never have come to discover how to live my life fully. I am glad to be an alcoholic." It seems that dealing with an addiction gives one the ability to deal with many previously unmanageable life situations. It also brings an existential appreciation for the self who has survived a life-threatening illness and for the freedom that this recovery brings.

References:

-Carol Epstein

Alcohol Abuse and Women, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (1978).

Alcoholism Problems in Women and Children, Milton Greenblatt and Marc Schucket (Grune & Stratton, New York), 1976.

A True Story of a Drunken Mother, Nancy Lee Hall (Daughters, Inc., Plainfield, Vt.): an autobiographical description of a woman's change to sobriety and her indebtedness to her sisters in the women's movement who helped her.

The Booze Battle, Ruth Maxwell (Praeger Publishers, N.Y.), 1976.

The Woman Alcoholic, Vera Lindbeck (Public Atfairs Committee, Inc.), November 1978.

and over women are getting burned out-100 much work, too many commitments, too little return.

There is a major point to be made here. The les bian community has been active and accomplishing for years, but their efforts are primarily self-sustaming, and they burn out quickly. The have had momentary impact on our personal lives, but they have not touched the lives of the greater majority of the population.

The straight world still does not accept and under stand lesbianism. We are still legally discriminated against in housing, employment, and by the society at large. We are all drained on a personal level by discrimination, custody battles, paranoia, closer neurosis, blackmail, harassment and fear.

There is a lot of education, consciousness raising, and change that needs to take place. We must educate the straight population that gays are not perverse, dirty, immoral and strange. We are not mentally ill, and we are not all alcoholics. These myths are still prevalent in straight society. And we are still discriminated against with full sanction of the law.

The gay population of this city must do something to instigate change. To get a protective clause in municipal ordinances is simply the first step in getting society's legal and social acceptance of gay lifestyles. We need to be able to make legal our relationships with each other, to have the benefits of family plan health insurance, Social Security, life insurance and all the many details of reality the straight world takes for granted and the gay world is denied. It is fear that has kept us quiet. We are not willing to give in to that fear any longer. We are trying to organize the gay population of Cleveland. They say it can't be done. I believe it is imperative. We can't all move to San Francisco. We hate to change the laws here. There are statistically at least 75,000 gays in the greater Cleveland area. That is a powerful voting block. $10.00 from each of you is a powerful lot of money. Please keep your eyes and ears open-there is a new wave of activity here. Please support the people who are working to organize the gay population. It will make a difference to the rest of your lives.

-Melinda McGeorge

Page 14/What She Wants/July, 1979