WSW EDITORIAL
It started out rather innocently. The United States, always on the lookout for a good buy and a little security, resurrected a puppet shah in the small nation of Iran. Among the many benefits we reaped were a market for our arms, a guaranteed supply of oil, and a strategic position against communist aggression. The Shaḥ helped keep our conscience clean
through his widely touted gestures to improve the standard of living, educate the masses, and upgrade the status of Iranian women. He may have gotten a little greedy over oil prices now and then, but basically it was a good relationship.
Meanwhile, many thousands of miles away, another schemer was dreaming of overthrowing the
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CONTENTS
Features
Clio's Musings..
WSW/Network..
2.
Feminism in Europe...
8-9
Letters.
Strong Wimmin at the Cleveland Art Museum.... "Dear Santa..." A Short Story....
6
7
Bits & Piczes.
4-5
News
Women's Groups...
11
Local
Women Together Needs Help..
3
Poetry...
10
LERN March for ERA.....
3
Take Back the Night August 2, 1980...
12
Classified Ads..........
National
Find It Fastest..
Assata Shakur Escapes...
4
Government Suppression of Nuclear Hazards......4
What's Happening.
15
back cover
15
puppet regime. Whereas we had money on our side, the Ayotollah had only his religion and a bitter hatred for the Shah and his allies. His hatred was not unfounded. In the name of modernization, the Shah had upset the Islamic order and filled his own coffers, not to mention having silenced a number of people who disagreed with him.
The United States, being short on memory, didn't count on the fact that religion and hatred could provide enough power to spark a revolution. Even the CIA, which was busy equipping and training the Shah's goon squad, was caught off guard. Finally, to our embarrasment, the ailing deposed Shah arrived at our doorstep, appealing to our "humanitarianism." What else could we do but provide him with the best medical care Iranian money can buy? After all, we take in refugees and Russian ballet dancers, so why not a loyal friend?
Cover Collage by Carol Epstein with help from Gene Epstein
What She Wants
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A MONTHLY NEWS JOURNAL PRODUCED FOR ALL WOMEN, We always like input from our readers in the form of articles, personal experiences, poetry, art, announcements, and letters. We welcome women who are willing to help us in specific areas of the paper (writing, lay-out, advertising, distribution, publicity, etc.) and/or who are interested in our collective.
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As surprised and outraged as American officials appeared to be, the consequences were not difficult to foresee. Khomeini, faced with striking workers, demonstrating leftists, angry unemployed, and uprising Kurds, needed a strong emotional issue to unite his country. Seizing the American embassy provided the dramatic media event he needed to divert his country from its internal chaos.
The diversionary tactic worked in this country as well. As diverse groups as hardhats and ex-Vietnam War protestors, egged on by a xenophobic media, united in an explosive burst of emotion. Such a response not only helped us forget our own troubled times, but it has paved the way for our government to take whatever "defensive" actions it deems necessary.
The immediate outcome of the situation is impossible to predict, but in the long run there are some likely results. Khomeini's growing paranoia and oppression will further motivate the already disillusioned factions in Iran and may very will lead to his dramatic demise. As for the U.S., the net effects probably will be no more dramatic than fluctuations in the Presidential popularity polls.
Ideally, the Iranian crisis would inspire us to rethink our own aggressive policies and actions. But like so many opportunities we have passed by, we will let this pass as well. Because in doing so we would find that the strongest bond we share with much of the rest of the world is that we are not humanitarian. Protest as we may over the American hostages taken by Iran, we do not value human life. Not as a government policy nor a social reality. Which is ultimately why the Iranian situation is a feminist issue in the largest sense. It goes beyond the question of whether women can be free in an Islamic culture. It is the issue of respect for human lives.
--Linda Jane
December, 1979/What She Wants. Page 1