LETTERS

Reading your newspaper has raised my consciousness of myself as a feminist. Upon this discovery I knew I could no longer be an inactive member of the women's movement. I was tired of doing nothing but bitching. Every month I waited for your newspaper to arrive to devour its contents. Reading What She Wants was not enough; I knew I wanted to be part of its making.

I was apprehensive driving to my first meeting. I had heard the rumor that your collective was a closed and select group of women and that it was hard getting in. Another fear was that I had no prior newspaper experience. I literally pushed myself to that first meeting and I can honestly say that was one of the best things I have done for myself in a long time.

I found your collective welcoming, warm and willing to answer my questions. Even though I was a newcomer you asked for and respected my opinions. After following the makings of WSW for a few months, I have made some personal observations. I am amazed at how much work it takes to produce this paper, that six women literally do all this work and they do this without receiving any pay. I couldn't help but wonder (and yes, fear) how long six women can work at this pace, before before experiencing "burnout."

I personally feel if more readers were aware that their help is essential for the continuing growth of WSW they would get involved. Only two requirements are needed, a commitment of time and a

willingness to learn. Not only will they be contributing to the Women's Movement, but they may also find it a vehicle in which to channel their anger and frustrations of living in a sexist society.

What She Wants does not belong to the six women in the collective-What She Wants belongs to all the women who read it. It only reflects the input it receives.

Editor:

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-Pat O'Malley

Thank you for publishing my letter of analysis of Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar in the November, 1979 issue of What She Wants and the follow-up letter (Dec., 79 issue) disagreeing with my position. While I agree that the abortion issue is a very important concern for women, I feel that it is not the most important issue. It is my opinion that the improvement of the economic status of women should be the major goal of the movement as when economic gains are achieved, the power of influence will be greater in other institutions which affect women's lives (political, medical, religious, etc.). I feel that it is a mistake for the feminist movement to limit “feminism" to a single issue, which, in the past, has been a weakness in the movement. Any woman who

wants to make a contribution to the movement in any area is welcome as the problems which affect women are varied and widespread. Congresswoman Oakar, who does indeed have a position on abortion contrary to most feminists, certainly aids the rights of women in other areas (economic equality, job promotions, child care, etc.) which 1 view as just as important or more important than the abortion issue. While the national polls reveal that the majority of Americans are pro-choice, any person of average intelligence would realize that the 20th Congressional District is not exactly a hot bed of "liberalism" and "feminism" and, in all probability, does not support abortion rights for women.

While I personally disagree with Mary Rose Oakar on this issue, there are many other areas where she is trying to improve the status of women and is having a high degree of success. The writer stated that it is the duty of a feminist to oppose anyone who wants to limit women's rights; I state that it is the duty of a feminist to support anyone who wants to expand women's rights and that is why I support the Con1 gresswoman.

Finally, the writer quibbles about the fact that I only identified myself as stating that I was a resident of Mary Rose Oakar's Congressional District, while the writer fails to attach a name to his/her letter. 1 would hope that in the future, What She Wants would require that all letter writers who request publication be identified and then, if necessary, request anonymity from the Editor.

Open Letter from What She Wants

An Open Letter to our Readers:

As What She Wants enters into the new year, we look to the future with mixed feelings. Each of us puts considerable time and energy into putting out the paper-about 50-60 hours every month. Each issue reflects approximately 200 hours on production alone. All of this work is provided by the six women in the What She Wants Collective with the help of various "Friends of the Issue". Except for a minimally-paid part-time distributor, ad seller and bookkeeper, all labor is volunteer.

We volunteer our time because we believe that women's media plays a crucial role in the women's liberation movement. It is not in the interest of the male-controlled media to promote any significant change in the status of women. Newspapers, magazines, television and radio either belittle, ridicule, distort or ignore what they call "women's issues".

It is our goal to right this wrong—to write the omissions. One of the things we try to do at What She Wants is sift through the international, national and local network of news, events and ideas that affect the lives and women and synthesize them in a monthly news journal. We try to serve as a link between all women—from those who are aware of the injustices and oppression women have faced for thousands of years, to those whose consciousness is stirring to the notion that things aren't the way they should be for women. Our base is Cleveland, so the Cleveland area is our local focus. However, we also distribute throughout Ohio and to 20 other states and Canada, either to women who have at one time lived in Cleveland and are interested in keeping in touch or to women in isolated areas of the land where What She Wants is one of their few contacts with the women's movement.

We know, both from direct feedback and intuitively, that we have touched many women in positive ways. This is very gratifying and has helped keep us going. However, the average length of time collective members have been involved in What She Wants is 3 years, and many are starting to feel burned out. Because we are proud of the work we do and the quality of What She Wants, we do not want to stop Prst 2/What She Wants/January, 1980

producing, but we must have your help to continue-not just to exist, but to improve and grow.

What do we need to continue—to improve and grow? More subscribers, more contributions of articles, and more donations of time and energy.

Calypso

As a result of a vigorous and costly subscription drive, we have doubled our number of subscribers in the past year, and through the efforts of an energetic ad seller, we have increased our advertisers. In spite of these gains, our costs to produce the paper (supplies, typesetting, printing, postage) have risen steadily. Since we keep the subscription cost of What She Wants low and distribute copies of the paper free to women who otherwise couldn't afford to buy them, we need many more subscribers than we have. The next time you give a gift to a friend, lover,

–Susan E. Wilson

mother, aunt, sister-think of What She Wants. Over the years What She Wants has provided a forum for contributions from women writers which would never be printed in the male-controlled Cleveland newspapers-articles, photos, graphics, f poems. We are grateful for the fine contributions we have received in the past from women. We appreciate their forbearance through the painful process of editing and, at times, rejection. (We at What She Wants know the risks involved--how it hurts to have a cherished passage edited out or an article rejected.) But we need more contributions on a steady basis from more women to continue producing.

Where can a woman donate her time and energy other than writing? Since our biggest crunch is compressed into the one week of typesetting and layout each month, we desperately need more help with production. During this week, we work at layout all day Saturday and Sunday, and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings (until the wee hours of the morning). We will train someone in layout if she is willing to learn and can make a commitment of working at least one of these shifts. Thursday morning we deliver the flats to the printer and Thursday night we pick up the unfolded newspapers and get them ready for mailing at our mailing meeting. Friday morning one of us takes them to the Post Office. Since most of us are bleary-eyed by Thursday evening, we need help with the tedious task of mailing. The only commitment needed here is 3-4 hours a month.

You can reach us at P.O. Box 18465, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118, or call 932-8259, 932-4298, or 261-6652 (evenings).

Moving?

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