LETTERS

Dear WSW,

Well, I just couldn't sit on my hands after seeing this month's issue. A couple of things on my mind which I feel I must share with all of you. First, I was real glad to see Marycatherine Krause express a viewpoint on the draft' question which I have held for some time now. It was a good article. I, for one, cannot see expending time and energy attempting to prevent the patriarchy from playing their war games when we all know they are only attempting to cloud the issues for women by sucking us up into this mythological reasoning of “equal rights means you have to fight". I will not fight for a country that daily, constantly and consistently denies women their civil, economic, reproductive rights. When I hear the so-called leaders of a major political party call the ERA a "trivial issue," it is obvious that we, as

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Suffragist arrested for demonstrating, 1905. women, are still not taken seriously, and I'll be damned if I'll fight their battles.

About the Take Back the Night article by Louise Luczak. I have lots of thoughts, some still in rather formative stages, but would like to express a few and perhaps get some feedback. I am still outraged whenever I think about that march. It seemed absolutely ludicrous to me to have a few hundred women marching to show their strength, their unwillingness to be kept in their place, their power, and be confined to the damn sidewalks like children! I am outraged because once again we allowed the male

powers that be to keep us in our place and have their way with us. Despite the committee's protestations about "we weren't prepared to take over the streets," I think we should have. I think we must act more overtly and aggressively in given situations and force the politicians, police, RTA execs, etc., to listen to us and to believe that we are indeed serious. Granted, women may have been physically hurt, some may have been arrested, but maybe it is time that we start taking risks. Certainly other sisters in the earlier suffragist movement took more risks with life and limb than us-the women in the WCTU took ax in hand!

We, the movement in its most political meaning, seem to be bogged down in rhetoric. Maybe we have to act now in order to get from where we now are to where we want to be. I think Dworkin is correct in assessing the freedom of movement, the freedom to go where we want, how we want, and when we want as essential in order to gain other freedoms. We were restricted in movement in a march allegedly held to protest restriction of movement! I am confused, angered, and frustrated-what do we gain when we continually bow to the pressures, the threats from an establishment that we know does not and probably will not ever regard us other than as somewhat less than human?

I do not want to advocate that we instigate or initiate violence, for we know that violence is the tool of the patriarchy and is not ours by nature. But we also know or should begin to realize that we are strong, we do have power, and if provoked, we must use it. Why are we afraid? Would they have come and arrested all of us? And if they did, then what? Could we have forced the mayor and the RTA people to meet with us right then and there if two, three hundred women blocked the streets and refused to move? 1 wish I had the answers.

I also just want to comment that I was glad I had the opportunity to hear Andrea Dworkin; she is a strong speaker and I like her way with words. It is true maybe that women from home might have the same thoughts, but we all have a different and unique way of expressing them and I thought her way was most effective and commanding. Too bad we didn't get to use the energy and spirit she evoked prior to the march, but then there was the problem of logistics.

I also want to say that although I was personally frustrated that evening, 1 realize that all the women on the TBN committee worked hard and put their best effort into that night. I appreciate all that they did do and all they are trying to do. My anger is directed not at them personally but at the damn situations which seem continually to plague us from making any real inroads into solving the oppression which is so pervasive it seems at times that we are standing still.

-Terry Bullen

RTL................

By Carol Epstein

In mid-September at the Ohio Pro-Life Convention, guest speaker Dr. Bernard Nathanson confidently announced that human life begins nine days after conception. Attentive listeners grimaced at one another. Some raised their hands to protest the "conservative" nature of his statement. Dr. Nathanson is an obstetrician and one-time director of a large abortion clinic in New York City. Formerly the cofounder of the National Abortion Rights Action League, he has reversed his position on abortion and explained that change in his book Aborting America,

Standing quietly, I looked around at the large roomful of convention members. The crowd of 400 to 500 people, nearly all of them white, gathered to affirm the convention's theme: "The Human Life Amendment: A Reality in the 80's." The proposed amendment would define a fetus as a human being from the moment of conception, with full legal rights. It would thereby prohibit the withdrawal of support for that "life" except to prevent the death of the mother. For the audience, then, Dr. Nathanson did not go far enough in his definition. As an atheist and a scientist, he predicts that in the next 20 years scientific progress will uncover the "absolute inevitability" of evidence proving that human life begins at the moment of conception. "For those of you who believe that now," Dr. Nathanson explained, "you have taken a leap of faith which I cannot do."

A friend and I attended the convention in order to provide pro-choice activists with information on RTL's political strategy. We enjoyed, if I can use the phrase in the narrowest sense, freedom of movement at the sessions. As I wandered from one information table to the next, staring at stacks of religious. literature and Reagan bumper stickers, I thought about the "leap of faith" to which Dr. Nathanson referred in his opening address. I wondered what-in an emotional and intellectual sense-makes a person "leap".

In the past few years I've read much about the growing New Right coalition. Its political strategy no longer focuses on the single issue of abortion but encompasses a wide range of issues which are based on the goal of a government-enforced return to "traditional" social values, e.g., defeating the ERA, banning sex education in the schools, and returning voluntary prayer to the public schools. Baptist minister and television evangelist Jerry Falwell sets the public tone of this program through media efforts which promote his organization, Moral Majority, a national umbrella of religious/political action groups. Behind the scenes tycoon Richard Viguerie

Invitations Still Open for Chicago's "The Dinner Party"

By Pat O'Malley

Plans to bring The Dinner Party to Northern Ohio are alive and thriving. Due to the efforts of interested individuals and representatives of women's and civie groups in Akron and Cleveland, we may have the opportunity to see this extraordinary exhibit in Akron as early as the spring of 1981.

Conceived and designed by Judy Chicago and implemented with the help of numerous women and men, The Dinner Party represents Chicago's attempt to give women their rightful place in history. It consists of a triangular table with 39 place settings commemorating 39 women of various cultures and eras. The names of another 999 women are enameled on the 2300 handmade tiles within the table. The handpainted china and exquisite needlework, traditional women's "crafts", further celebrate women's accomplishments.

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The organizers have purchased "Right Out of History", a documentary film which shows the artistic and political stages of the project's creation. This moving film is available free of charge to any group who would like to view it.'

Bringing The Dinner Party to Akron will be a major accomplishment in itself. It will cost as much as $80,000: $50,000 for the exhibit and the additional expenses of shipping, insurance, rental of space, and security. In addition, it requires an exhibit area of 60 square feet, to be used for 2 to 3 months. The Akron Art Museum is supportive, but does not have space. The Steering Committee, which has been meeting bi-monthly since August, has incorporated as The Ohio Chicago Art Project, Inc., a tax-exempt organization. They are currently exploring funding sources and exhibit sites and are seeking a full-time director to coordinate their efforts. One of the funding efforts they plan is joint sponsorship between

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Akron and Cleveland of plates, runners, and tiles. This plan, which has been successful in other cities, would allow individuals or groups to sponsor plates for $300, runners for $150 and tiles for $25. As Judy Chicago stipulates, all proceeds above costs from the exhibit would go to different women's organizations in the area.

People interested in helping this project become a reality are encouraged to attend The Ohio Chicago Art Project meetings. The next meeting will be October 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Georgetown Condominium Party House, 35 Mennlo Park (off West Market Street) in Akron. For more information, call Vivian Kistler, 836–4566 (Akron) or Robert Zangrando, 836-5878 (Akron) evenings. The film "Right Out of History" will be shown on October 16 at 12 noon at the Cleveland Art Institute and on October 18 at 8:30 p.m. at the Tenth Muse in Kent.