LETTERS

Dear What She Wants:

Your coverage of the Kay Gardner Concert was very thorough and gave the flavor of the event very well.

Could I add a note of praise and thanks to the one woman who made the Women's Choir appearance possible? Without Penny Guy we simply wouldn't exist. She gave her home two nights a week, she coached individual parts freely and directed every rehearsal. I'm sure all the women who shared the thrill of singing together would join me in the note of appreciation.

Penny, singing Woman, our hearts sing out to you!

Dear WSW:

-Nancy Gerard

I was disappointed when I read Marycatherine's editorial in the November 1980 issue of WSW. I was one of the women who participated in a discussion she refers to. Her assumptions about what we "missed" saying are incorrect. I have been through a consciousness-raising group and process, as have many other women, and now I am preparing myself for and doing some of the very hard work that lies ahead. Consciousness-raising is an important beginning, but it is not "the fundamental work of the women's movement". It is true that without consciousness of male oppression it would be difficult to get women to build their lives around a commitment to women's survival and empowerment. But it is the redress of that imbalance of power between men and women that is "the fundamental work of the movement". I don't believe that thinking, planning, and creating around that level of change can be done if we spend our time collecting further data on male domination.

Being clear about the need for change and what actions will bring about that change can bind women together, even though their choices in private may be different. Of major significance to me is the fact that making distinctions along lines of sexual preference is not necessary among women who already under-

stand male oppression and who have made commitments to changing women's lives. To focus on how that commitment is binding and can transcend many differences is not "avoidance of men"; it is putting things into perspective (with men in the background).

As to asking if there are "other times" when men and male domination are discussed, the answer isjust ask for that discussion. Anyone can. If I had been asked, or if any of the other women had been asked, I am sure we could have given four hours of enlightenment on the subject. It is true that male definition abounds, but knowing that is like knowing your multiplication tables-once learned you don't need to recite them every night-you can go on to algebra and trigonometry. Of interest to me is the very male model of coupling in relationships that we buy into universally regardless of sexual preference. I really think the editorial minimized some extremely important communication between dedicated political women.

I am not entirely clear about what brings women to the point of action, but I know consciousness-raising cannot be counted on. And if consciousness-raising were complete, I'm afraid we would still have the headlines Marycatherine quoted. Until women rise up and take back their power, there will be rape. Alone, consciousness-raising is only an intellectual

Pro-Choice Ad

The Cleveland Abortion Rights Action League (CARAL) will be running the annual pro-choice ad in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, commemorating the anniversary of the herstoric Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion (January 22, 1973). Every year we have seen bits and pieces of the decision eroded away, the free choice of women becoming more and more restricted. The copy of the ad explains how a "few of our well-meaning neighbors intend to steal our rights this year" by pushing for the passage of a so-called Human Life Amendment to the Constitution. If they succeed, no woman will have access to medically safe, legal abortion. If you would like to join CARAL in sending this alarming message, you can add your voice by signing your name to the ad. The cost to see your name in the paper is $3 for an in-

Survival on the Reservation

By Randi Powers

Phyllis Young, a Sioux Indian who is a member of the International Indian Treaty Council of the United Nations and Women of All Red Nations, lectured on November 20 at Cleveland State University. She was on her way to present data to the Fourth Annual Russell Tribunal in the Netherlands in an attempt to get European support for the Native Americans' ongoing struggle with the U.S. government.

She plans to testify about the birth defects and miscarriages occurring on reservation lands downstream from uranium mining operations. Indian Health Service figures released earlier this year show unusually high numbers of miscarriages among Indian women living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. American women nationwide miscarried at a rate of fewer than 16 per 1000 in 1979. The same year Pine Ridge women suffered over 100 miscarriages per 1000 pregnancies. In addition to miscarriages, birth defects are becoming more common. The Environmental Protection Agency verified the Indian Health Service figures this fall concerning birth defects of reservation children. Seven years ago the Bureau of Indian Affairs judged the water on Pine Ridge polluted. The Indian Health Service was given $200,000 to clean up the river although it was downstream from the dumping site for uranium tail-

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ings. Phyllis Young asserted that to date nothing has been done to clean up the water supply.

At the tribunal Phyllis Young also plans to discuss sterilization abuse among Native American women. Sterilization of women, as she pointed out at the lecture, has a drastic affect on dwindling Indian population. At Pine Ridge alone, four women are sterilized a month. To date approximately 34 percent of Indian women have been sterilized.

Ms. Young also talked about the high rate of alcoholism and the soaring suicide rate among teenagers on the reservation (100 percent as great as the national average). She stated, "There is nothing being done about this, there is nothing for people to do on the reservation, no recreational facilities for the young people."

Young and other members of the group of Women of All Red Nations do think president-elect Reagen may possibly be one of the better things to happen for Indians. Their hope is that he can succeed in getting rid of the governmental regulation and interference that, for example, deprives Indians of control over their land. Though it would mean cuts in food stamps and governmental housing, Ms. Young claims Indians, if let stand on their own feet, could continue independent projects that have been started such as food co-ops, farming projects, and alternate. schools called “survival groups".

D

consideration. It does not keep the rapist off the streets. Male domination in its many forms is divisive and does keep women from acting on a united front. Whom a woman sleeps with does not necessarily define that division. And until a woman herself chooses her sleeping partner over the survival of her sisters, I will assume she is doing the work of the women's movement. -Sally Tainall

Reply: The ideas I expressed in the November, 1980 WSW editorial have evolved over time. The article grew out of my perceptions that, in general, heterosexual and lesbian women have an uneasy alliance within the movement and that this is related to the relative involvement of men in our personal lives. Both have been reinforced by my own experience, conversations with both lesbian and heterosexual women, readings, and numerous WSW discussions prior to publishing last month's issue. This occurs in the context of a shift in the emphasis on building a mass movement of women to end male supremacy to that of building a women's subculture.

My assumptions are that 1) male oppression has not been eliminated, 2) no woman, heterosexual or lesbian, is exempted, and 3) a mass movement is neccesssary to eradicate mass oppression. My question is, if movement women won't concern themselves with consciousness raisingprompting the vast numbers of women not involved to understand the intellectual, psychological, and emotional price they pay for being women in a man's world and to refuse to pay that price-who will? MK

dividual, $25 for an organization. To register your name, please call CARAL at 522-0169.

If you'd like to get more involved in what CARAL is doing to defend our reproductive rights, we always need volunteers to lobby, write letters, hold coffees, stuff envelopes, and participate in other actions. We have special volunteer hours on Saturdays, if you work during the week. Our office is at 439 The Old Arcade, and we'll be open from 11 to 3 on these Saturdays: January 10, 17, 24 and 31. If you'd like to volunteer to help keep abortion safe and legal, please call CARAL today.

Stop Stop-ERA

WomenSpace has been notified by ERAmerica that Stop-ERA is planning to file rescission attempts in as many as 20 states on a single day during the third week in January, 1981. Ohio is one of the target states.

We write to ask that (1) your organization take a formal position against recission and write letters to the Cuyahoga County legislative delegation, Rep. Vernal G. Riffe (Speaker of the House), and Sen. Oliver Ocasek (President of the Senate), at the State House, Columbus, Ohio 43215, and (2) you encourage your individual members to write legislators

Elizabeth Kulas/LNS

stressing their support for ERA. The ERA Task Force of WomenSpace is also concerned that groups planning specific actions communicate with other groups, in order to maximize all our efforts. For further information, call Deborah Van Kleef, 696-6967.