4-GAY NEWS-August 1978

From across the nation

Dateline

Number of women executives reaches a plateau

NEW YORK-Despite efforts by the feminist movement to increase the numbers of women in higher-paying and more influential jobs, women in the U.S. reportedly hold the same percentage of top U.S. company positions as they did five years ago.

Fortune magazine has conducted a survey based on proxy-statement lists of company officers and directors which gives the names and salaries of the three highest-paid corporation officers and of all directors earning more than $40,000.

The magazine found that only 10 of 6400 officers and directors of what are considered the 1300 major companies in the country were women. That works out to be less than .02 per cent. Fortune reports, in fact, that in 1973, women were even better represented than they are now with 11 women holding top company posts..

Fortune says that all of the women cited in the survey were 45 years old, and six were from the east coast. The four others coming from the mid-west and west. (ZNS)

So they're not all 'after just one thing'

NEW YORK-A new paperback book called Beyond the Male Myth contains what is described as the first major survey of the American man and his attitudes on sex.

Among the findings is that 80 per cent of those interviewed said they do not regard sexual activity as their biggest pleasure in life. What's more, most added that if given the choice, they'd prefer a ticket to the super bowl. (ZNS)

But he wouldn't look too good in a pleated skirt

MIAMI-A 29-year-old man vowed to sue the Miami Dolphins football team if they continued to refuse to let him try out to be a dancing cheerleader.

The Dolphins have opened their tryouts to women only, and Glenn Welt-a part-time dance teacher-claims he's being discriminated against simply because he's a man. He insists that his 39-inch chest and 29-and-a-half-inch waist qualifies him for the competition, since women with similar measurements have made it into the finals.

Says the angry Welt: "I have had female people tell me that they'd like to see some guys out there on the field other than guys covered with helmets and padding from head to toe." (ZNS)

Blue-eyed persons are secretive, study shows

Two researchers at the University of Tennessee say they have uncovered a connection between the color of a person's eyes and that person's willingness to be open with strangers.

Psychologists A.L. Gary and Lloyd Davis report an experiment with 32 counselor trainees found that, in study groups, dark-eyed or brown-eyed subjects tended to start off sharing their most intimate self-disclosures and stayed self-disclosing throughout the study. They add that blueeyed people tended to be uptight or guarded about their feelings at first, but eventually shared their innermost feelings as the study progressed. The two researchers are quoted by Human Behavior magazine as suggesting that the pigment, melanin, which determines eye color also plays a direct role in emotional make-up. (ZNS)

Let's fall in love...

LOS ANGELES-True love is short and sweet, usually lasting 14 to 15 months.

This is according to California State Polytechnic University Professor F.B. Meeker. The professor's interest in love is not cynical, but scientific. He said he studied the love affairs of 105 men and women ranging in age from 18 to 43 whose romances had recently ended..

Meeker told the Western Psychological Association at its final conference in San Francisco that the median durability of a romantic entanglement, including the intense chapter, was about 15 months. The professor said that the chances of a "sweaty palmed" romance ending in a break-up is about 50-50-but that 94 per cent of those surveyed expected to fall in love again. (ZNS)

Another restraining shackle removed

NEW YORK-The shapes and sizes of women's clothing in America are changing, due in part to women's liberation.

Sears, Roebuck and Company reports that for the first time in 10 years, the firm is changing the standardized measurements for women's garments.

For example, the new size 10 is half an inch smaller in the bustline, an inch wider in the waist and half an inch bigger in the hips. Sears explains that it's not the women who are changing in size, but the fact that millions of women no longer choose to wear uncomfortable, tight-fitting undergarments.

The company says that women abandoning the bra and the girdle have forced a change in clothing designs. (ZNS)

by Frank Ginn & Jeff Eiberson

Your lifestyle

One of the most deeply rooted stereotypes which has been used to characterize the gay experience has been the portrayal of the older gay male as a desperate and pathetic figure whose lost youth results in a life of loneliness and craving for the passing favors of younger men, which is said to eventuate in exploitive and empty relationships that merely deepen his sense of despair. This stereotype is based on the assumption that the sexual attraction of youth is the only vital force operating in the life of the gay male. This is part and parcel of the youth orienta-, tion which has characterized our culture in this century.

Many gay people of all ages seem to fall for the stereotype and behave accordingly. There is often snide reference to age in conversation in bars, and the attempt to look or act' younger than one's years is as common as it is unnecessary.

We are not trying to claim that youth is without beauty, or that there is not some attraction to a younger person felt by many, if not most, of us. It is the other side of the coin that bothers us; namely, that an older person is seen as being at some kind of disadvantage in terms of so-

cial and personal fulfillment.

The facts are quite different from the stereotype. Age does create changes, both physically and psychologically. The physical changes are both external and internal, and involve changes in appearance as Iwell as body functioning. These changes, however, are not incapacitating, and are a natural part of life. The psychological changes can often result in a more mature, caring and open attitude towards life and towards other people because of a more concrete sense of self and ability to really enjoy life.

Most older people are better adjusted than younger people. This is confirmed in many studies. In addition, one famous study conducted with professional gay males in their 50s revealed that, not only are they more fulfilled and "happy" than younger gay males, but are more "together" than a control group of straight males of the same age group. The reasons for this include the gay males' having cultivated friendships, hobbies, cultural activities and a general involvement in many aspects of life denied straight males, whose energy was primarily expended in raising a family, which

then "grew out of the nest" and left these men with little in the way of meaningful activities. The straights had played the role of breadwinner, and when this function was no longer necessary, they felt lost.

In addition, some recent trends have begun to go against the tradi-. tional accent on youth. For example, a recent magazine poll of the ten most attractive women included, for the first time, no women under 30 years old. There has been some speculation about this, and about the obvious increase of older women. and men in advertisements. The speculation centers upon the notion that, for the first time in generations, the average age of the population is getting older. Therefore the members of the largest potential group of consumers are no longer in their 20s, and the media has subsequently shifted the focus of its propaganda. This has further implications in terms of the youth stereotype. The post-warbaby generation is also becoming older, and is no longer in the category of "youth." This group in the population, because of its size, has the effect of setting trends about what is desirable, and further curves the accent on what is "trendy" towards an older age.

Finally, surveys among gay males have shown that a significant number of younger males prefer older males as potential partners. The reasons given include stability of older males, the opportunity to learn from them, and, surprisingly, the attitude that older males are "sexier." We point this out because we have (Continued on page 22)

Playboy funds Seattle anti-repeal drive

SEATTLE-Citizens to Retain Fair Employment, which opposes an initiative to repeal Seattle's gay rights law, has received a $2000 contribution from the Playboy Foundation in Chicago.

The foundation, a non-profit group formed by Hugh Hefner, Playboy magazine publisher, supports civil rights and other liberal issues around the nation.

Save Our Moral Ethics (SOME), sponsor of the initiative to repeal the gay rights provisions, recently received $3000 from Protect America's Children, the national anti-gay rights organization of singer

Anita Bryant.

The contributions are indications of the national attention being drawn to Seattle's gay rights debate.

Other than the two major out-oftown contributions, both sides in the campaign so far have depended almost completely on local support, public-disclosure records show.

Records put the pro-gay rights group's campaign fund at $10,074, mostly in $15 and $25 donations from about 200 persons listing Seattle-area addresses.

SOME the anti-gay rights group led by two Seattle policemen, lists $10,835 in both cash and in-kind (la-

D.C. repeal law

bor, supplies, etc.) contributions. That includes more than $3000 in office equipment and supplies donated by private parties.

SOME still is circulating petitions in an attept to put the homosexual rights issue on the Seattle ballot next. fall.

له

The initiative challenges only the sexual orientation clauses in local ordinances protecting racial and other minorities from discrimination in jobs and housing. SOME contends that "homosexuals are not entitled to the same legal protection from discrimination."

intact

as minority amendment stalls

WASHINGTON-Foment continues over a controversial referendum bill that would allow popular repeal of minority rights ordinances. Before a packed crowd comprising more than 100 lesbians and gay men, the D.C. City Council voted to refuse to discuss or pass on a measure which would help gays fight the new Initiative, Referendum and Recall Act. The vote came as a surprise to both supporters and opponents.

The measure is part of a bill designed to implement the voter-approved Initiative, Referendum and Recall Act. It had been drafted mainly by D.C. Gay Activists Alli-

ance lawyers to block voter-initiated recalls that would establish discriminatory policies. D.C. gays are concerned over the possible repeal of that city's gay rights ordinance.

The measure was returned to committee after city government lawyers argued that it was "legally insufficient" and "exceeded the purpose" of the referendum act. Lawyers also claimed that the measure would indirectly amend the Wash-, ington D.C. City Charter.

Local gay leaders rebutted these claims, citing numerous legal precedents and statements on behalf of the measure. The GAA brief noted the Government Operations Com-

mittee's approval of the measure, reading in part, "Yet the case is not 100 per cent clear either way. The critical difference is the overriding importance of human rights in this country (which is) clearly on the side of the provision."

City Council members say that their opposition to the measure stems from questions over its legality. The Deputy Counsel brief stated that the "merits of the policy is (sic) beside the point." However, some observers here feel that political concerns would keep the provision in committee until after the September primary, when most City Council will be up for re-election. 1