THE FEMININE VIEWPOINT

by and about women

TO THE WOMEN OF ONE:

Fear? Shame? Indolence? Snobbery? Which?

Why are we, the women, reluctant to express our viewpoint? It seems hard to believe that we may not have a viewpoint. Daily letters reach my desk asking, "Why doesn't ONE magazine have more for the lesbian?" It's a question easily answered. The women do not support ONE with stories, poems, book reviews and, mainly, articles. Now I'd like to ask "WHY."

Is it that we fear detection, or have a fear of our lack of ability to put our ideas to paper?

(Fearing aspersion we become timid; our silence is a whimpering. In our pseudo-indifference we are imposters of individuality and are in truth a cowering mass united grimly in our fear; become stifled in our abilities.)

Are we ashamed of what we are, or ashamed to come right out with it?

(There are those of us again who grovel spiritually in a middle world

we drift in a Lethe where we exist merely for the right to listen

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but not to speak. We are ashamed even of the word homosexual or lesbian. We forget that these are merely words and that essentially are human beings entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Ridicule is our terror and we contribute to it fanatically.)

Are we lazy, or do we have a tendency to procrastinate?

(There are those of us who postpone. We postpone appointments, letter writing and brushing the dog. Not only do we postpone plans we postpone the making of them. We have talent but who knows it? And though seemingly listless, we are the restless ones.)

Are we so well stationed in life that we dare not consider putting our prose to a paper that has not yet a circulation large enough to parallel our egos?

(We have good positions, a fine apartment, our room-mate is a constant, our beautician ingratiating, our waiter where we lunch obsequious. We are the smug ones: selfsatisfied, sufficient, lonely.)

Let us attempt then to remove our fears and our loneliness and our

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