To subscribe or unsubscribe: irenestuber@delphi.com !^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^! ! Catt's Claws ... a feminist newsletter #30 ... April 09,1995 ! !^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^! Socially responsible Congressional representatives and senators are complaining that they are not hearing a groundswell from our side. Washington is NOT hearing from us ! Reactionary Republican right-wing religious supremacists have organized campaigns of letter writing, phone calls, faxes, email, etc., weekly. They are deluging Washington with their support of hate legislation. Notice that those with the Contract Out on America(n women and children) failed to pass any legislation that hurt them - namely, they voted DOWN term limits which cut down on the time they could spend at the public trough and have NOT done *anything* about forcing men to support their "illegitimate" or legitimate children, only forcing the mother to bear the full brunt of the man's irresponsibility with no help from a compassionate society and government. Parades don't cut it kids - it's like preaching to the choir, especially on a Sunday in spring when no one's in town ... But imagine what would happen if 50,000 feminist women (and men) marched INTO the halls of Congress while they were in session ... imagine the scene of women (and men) going up to their representatives and *demanding* an end to violence against women and an end to the laying of all of the responsibility of having and raising children on the battered hopes of women ... Just imagine what would happen if we had leadership that knew what political action was all about, rather than pulling down huge salaries to repeat the failed actions of yesterday. Just imagine if every one of us campaigned among our friends and organizations to write just one letter to each of our legislators in Washington on April 27, 1995, the 236th anniversary of the birth of Mary Wollstonecraft whose _In Vindication of the Rights of Women_ in 1792 was the loud, early gong in the battle for equal rights for women. Up to that point, women's words were seldom printed and each generation of women had to reinvent itself. No more. We have a HERstory; women's rights and dignity has a past. Now let's guarantee its future. Spread the word: Write your congressional delegation AND President Clinton on April 27. Vote now with your letters before the Senate gets a chance to vote away women's hard-earned and so- deserved freedoms. An aside to those of you who were in NOW's march - I know it was great and you feel wonderful, but it's time to go to work, to face reality. Put away your signs and pick up your pen ... It's time to leave the streets and get inside where it counts. ....................... * ........................ Critics aren't being kind to Kathy Bate's new movie, but it has a wonderful line in it: The mother says, "Sometimes, being a bitch is all a woman has to hold on to." (That's Ms. Bitch to you Newtie.) ....................... * ........................ Mea culpa, I deleted the sender's name: "Department of Contradictions: Among the workplaces hosting Take Our Daughters to Work Day was the N.Y.C. Fire Department, which has not hired a single female firefighter since 1982 (when a federal judge forced it to admit forty-two women) and which has since compiled a record of sexual harassment, intimidation and discrimination. Will someone please explain to me how it boosts young girls' self-esteem and expands their horizons to visit an enterprise that has successfully resisted hiring women for more than a decade?" ....................... * ........................ Contact IN%"HAJO@ACFcluster.NYU.EDU", Cathy Moran Hajo, Assistant Editor: The MARGARET SANGER PAPERS PROJECT, with offices in New York University's Department of History, is seeking students interested in archives, historical editing, women's history, social policy, or the history of medicine to serve as summer interns (approximately 10 hours per week flexibly arranged). Project finances do not permit these positions to be paid, but students will receive valuable experience working with primary source documents and conducting research for a major women's history editing project. ....................... * ........................ Cathy Feldman, in collaboration with the Women's Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, wrote a brief, easy-to-read summary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for her book, _Two Years Without Sleep: Working Moms Talk About Having a Baby and a Job_. For your free e-mail copy of the FMLA Summary, send an e-mail to bpbooks@rain.org and enter in the subject area: FMLA Summary. Cathy says, "Working together we can make a difference." Awomen! (Aren't we tired of saying amen?) The FMLA Summary is published in the public interest by Blue Point Books, a grass-roots effort by an informal network of people who want to share information and experiences about workplace issues. For information about Blue Point Books, e-mail to bpbooks@rain.org and in the subject line of your message: Info Blue Point Books. The FMLA Summary is also posted on the Blue Point Books home page. Our home page addresses are: http://www.rain.org /~bpbooks/mhp.html and gopher rain.org (Select Blue Point Books). ....................... * ........................ A lot of Republican gay men are now on the horns of a dilemma, and we're NOT going to say anything like "We told you so..." about the hateful heart of Newtie and his newtsie-pewpsies. To stay as the darling of the angry white males, House Speaker Newt Gingrich now supports restoring a ban on homosexuals in the military. Recently, in another show of muscle by the religious supremacists, presidential hopeful Senator Bob Dole stepped into line and reversed himself on abortion and says he now favors a constitutional amendment barring it. Hail, sag Hail ! As recently as 1993, Gingrich said that asking recruits about sexual orientation was taking things "radically too far." Gingrich's change of conscience came after he was given a place on the Christian Action Network's "Hall of Shame." Before the religious supremacists snapped their whip over Gingrich, he had voted against an amendment 09-28-1993, that would have allowed the military to resume asking recruits whether they were gay or bisexual. Earlier, Gingrich had said he opposed discharging people from the military "for purely private behavior." ....................... * ........................ A conclusion is simply the place where you got tired of thinking. ....................... * ........................ Jennifer Gagliardi writes: "_The New York Times_ is becoming increasingly an "old boy's" paper. In the Sunday Times, "Week in Review," April 2, 1995, Hillary's South Asia trip, intended to call attention to the plight of women and children, was reduced to a farce. The article titled, "On the Road in Hillaryland," portrayed Hillary's trip as nothing more than 12 days of breathlessly jumping from tourist sight to tourist sight, purchasing precious rugs, and exchanging expensive gifts with her hostess heads of state. The article was completely lacking in serious references to her talks pleading for equality for women in third world countries. The male reporter, Todd Purdum, signed off in _Spy_ magazine style, coyly wondering if Hillary will ride an elephant during her African stop-over "I'm taking up Catt's Claws advice and sending-off a letter to the editor of the _Times_." (Note from the Claws editor: The New York Times with its board members who are reigning executives with several insurance companies declared war on the Clinton's Health plan and manufactured the Whitewater "scandal" and turned several reporters loose on the health plan to torpedo it without any regard for balanced reporting or anything that resembles honest journalism. Arkansans compare Whitewater special prosecutor Starr to the kid who keeps digging into mounds of horse manure believing with all that shit, there must be a pony under there.) ....................... * ........................ There are 3 kinds of people: those who can count & those who can't. ....................... * ........................ LANCASTER, Calif. (ITN) - About 600 prisoners kept to their cells and refused meals Wednesday to protest plans to bar conjugal visits for murderers and sex offenders. The prisoners are protesting a Department of Corrections rule issued that forbids overnight visits for prisoners convicted of murder, spousal abuse, or a wide array of sex crimes. The department delayed imposing the rule until April 27 to give inmates and others time to comment. (CC -->> The religious supremacists are looking the other way about murderers, rapists, child molesters, and wife beaters having sex brought to them in jail, but are coming down strong on any poor women who might have been raped by these same guys and consequently impregnated. Is there a double standard working here?) ....................... * ........................ Women's rights are young and tender and we must protect them from the plagues of holy water and newts. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- >>> Send your ideas, comments, and news to irenestuber@delphi.com for inclusion in the Catt's Claws feminist newsletter which will be emailed three times a week: Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. This is NOT an interactive discussion net but an exchange of information and is NOT sponsored by any organization. Donation$ are gratefully accepted to defray expenses. <<<