<^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> ........Catt's Claws # 92 December 26, 1995.......... ........A Feminist Newsletter by Irene Stuber.......... ....................................................... To subscribe: email >listserv@Netcom.com< and in the body of the note type >subscribe Catts-Claws and your full name< -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- JeanneK sent us information about how reports of domestic violence incidents have increased dramatically in Michigan since tougher state laws took effect and judges are reporting the court system is in a crisis situation because of it. One judge said the courts in Detroit and vicinity have issued 4,325 personal protection orders thus far in 1995, more than double of all those in 1994. The courts hear between 150 and 200 domestic violence cases each week. Of course the predominantly middle age males on the judiciary are looking into it because, as one said, the new law made it easier for police to arrest and victims to get personal protection orders. Circuit Judge Edward Sosnick is quoted as saying too many people (read that women) are getting personal protection orders that shouldn't be getting them. Oh, my, the judger knows best WITHOUT hearing the cases. What happened to impartiality, even the appearance of impartiality??? Why aren't they studying what BEGS to be studied and corrected: Why so many men think they have the *right* to use their wives and girlfriends and their children as punching bags. The answer to that is what Judge Sosnick and his fellow judges should be crying for, not trying to find ways to prevent women from legal remedies. A Michigan State police study said the number of domestic violence victims increased from 19,416 cases in 1989 to 34,405 in 1993. We must say in Sosnick's defense that he pointed out that 2,205 families were TURNED AWAY from shelters because "there was no room at the inn." "We have more animal shelters than we do people shelters," Sosnick said. ....................... * ........................ We have received three messages from "official" people within NOW whom we respect a great deal explaining the NOW board position on the censure of Tammy Bruce. We have received nothing from National NOW itself and we didn't expect to. If they have any time left from their busy, busy schedules, the might want to comment on the above article about Detroit. We have also received a LARGE number of comments favoring both what we have written and/or what Tammy has said. Since our position is well known (!), we are going to summarize the NOW state and board leadership positions in their letters by using a special NOW edition of Catt's Claws after the first of the year (to give people time to get back to school and get normalized after the holidays) and then offer the COMPLETE texts of the letters to those who request them. This is exactly what we've done with a number of other documents including the speeches of Hillary Rodham Clinton at Beijing (and how we publicized some things regarding Tammy), so we think we're being fair. We're not afraid of contrary opinions - in fact, we think the airing of these diverse opinions is good for the future of feminism and of NOW. When will the leadership of NOW remember we live in a democracy, not a dictatorship? Not an autocratic bureaucracy? ....................... * ........................ "People tend to perceive women and men as equal participants in conversations when women do about 25% of the talking, but perceive women as taking over when their participation rises modestly above that. In other words, the default is for women to participate very little and it doesn't take much above that to create the impression that women are doing all the talking." --Cline, Sally and Spender, Dale _Reflecting Men at Twice their Natural Size_. London, Deutsch, 1987. ....................... * ........................ According to _Time_ magazine some 14% of deadbeat dads are actually women, which according to the patriarchal _Time_ which made deadbeat dad himself Newt Gingrich the Time Man of the Year, the correct term should be nonpaying, noncustodial parent. It is remarkable that the English language insists on us using "he" as the pronoun if there is ANY possibility of men being included in a group - such as 12,000 women and ONE man - must be referred to in the masculine way. So we guess, it's simply that when it's bad, you gotta make it look like women are just as bad as the guys. Nonpaying, noncustodial parent just doesn't have a ring to it as the 86% who are deadbeat dads. On the subject of _Time_ mag's Man of the Year selections, they also made Adolph Hitler a man of the year - so obviously it's not the honor Newtie thinks it is ... or like birds. ....................... * ........................ The nation's worst deadbeat dad, Jeffrey Nichols. was freed from jail after agreeing with his former wife on how he will pay her more than $640,000 in child support he owes. He hid his money and himself in three states to avoid paying child support, even denying parenthood of his three children. Catt's Claws' author knows my ex-husband isn't in Nichols' class but the $32,000 plus interest he owes his children might help them, even today. ....................... * ........................ Horrifically, a Canadian group studying youth and crime has found that because of the cuts in youth programs that limit many services to those held within the court system many youths are committing crimes so that they can get food, shelter, and medical treatment. One wonders about what is about to take place here under the Gingrich-Dole-Christian Coalition smashing of our compassionate system of help for the not-rich. As long as 30 years ago to our PERSONAL knowledge older Americans have committed crimes so that they could also receive food, shelter, and medical treatment in jail. Such activities, after a spate of publicity has been quietly ignored by the media since it is seen as "encouraging" old folks to take the "easy way out." Seems like the media sees older people as having to suffer hunger and cold like sick people need to suffer at the hands of the medical establishment when they are obviously terminally ill. Suggestion: commit a crime that entails FEDERAL law since federal prisons are generally better than state prisons - although the FEDERAL treatment of women is not really recommended. The white collar crime guys have their country club settings; we are sure there MIGHT be some for women but, frankly, we haven't heard of any. But what do we know??? With the Republican proposed lowering of medicare benefits, their blasting of national health care proposals with its subsequent out of control medical costs, and the new 30% hike in elderly health insurance that takes up the gap between medicare and the REAL bills, look for an increase of elderly crime just to get medicine and warm food. ....................... * ........................ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory which is under contract to the Energy Department is studying ways to clean up Hanford's nuclear pollution has suspended the 21 workers who used sexually explicit internet sites frequently at work and another 77 will be reprimanded. The claim is that most of the surfing was done on the worker's own time but the company has rules against workers using the computers for personal purposes. Will someone explain to me why these "professional types" feel it so necessary to look at naked women during work hours? How sick can you get? There is NO WAY anyone can call me a prude, but what in the name of all that's human or animal, (@&^*#Q@_(@ If you guys want respect, act in a manner that deserves respect. ....................... * ........................ Judy Murphy, after too many years out of the movement, (one of the victims of the disenchantment which followed the change in direction of NOW's leadership and aims) resettled in Vermont and revitalized Vermont NOW. She was called back to her roots in New Jersey recently, we were so glad to hear, to receive a lifetime achievement award. A couple of years ago, we had the privilege to be witness some old tyme reminiscences between several old tyme NOW activists as they talked about the glory days of the Judy Goldsmith's administration of NOW when so many were working for the ERA. How woman after woman mortgaged her home to use the money to fight for the ERA. How women quit their jobs to campaign for the ERA, living on pennies a day. How hundreds and thousands of women worked night and day for no money, going into personal debt, inspired by what they thought was possible, only to see it crushed that one horrid day in New Orleans as the light was extinguished inside NOW, perhaps not to be lit again in our lifetime: in 1985 when Ellie Smeal was reelected to the presidency of NOW on the promise of more action in the streets, but most didn't realize the street action was at the cost of less action inside the houses of power where change is actually made. NOT ONE SINGLE STATE ratified the ERA after Smeal's return to power. Ah the days when there was inspiring leadership, when hope was possible. ....................... * ........................ Pfc. James Burmeister, 20, and Pvt. Malcolm Wright were charged with murder and Spc. Randy Lee Meadows was charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the slaying of a black couple in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Meadows, who drove the other two the night of the shootings, told police Burmeister had bragged he was going to get a spider tattoo. Police said such a tattoo is a skinhead symbol that means the wearer had killed a black or gay person. These nut cases who are most often noted for their inability to have sex without their buddies being along - or committing rape only while their buddies look on, have too long been tolerated by the military. Now they have expanded into overt racial murder and have grabbed the headlines although murders of women in similar cases are common. It is wrong to kill racially; it is just as wrong to kill because it is a woman ... and to kill parents: Using an aluminum baseball bat, a knife, a pickax handle and weight bar from an exercise machine in their killing spree, two Pennsylvania skinheads whose foreheads were tattooed with "Berzerker" and "Sieg Heil," have confessed to killing their mother and father, and a brother and have been sentenced to life in prison. They were said to have rebelled against their strict Jehovah Witness upbringing. ....................... * ........................ How many AIDS/HIV cases are there? The World Health Organization is forced to ESTIMATE the figures because many governments refuse to release any accurate data, especially in those Africa according to news reports. The following is an ITN news report of the WHO study: "Two-thirds of the estimated world-wide HIV cases are in sub-Saharan Africa, and three-quarters of the full-flown AIDS cases, WHO said. It must be pointed out that half of the cases involve women because world-wide, unlike the U.S., AIDS/HIV is a heterosexual disease. In the U.S. women being infected by their husbands/boyfriends are the fastest growing segment in the spread of the disease. The group(s) with the lowest rate of infection in the U.S. are exclusive lesbians and nuns. WHO reported "India had the most HIV carriers -- an estimated 1.75 million of its 1 billion people. Thailand -- another country where experts fear an explosion in cases -- had 700,000 HIV carriers. "The highest proportional HIV rate was in Botswana, with about 18 percent of sexually active adults infected. An estimated 17 percent of adults aged 15-49 had the virus in Zambia and Zimbabwe and 15 percent in Uganda. "In the Americas, Haiti had the highest proportion of HIV carriers, at 4.4 percent. The tourist resort of the Bahamas followed at 3.9 percent, with Barbados at 2.8 percent. In the United States, where an estimated 700,000 people were HIV-positive at the end of last year, the infection rate was 0.5 percent. "In Europe, Spain had the highest rate of HIV infections, with 0.58 percent of sexually active adults, followed by Switzerland with 0.2 percent, WHO said." ....................... * ........................ By the way, way - way - way down in a news article about a Harris poll item that AP highlighted in a very church skewered way, and we quote (love the death throes of the balanced press): "JUST 18 percent said President Clinton shares their values a lot, and 9 percent felt that way about Bob Dole and Newt Gingrich." Yeah, "JUST" is how AP (which is the main recipient of the far-right trained stealth journalists) describes 18% and lets pass without comment half of that, a pitiful 9 percent of church-depending people agree with Dole- Gingrich! How easy it is to twist news stories! Then there is the _Good Housekeeping_ magazine poll of the "most admired" that left President Bill Clinton's name off the ballot! And so anyone wanting to vote for the president had to write in his name - and almost insurmountable obstacle. But Bill Clinton came in second to perennial winner Billy Graham. Does such a showing agree with what you are reading and hearing from the media? And after the blunder of "forgetting" the president's name, that _Good Housekeeping_ seal is a mite tarnished. ....................... * ........................ Regarding Admiral Macke who resigned after making his comments about not understanding why the three men in Okinawa would rape when there was so much sex for sale, William A-A from Washington NOW suggests "that people email their US Senators (if you don't know how to, use the Washington State NOW Email your US Senators page at http://www.eskimo.com/~feminist/wastnow.html "Why? Because when he retires, we want to deny Macke any increased retirement pay - feel free to email any woman senator about this, as they all get involved in any vote on retirement pay above a certain rank. Bust him to a lower rank when he retires! That is _all_ that the military will _really_ pay attention to ... when it _really_ hurts them." William Affleck-Asch, one of the staunchest of all feminists, is a former Sergeant, Canadian Armed Forces (Army) and Webitor for Washington State NOW. (Notice he doesn't use the sexist "webmaster" title.) ....................... * ........................ While men come unglued regularly at the use of the word "herstory," we haven't heard *any* complaints about the new acronym "mappies" from the guys. (It stands for "Male-Bashing Angry Professional women" based on completely made up fictional sets of characters that Madison Avenue has devised to further downgrade women who break out of the mould {sp!}). "What it's saying is working women don't have their emotions under control, that they are really angry and empty-wombed," says Barbara Lippert, an Adweek columnist who coined the term "mappies." "They should really be home in the kitchen. Their problems stem from defying nature. So now they're hysterical, over-employed and under-fulfilled." Nay, says Coca Cola spokesperson Susan McDermott. "The ad is not meant to be a comment on broader social issues. The whole idea is to get people to think about the way they perceive things. The woman is a foil to present a paradoxical situation, that a diet product tastes as good as a non-diet product. The unexpected twist of throwing the soda suggests that Diet Sprite tastes better than you think it does." CC-->> Yes, Susan, things are not always what they seem to be. The ads are definitely insulting to women no mater what kind of tissue you wrap it in. And if the ads weren't meant to offend why not use a Detroit Lions linebacker as the ones who throws the stuff? Drink Diet Sprite? Or any Coca Cola product while these ads are on the books? Right into YOUR lap, Coke! Women deserve an apology ! <<--cc. ....................... * ........................ By the way, those of you who did not hear of the resolution of the Cornell-four who put out 75 rather offensive (vile?) reasons why women should not have the freedom of speech (many of which involve forced oral sex) may obtain a copy of the letter which Barbara L. Krause, Judicial Administrator, and Marjorie W. Hodges, Legal Policy Advisor of Cornell released on their findings. Seems the darlings only sent the message to 20 of their friends so that made it ok. Wonder what would happen if someone sent plans to murder someone like Newtie to 20 close friends ???????????? (No ideas, please. We NEED Newtie to remind people of how ridiculous some people in power can get. Can you imagine the intelligence of the Republicans who would elect Newtie as their "speaker?") Excerpts of the Cornell decision: "Given the facts of this case, I could not conclude that these students had engaged in sexual harassment. Sexual harassment requires conduct that is directed at an individual or group, or conduct that creates a hostile environment." And then: "I believe that the willingness of the four students to take the steps outlined above - even absent a finding that they violated the Campus Code of Conduct - demonstrates their understanding that the list of 75 Reasons clearly overstepped the bounds of respect and decency. Even if they did not violate the Code of Conduct, each of the students is willing to accept responsibility for the harm that they caused and to take affirmative steps to correct it .... For those who responded to the violence of 75 Reasons with violence of your own, I urge you to reconsider your actions and to look for more positive ways to convey your message." Then one of the ways the boys have suggested to show their remorse was to work in rape or battered women shelters. Catt's Claws -->> It is absolutely AMAZING to see the different way the 75 reasons to be used against women and the XX reasons to be used against blacks (from a recent piece of filth from the University of Michigan) was handled. When did WRONG stop being WRONG? If it is wrong for blacks it is wrong for women; if it is wrong for women, it is wrong for ALL humans. When did the leaders of the feminist movement remove women from the human race???? <<--cc. You know, if ole Carrie (Chapman Catt) was around she'd have enough members (3.5 million in 1919 as opposed to 250,000 in 1995 NOW) to have a small contingent work on what constitutes harassment using women-taxpayer- supported email systems. To get a complete copy of the Cornell statement (it's a classic) write istuber@CSWnet.com and ask for it. We have not received a full copy of the University of Michigan decision and would appreciate hearing from anyone who has it so we can distribute it. ....................... * ........................ Oh my, did you see that wicked cartoon of two parrots on their perches each offering the other the first chance to poop on the new bottom-of-the- cage-liner: the _Time_ cover of Newt Gingrich as Man of the Year? And the little cartoon character in the corner saying, "I wish I was a pigeon." ....................... * ........................ Catt's Claws salutes volunteers Jennifer Gagliardi for posting Catt's Claws through her listserv. ....................... * ........................ Women's rights are young and tender and we must protect them from the plagues of holy hypocrisy and newts. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- >>> Send your ideas, comments, and news to istuber@cswnet.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. We are accepting *limited* donations (only what can be spared) to help offset the online costs of posting Catt's Claws. Irene Stuber. PO Box 6185, Hot Springs, AR 71902.<<<<