<^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> ........Catt's Claws # 158 ... June 30, 1997......... ........ A Feminist Newsletter by Irene Stuber......... istuber@direclynx.net is solely responsible for its content Archives are found at http://www.imageworld.com/istuber.html <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> <^> As Anita Hill became a watershed symbol in American women's continuing fight for civil and human rights, the case of the U.S. Air Force against Lt. Flinn will be the watershed that marks the line in the sand for the sexual double standard that has plagued women ever since a man (almost all men) decided HIS genes were more precious than anyone else's. A woman's morality, according to the menfolk, is still to be held as a virgin field for HIS sperm to produce HIS children. The need for the absolute certainty that a child is HIS is the basis for all the sexual emotional and physical repression of women. (Today's religious right nutsos on the legal benches are also beginning to rule that genes are more important than nurturing. If a guy rapes a woman today, HE has just as much right to any offspring as she does! Barf bag justice.) Why haven't we moved beyond that paranoic attitude of men who are so jealous of women's ability to have children - known colloquially as uterus envy. One of the most fascinating things I have gotten in my mail box these past weeks have been copies of columns published in small town and city newspapers by local women columnists, all decrying the double standard by which a U.S. Army Air Force General retains his position ... or about other men who are allowed to resign with FULL PENSIONS AND RIGHTS while Lt. Flinn was ridden out of Dodge on a tarred rail. The official line has changed re Lt. Flinn, saying now that the adultery (which SHE didn't and couldn't commit because SHE wasn't married) was NOT the important thing, the important thing was that she lied ... General Ralston, and the ad nauseam male officers didn't lie, says the brass and the male newspaper publishers. Guess their breaking of their sacred marriage vows don't count ... My question is simple, if the men with all that salad on their chests break their marriage vows with impunity, what it to prevent them from breaking their military vows and committing high treason with the same laissez faire attitude when their zippers call again? Of course they didn't lie because no one questioned them, no one told them to cease and desist, no one disapproved. Every woman columnist including those REPUBLICAN women (with few exceptions and they don't count since they're brown necked into the sacred sperm theorists) see the Flinn case as continuing, flagrant prejudice against women as a whole. So Lt. Flinn will be enshrined next to Anita Hill in that secret place where women are stockpiling their revenge weapons. The women aren't pigeons sitting all in a row, gentlemen, they're vultures ... watching, waiting - remembering. . . . . . . . ^c^l^a^w^s^ . . . . . . . The more team-oriented style of women's basketball is wonderful to watch ... it's the old style basketball before running and jumping peni put self-exhibitionism before sportsmanship and the game. You know, I used to like high school and college boys basketball as much as girls but recently, we've seen more and more of the high jinns of individualism even in boyz amateur competition. The game, sportsmanship, and tactics have gone by the board. Now we don't watch men's basketball even on TV. The slavering male TV commentators also leave us cold with their obvious longing for the ... well, let's not go into THAT subject. IF one REALLY looks at today's male pro game one sees a beautifully orchestrated play that ALLOWS players to do their dunking and antics. After all, there are millions of dollars at stake. One who doesn't go along with it doesn't make it to the money league. Record, cheering crowds of 14,000 and 16,000 plus saw the inaugural games of the Women's National Basketball Association and the newspapers wrote up how the girls tried but were unable to slam dunk, etc. Well, might be the reason: The AVERAGE player height of the women is six foot and for the men, six foot seven inches. Let's RAISE the basket for the men seven inches and see what happens ... I'm not at all worried about the women not being able to do what the guyz do in slam dunking ... they once said a woman couldn't three point until that sensational shot heard round the world in the final second of the championship a couple of years back. Next step is to get the money ... Lisa Leslie said in a recent interview: "The passion with which women play ... is often lacking in professional men's basketball." I envy those of you who are able to attend the live games. By the way, I think the boyz competition should now be called MNBA, not just NBA ... The women have a wonderful web site: www.wnba.com (And a clue, boyz - all that sweat flying and violence in the ads were a bit of a turn off.) By the way, the women have a searing schedule of 28 games in about two months...a game every two days. NO MEN WOULD DO IT - or COULD compete in such a brutal schedule. The women of the National Basketball League deserve our fullest support for being brave, and tough ... and mayhap a bit foolish for taking on such a schedule. But they are out there laying down their health for YOUR girl children to be able to compete equally. That Title IX ad is really something ... yes, you young'uns, 30 years old and minus, for all those years before Title IX, women who paid EXACTLY the same taxes and tuition as men weren't given anything near the same athletic advantages as men. In fact, in most high schools and colleges, girls were given NO chance to be athletic. All the tax, tuition, and scholarship money went to boyz ... While the girls waved their pompons ... Of course AP is writing up about how "sloppy" the women's play has been. The women were together for only three weeks before playing in public! Gimme a break! And they never had the chances to play that the guyz always did. But the boyz of the newsrooms have to denigrate women with type if they can't rape any other way. . . . . . . . ^c^l^a^w^s^ . . . . . . . And how about that Lieberman-Cline at age 39 sinking that 3- pointer!!!! . . . . . . . ^c^l^a^w^s^ . . . . . . . The Catholic Theological Society of America, the leading Roman catholic organization of U.S. THEOLOGIANS is urging the continued discussion of the ordination of women to the priesthood. As a Scorpio, I have trouble with any woman wanting to live a life of celibacy, but I do know one who wants to be a priest, so what do I know? Anyway, the group questioned the 1995 Vatic ruling that said the church limiting its priesthood to men as infallible and therefore "beyond consideration." While not favoring or opposing women's ordination, the group took exception to the 1995 ruling by Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, headed by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger which claimed that Pope John Paul II's May 1994 apostolic letter declaring that the church could not ordain female priests was infallible, i.e., a rule carved in stone as perfect and can never be change. The pope himself did not make the claim but HE DID NOT CONTRADICT Cardinal Ratzinger. By a vote of 216 to 22, the American theologians said, "There are serious doubts," about the grounds that the Vatican had given for maintaining that the teaching on ordination was infallible and part of the "deposit of faith," something to which all Catholics must assent. The meeting here called for "further study, discussion and prayer regarding this question." In a New York Times article, Peter Steinfels wrote: "The study argues, for example, that the majority opinion among biblical scholars is that Jesus chose men as his Twelve Apostles for "their symbolic role as `patriarchs' of restored Israel' and not because he meant them to be prototypes of the ordained priestly ministers whose offices were defined much later in the church's history. "The study recognizes that traditionally women were not ordained as priests or bishops but says the argument that traditional practice is decisive is open to question in this case because so much of it, including many of the ancient writers cited in Vatican documents, was based on the conviction, which the church now rejects, of female inferiority." . . . . . . . ^c^l^a^w^s^ . . . . . . . These Vatican and church documents - if translated correctly regarding sex - might reveal even more clearly that church/religious men have seriously lied to people. There appears to be ample proof that women DID act in priestly and ministerial ways in the early Christian churches. GAWD, where are our women theologians and translators???? . . . . . . . ^c^l^a^w^s^ . . . . . . . Another thing on religion, the Southern Baptists who were ordered not to have anything to do with Disney are still visiting Disney theme parks and their excuses are wondrous to read: "We already had our tickets and reservations," said Mitch Johnson, a 33-year-old father of three from South Carolina. "I don't know if we'll come back. We'll have to see what they say at church." Another man said, "Oh, I don't think we're supposed to boycott Disney World. It's just the bad movies and stuff. But I think they should definitely keep the gays out." (DUH!) When asked about watching college football on Disney-owned cable station ESPN another guy said, "Well, I don't see what football has to do with anything," a man said. (DUH!) What is this called? Super-market religion? Pick and choose what you want from the doctrine. For some reason they feel that a lesbian or gay should lose their civil rights just because Southern Baptist leaders need a devil to play their good guy, bad guy routine with and collect lots of money. (Do those contractors who build those big churches put their profits in the poor box?) What hypocrites! How about throwing all adulterers out of their church? All rapists. All men who beat their wives? All the men who abuse their children (and the few women who do also - although to read the news lately, no men are doing anything wrong, just women). How about throwing all Southern Baptists who gamble and go to Las Vegas out of their church? . . . . . . . ^c^l^a^w^s^ . . . . . . . Poor Mike Tyson. Picked on by women and sent to prison for rape. Poor dear. He came out a convicted rapist and still got multi-million dollar endorsements. Then he bit the ear of another pugilist, boxer, hitter of human flesh for money, and suddenly he's the lowest of the low. Something, something big is wrong with this picture. You f-----s paid big bucks to line the pockets of a rapist with $30 million dollars. And now you're howling because he showed in public what he has done to women in private? Wish he'd have taken you for twice the money ... . . . . . . . ^c^l^a^w^s^ . . . . . . . When we started Catt's Claws about 2.5 years ago, the newspapers carried stories about rapes and murders of women on a fairly regular basis. Remember, 3 women are killed every two days in this country by the nearest and dearest menfolk - a woman is raped every six seconds, etc. Now, not even the New York Times does it ... To read the Times today is to believe that women and children are not getting killed, beaten, or maimed and raped anymore. As male-god right-wing religions grow in this country and the religious right gains in power, the censorship of our news media grows. Wrongs against women are being ignored (or hidden) more and more. The excuse many newspeople make is that they are a family oriented... Yeah, that's some excuse. They ignore the fact that the raped and torn apart child was part of a family. But it is not written about in the local paper because it `might" distress some child who will then be unprepared for the reality of life when some monster comes for her ... often in the quiet of her own bedroom when mommy is asleep or away. . . . . . . . ^c^l^a^w^s^ . . . . . . . The low-fat, high-fiber diet has another advantage besides reducing the hip size. It lowers serum estrogen that is believed to be a contributing factor in breast cancer. Black women in particular are susceptible. . . . . . . . c^l^a^w^s . . . . . . . We've all heard the nasty jokes and asides about the large number of military women who got pregnant during the "Gulf War." The jokes, of course, make the women out to be totally whorish and therefor not to be trusted. Well, the fact is that the military brass seems to have had something to do with it. They - for the first time in more than 100 years of military deployment - failed to supply sufficiency condoms for the troops (It was a Republican war, after all) and of course, no birth control pills. This is the great U.S. military that had supplied TAX PAYER PAID condoms to military men in the Spanish American war, both World Wars, Korea, Viet Nam, even that little island "war," that gave Ollie North so many medals. One does not supply condoms if one does not expect them to be used??? Of course, now we know that the U.S. military looks the other way when rape is involved, especially rape by superior ranks. So in the Gulf conflict, no condoms + all stops removed rape policy + no birth control pills = ergo, pregnancy. Don't you feel safer with those kinds of military minds guarding us? . . . . . . . ^c^l^a^w^s^ . . . . . . . The following is a direct quote from the CDC Daily releases on the AIDS epidemic and so as a taxpayer writing to taxpayers, I guess it's all right to post it: "No Plateau for HIV/AIDS Epidemic in US Women" Journal of the American Medical Association (06/11/97) Vol. 277, No. 22, P. 1747; Philips, Pat "At the third National Conference on Women and HIV in May, it was noted that women, the fastest-growing new group of AIDS patients in the United States, are being overlooked. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that while the number of AIDS deaths in the first half of 1996 fell by about 15 percent, the rate increased 3 percent in women. The CDC's Ann Duerr adds that minority women represent a significant number of the cases, with the AIDS rate for African American women and Hispanic women some 17 times and six times higher, respectively, than that for white women. Alexandra Levine, conference co-chair and member of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS, asserts that the case is "different for women because they do not have the same access to the health care system as men." One reason for this, some say, is that in the early stages of the epidemic in the United States, HIV and AIDS were seen mostly in middle-class men who engaged in homosexual sex. But the mode of transmission is increasingly through heterosexual sex or intravenous drug use, and those becoming infected are poorer than the first patients were. Among the many issues with which HIV-infected women must deal are the gynecologic manifestations of the disease and access to drug trials. The development of the female condom has helped to give women some control over preventing HIV infection. Levine also notes that vaginal microbicides, now in various stages of testing, are particularly promising." Sixteen years into the epidemic when men's rate of infection is going down and women are STILL not getting treated. Yee in the land of the free, home of the brave ... Read this sentence again: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that while the number of AIDS deaths in the first half of 1996 fell by about 15 percent, the rate increased 3 percent in women." What's wrong with that sentence? The number of AIDS deaths tabulated excludes women? Or that men's deaths would have fallen by 17% or so if women had not been included? Or did the author simply do what the rest of medicine so often does, simply ignore women in their plans and treatments until forced to, and then usually as an addendum as the "other." . . . . . . . ^c^l^a^w^s^ . . . . . . . New female HIV preventative finally puts women in control... See the column by J. B. Dixson that explains it: http://detnews.com/1997/accent/9703/23/03220009.htm . . . . . . . ^c^l^a^w^s^ . . . . . . . From a June, 1996 UNICEF report: About 585,000 women die worldwide each year during pregnancy or childbirth...and about 17.5 million suffer injuries, infections or disabilities related to pregnancy and childbirth, many of them humiliating and painful problems, or morbidities that will continue for life. That comes to 1,600 women dying worldwide because of pregnancy or childbirth EVERY DAY! May of these death are preventable according to Carol Bellamy, UNICEF director. In the U.S. the death rate of women due to pregnancy is 2.5 EVERY SINGLE day or approximately 950 deaths a year. And since nearly 25% of all deliveries result in serious complications for the mother, that means almost ONE MILLION women suffered serious medical problems because of birthing. ONE MILLION women - and no one, no one including the GREAT AMERICAN FEMINIST MOVEMENTS do anything about it!!! And our church fathers, our medical profession, our society proclaims refuse to acknowledge the pandemic. SHAME and a pox on all your houses. . . . . . . . ^c^c^ . . . . . . . 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@direclynx.net for inclusion in the Catt's Claws feminist newsletter which will be emailed up to three times a week. This is NOT an interactive discussion net but an exchange of information. Catt's Claws 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 and archiving them. Copyright 1997, Irene Stuber. PO Box 6185, Hot Springs, AR 71902, email istuber@direclynx.net<<<< To receive Catt's Claws by email, write and in the body of the note We thank Jennifer Gagliardi for handling the madding subscription list through her listserv. 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