OP Wimmin's Supplement

March 22, 1995

An open letter from a feminist

 

by Laura Pottie

How many times have I heard, “I think
women should have equal rights but...”, or “I
don’t agree with feminism because they’re all
P man-haters.” Guess what! It’s a vicious, evil lie!
3 True, some feminists are lesbians, so
: therefore they love women, but does that

automatically make them hate men? Just

because I don’t want to have sex with someone

doesn’t mean I yearn for their death! If that

were the case I’d have to spend an awful lot of
- energy hating an awful lot of people - man I just
don’t have time!

When it.comes right down to it, although I
can only speak for myself, I don’t think
feminism is about hating the opposite sex, it’s
about loving yourself and demanding your
rights and the rights of your children.

This is not to say that feminists aren’t
angry, however. I personally am very angry. I’m
angry at ignorance, starvation, violence,
oppression, intolerance, lack of respect, and
being called ‘dear’, ‘babe’, ‘honey’, ‘doll’, and

F ‘little sweetie pie’. The image that feminists are
“male-bashers”, however is nothing more than a
media illusion created in an attempt to dismiss
and discredit us as irrational and overly

; emotional.

Beefs from anything but a
_ back alley penis bashing butch

Instead of looking at myths about femi-
nism, let’s look at some facts, shall we? What
are we asking for? Well first of all, as feminists,
we do not want to abandon our children for
careers, but we would like to have equal sharing
of the work so that we can also have equal time
to participate in society - is that so radical?

Feminists have also been and continue to
work towards equity in pay and representation
in their chosen fields of work. What’s so unfair
and man-hating about that? Someone please tell
me! Threatening as a source of competition
maybe, but not much scarier than that!

Something else we’d all like to see is an
end to violence against women. No one is
denying the fact that rape and abuse happen to
men, but the majority of these acts are
perpetrated by men against women. I don’t want
to get into the whole ball of wax about why and
what social institutions allow this to continue.
I’m simply stating that this is something that
feminists are speaking out against. At what
point did “no means no” start translating into “I
hate you, you slimy bastard”? Am I missing
something here?

What else? Well, there is the language
debate. This is something that is not a general
consensus amongst feminists so I don’t want to
present it as such, but many of us feel that we

 

have been excluded from our
language. Woman, mailman, history
- frankly it pisses me off! I’m
not a man, nor do I want to be
referred to as an extension
of one.

Now, I know that
to change this is a pain
in the neck for some
people, and to be totally
honest I haven’t sat down and
created the ultimate gender d
friendly language either, but Fez
you have to admit that if the F
shoe was on the other foot, men
wouldn’t particularly
appreciate it either. C’est
vrai, non?

Well would you
look at that!
I’ve already :
covered four major feminist“‘Beefs” and yet I
fail to see any desire to rid the earth of any of
its species, be they male or otherwise. Get the
picture?

If you want to disagree with us, go right
ahead, but at least try to base your arguments on
some facts! Feminism is not some evil, mysteri-
ous group of butchy women who meet in back

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 

alleys to invent ways for life to exist without the
penis. We are merely taking (not asking for)
what’s rightfully ours - power, emancipation,
safety. I mean really, can you blame us?

Is or am I just a bitch?

Despite medical opinion,

Dia is proof
by Dia Richardson

I am a woman. I get PMS. Some so-called
medical experts say there is no such thing.
Regardless, once a month I still get PMS.

It usually lasts about 24 hours. During this
time I am just plain irritable. OK, I’m a bitch.
This occurs about 7 days before the onset of my
menses.

So be warned. All those little irritating
things that I do my best ignoring all month, I
will tell you about when I’m PMSing.

I never even realized how predictable my
PMS can be. (How can I? I am totally unpre-
dictable at that time).

I was the only woman working in this
office once. Within a few months the men knew
when to tread lightly. Every fourth Wednesday I
was treated with kid gloves. Then my hormones
would level off and the men would go back to
being jerks.

When I get too irritable and emotional I try
to channel my energy into something more
constructive than an argument. It’s actually

PMS exists

when I do some of my best yard work. There is
nothing so defenseless as a plant and they don’t
talk back.

Mind you, I was never asked my opinion
on whether I wanted hormones surging through
my body at various times of the month. It’s like
Mother Nature is having a laugh at my ex-
pense... “A little estrogen here, tee-hee, a little
estrogén there, tee-hee-hee, and a whole lot
here, Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha!”

The cycle continues month after month.
First the PMS and then the blood. The only way
to break the cycle is through menopause or
pregnancy. Both of these alternatives also
induce powerful hormone surges that can affect
you stronger than PMS ever did. Pregnancy I
know about, menopause I have the ultimate
pleasure of waiting to experience.

Right now, I am bitter. I have PMS and my
arms are sore from pruning bushes. The next
man who crosses my path had better watch his
step. On the bright side, tomorrow I’ ll feel much
better. In another 28 days, who knows?

}

 

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Donna McGee 527-5147 (or local 5147) or 467-6811

 

 

 

    
     
  
   

Thanks to all those w;
this wimmi

Niki dice Lee,
Rachel You e Holst,
Holly Keye ison, Manjit Brar,

 

‘Mike Dutton, Mari

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artin, Zeebo