OPINION

Page 4

Thursday, April 2, 1981

The Michigan Daily


Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan

Typing male- hating essays

Vol. XCI, No. 148

420 Moynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board

A smaller but better bash

IT HAD ALL THE MAKINGS of a
beautiful spring day. The sun was
shining, a nice breeze was blowing,
and it wasn't too cold. And best of all,
for the first April 1 in a long time,
walking across the Diag wasn't hin-
dered by throngs of staggering, denim-
clad adolescents and other imported
Hash Bashers.
That's not to say no one showed up
for Ann Arbor's annual April Fools
atrocity. A few did. But attendance
was visibly down at this year's edition
of the Diag debacle.
Sure, for the past few years, Hash
Bash turnout has been low, but that
was blamed on lousy wet, cold
weather. Why then, did so few people
show up yesterday?
Probably because everyone's tired
of it. The Hash Bash is no longer the
protest it once was - there are no
stringent Ann Arbor pot laws to
protest. And besides, most University
students who want to smoke
marijuana can do so at some other
time or place, without running the risk
of getting a ticket for "copping a buzz"
with the Hash Bash participants.
It is unfortunate that the bash was
again responsible for added security

I'm a freelance typist heregin Ann Arbor,
and last night I was once again presented
with the formidable task of typing a male-
hating paper - formidable because I'm male.
The paper was actually good in some of the
essentials. It was concisely written and con-
tained a good deal of truth, as do many papers
written by feminists. The arguments were
sound and logical as a rule; they were also
adequately grounded in fact in most cases.
WHY THEN, aside from the obvious slight
of my "threatened male ego," do I hesitate to
describe the paper as a good one?
Insofar as anyone is humanly capable, I'm
inclined to judge a written work based on its
literary merit alone, and it was well-written.
Male or female, though, we all have egos. It's
a bizarre experience to put words that are
directed against me, or at least my gender in-
to crisp, "gothic" type. I enjoy it about as
much as I'd enjoy pulling my own eyelashes
out.
It's discomforting to be responsible for the
final production of a work suggesting that
because I'm male I must certainly have
inherited the sordid characteristics at-
tributed to the sex, that I'm insensitive and
unfeeling because a certain single
chromosome was absent, and. another
present, at my conception. I'm ashamed of
my maleness, though, and I'm far from
unfeeling.
A LARGE PORTION of her paper concerns
the sex-based inequities of the higher paid
professions. She asserts that these
professions are largely dominated by men.
She is correct.
She complains of the ratio of men to women
making $40,000 a year or more. Rather than
concentrate on the abundant number of
women (not to mention men) who perform the
most grotesque of duties each day for $4 an

hour or so, she prefers to focus her gaze at the
top.
She goes on to assert that the insertion of
female-oriented values into professions of
high status like law would be a great benefit
- but only when embodied by women. The
values she discusses are sensitivity, com-
passion and humility. I'm in absolute
agreement with her, and were these words
alone removed from the context of the bitter
paper, they would be beautiful to read. And
yet, in her entire paper there was little
evidence of sensitivity or compassion, and
none whatsoever of humility. '
THERE WAS NO hummility in blatantly
denying that any good lies in the sex not her
own. I'm informed now that women con-
sistently make better marks than men in
school, and that "accor ding to allnavailable
evidence," women are superior to men in
nearly every respect. The humility this
women spoke of is blatantly absent in her
character.
Granted, it disturbs me to read papers of
this nature for personal reasons, such as my
own petty ego considerations. But some of my
irritation is derived from a more transper-
sonalsource.
I'm bothered by the global antagonism
presented to all men by some feminists; it
disturbs me that this movement, which
originated with the sublime intent of
eradicating conceptual divisions between
people, is at least being translated by some of
its contemporary adherents into a means for
intensifying the divisions.
BUT PERHAPS because of some mutation
or another, in spite of my base and insensitive

By Doug Shokes

sex-type, I think I understand the arguments
of this woman. She recognizes her own com-
petence, and wants immediate recognition
from otherscthatashe is as intrinsically
capable of success as any man.
To prove her prowess, though, she wants to
climb the proverbial ladder, a ladder long ago
constructed by soiled, masculine hands. In
preparation for the climb, she is equipping
herself with the political acumen necessary
for survival in the cold climate at "the top"
she aspires to reach.
She is also, even now, developing a lust for
competition. She is aggressive and amxx
bitious; in short, she is acquiring, or ha
already acquired, many historically male
characteristics that feminists have long
criticized.
If this one paper that I typed were the only'
one of its kind, I would collect payment for my
service and forget about it. But it's not.
In varying degrees of animosity, male-
slandering has become very popular. Most of
the criticism is focused on the top of the cer-
porate hierarchy, directed toward the
predominantly male cluster that directs the
course of all of our ambling lives.
But there is a trickle-effect it seems - and
it polluted the image of all males throughout
contorted generalizations which confuse gen-
der with individual sordidness. And I wonder
if the current status- and wealth-seeking
women, who climb the ladder today, will
maintain a higher sense of values with more
success than men have done.
I wonder if there isn't something sordid in-
digenous to society-climbing; and if the
process alone - regardless of gender or in-
tent - doesn't stain everyone involved in it.
Doug Shokes is an Ann Arbor freelance
typist.

costs on the Diag, but at least it seems
as if these costs may soon be a thing of
the past. The Hash Bash is dwindling
- both in purpose and (support.
Hopefully, the trend will continue and
rid the city and the University of this
unseemly event.

OUR FIRST SPEAKER IS FROM
THE NATIONAL FEDERATION
FOR pECENCY
13).

WNO GAYS TV
IS A CESPO0L OF
SEX AND VIOLENCE'
P J
I f J
I

RESPONDING WILL BE A
TOP NETWORK PROGRAM
DIRECTOR.
V
A ~

WIO SAY TV
15 GOOD, CREATIVE
AND CHI-ALLANGING'

WHATS
ON , DEAR?

A aATTLE OF WHTs
BETWEEN TWO UNARMED

N
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OPPONENTS'

.._
_-

U.S.

directions in Africa

I

6

N THE NEXT MONTH, the Reagan
administration will firmly
establish American policy directions in
southern Africa. Chester Crocker, a
senior State Department official, will
leave next month on a diplomatic
mission to southern Africa that will set
the mood for future U.S. relations with
the strategic region.
It is crucial that the United States
reaffirm during this mission its un-
swerving opposition to apartheid in
South Africa. Otherwise, the United
States will alienate the other neigh-
boring black-ruled nations. Further-
more, American support of a racist
regime - even the passive support
given South Africa in recent years - is
morally repugnant.
Nations in southern Africa, already
apprehensive about a possible Reagan
turnaround on traditional American
opposition to South African apartheid,
are looking to next month's mission for
a clear message from Washington.
Black leaders there are now wondering
whether the Reagan administration
will truly support independent,
majority rule or continued white
dominance in southern Africa.

Crocker's mission next month will
make U.S.policy clear.
Thus far, the Reagan State Depar-
tment has pushed consistently - if
slowly - for a peaceful transition to
majority rule in southern Africa.
Washington has advocated stepped-up
negotiations between white South
African officials and black Namibian
nationalists in an effort to ease the
transition of Namibia from a white-
ruled South African state to an in-
dependent nation ruled by its black
majority. While these approaches have
been well-considered, they have been
merely statements. The real directions
for U.S. policy toward the mineral-rich
region, which has pitted the Soviet
Union against Western nations in a
race for friendly (and profitable)
alliances, will be spelled out during
next month's mission.
The United States should unite next
month with black-ruled nations in that
region in firm opposition to the racist -
South African regime and to promote
complete independence for the
fledgling black-ruled nations in that
region.

I

LETTERS TO THE DAILY:
Free market economy defined

a

v

To the Daily:
Wolfgang Haurer's letter on
GM's grab of Poletown property
(Daily, March 22) shows com-
plete ignorance of the meaning of
"the free market economy.''
The free market exists only in a
legal framework in which proper-
ty rights are protected from
exactly the kind of predatory

practices that General Motors
perpetrated through the agency
of the city of Detroit's power of
eminent domain.
Detroit's government ob-
viously not only failed to protect
property rights; it assisted
General Motors in blatant con-
fiscation, assisted by the legal
facades of due process and

eminent domain. GM's act was
hardly an examply of the
workings of a free market
economy.
Eminent domain is fundamen-
tally incompatible with the
nature of the free market; it is a
tool of governmental force. That
it exists in our mixed-part
capitalist,part state con-
trolled-economy, does not show
that it is a defining characteristic
of capitalism (shall we blame the
much more frequent purely
governmental land grabs on the
free market?), but that gover-
nment has caused an aberration
from the free market, a con-
tradiction in the economy.
GM's action is a travesty of the

free market, not a revelation: o
its nature. It is to be condemned,
but must be seen as a logical and
practical result of allowing any
kind of governmental control
over people's property or actions.
As long as state interventionin
the economy, beyond the mere
protection of property rights, is
allowed to go on, such "working
together" of government with
business unwilling to be subject
to the free market's proper legal
framework and competition,
such favoritism, shall go on as
long.
The free market is not to
blame here-unrestricted gover-
nment power is. --S. D. Marcus
March 29

I

Later Night-Owl

To the Daily:
Vice President for Student Ser-
vices Henry Johnson and the
other Executive Officers of the
University should be commended
for their decision to extend Night-
Owl bus hours until 2 a.m., to
match the Undergraduate
Library's hours.
Because Night-Owl previously
stopped at 12:30 a.m., many
students were deterred from
studying late at the UGLI, and.
those that did stay until 2 a.m.

were often forced to walk home
alone.
By extending Night-Owl hours,
University administrators are
demonstrating their desire to im-
prove campus safety. In the
present atmosphere of fiscal
restraint and budget cuts, I am
glad to see the need for a social
service placed before strict
monetary considerations.
-Bruce Bromberg
MSA Security Task
Force Coordinator
March 29

Peterson council material


Errors in VD article .

" "

To the Daily:
As students may know, there is
a city election on Monday April 6.
Although the city government
may seem far removed from our
concerns, decisions made by the
city have a major effect on the
University community.
Essentially, the First and
Second Wards are the "student"
wards. The Democratic can-
didate in the First Ward is Lowell
Peterson. Last summer, I had the
opportunity to work with Lowell,
while we were both on State Rep.
Perry Bullard's staff. I was im-
pressed with Lowell's abilities,

and am sure these would be putto
good use on City Council.
While working for Bullard,
Lowell was an effective and vocal
advocate for students. I have
worked with Lowell on a number
of projects since then, and am
convinced that his commitment
continues. In short, Lowell's
election would ensure a
progressive voice on City Coun-
cil, responsive to students' needs.
I urge all First Ward residents to
vote in the City Council election
for Lowell Peterson.
-Dan Sichel
March 30

To the Daily:
The Daily's article on veneral
disease was quite superficial and
contained several inaccuracies.
VD is a group of diseases charac-
terized by transmission largely
via sexual contact. This includes
gonhorrhea (GC), syphilis, her-
pes genitalis (herpes), and
several other infections which
are relatively uncommon in the
United States (chancroid, LGV,
and granuloma inguinale).
Sexual herpes, a viral disease
related to cold sores, is the
second most common type of VD
in the United States today (after
urethritis caused by GC and other
organisms). HELP, a non-profit
group promoting herpes infor-
mation, reports estimates of 50
million Americans with this con-

on the market today, although
several compounds appear
promising. People with herpes
experience recurrent attacks of
blisters and are infective at these
times. The disease may persist
for years.
I was intrigued to see the Daily
report that gonhorrhea causes
blindness in its victims-I
thought that blindness only came
from "self-abuse." Blindness
caused by GC would only occur in
the infants of mothers who had
the disease at the time of birth. If
the babies didn't receive silver
nitrate drops in their eyes at birth
(routine practice in all hospitals)
and their subsequent pus-filled
eyes were left untreated by an-
tibiotics, then blindness might
occur. Adults with GC don't
become blind from the disease.

... cause much dismay

To the Daily:
I read with dismay and
irritation your front page article
on veneral disease (Daily, March
26) that suggested that pregnan-
cy, like VD, is a communicable
disease. Of VD your source
"suggests that contraceptive
devices, such as condoms,
diaphragms, special foams,
creams, and jellies should be
used to prevent the disease from

making up stories about sex, VD,
and pregnancy. To set the record
straight: contraceptives are good
for preventing prgenancies; with
the exception of condoms they
are worthless at preventing VD.
-James Andrew Liebmsax
March 29
Editor's note: According to
Craig Rosey, director of the
Washtenaw County Venereal

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