I OPINION Page 4 Thursday, March 9, 1989 The Michigan Daily Men must work to stop V By Scott Englehart David Smith, in his column "Feminists far too angry" (Daily 2/23/89), does both women and men a disservice by calling himself a feminist. As a male I find his letter particularly offensive. He is a typical example of our sexist society. He pretends to be a hippy groovy liberal when in real- ity he is a hypocrite scared by his own sexuality. I too at one time felt uncomfortable when people derided magazines such as Playboy and Sports Illustrated's (SI) swimsuit issue. I was and am turned on by the women displayed in these magazines. I have no desire to deny my sexuality. It is an important aspect of every person's identity. At the same time I realize that the images in these magazines degrade women. Smith claims that "an eight and a half by twenty two technicolor spread page of Christie Brinkley in a lycra bikini" does no damage to women. However, the vivid physical language he uses to describe this pidture exposes his attitude towards women. Brinkley is no more than a sex object to-him. On the pages of magazines and on our television screens women are reduced to two dimensional images defined by their sexuality. They are debased as vehicles for selling products. They become objects to be used by men. When Smith and other Scott Englehart is an LSA senior men say " what a babe!' they have im- bibed the standards for judging women which the media has created for them. They are judging that woman purely by her sexual appeal. No regard is shown for her as a thinking, feeling human being. Smith claims that he "found some of the scantily clad models in Sports Illus- trated incredibly attractive!" To find only some of the women attractive in SI is a perfect example of the warped images of women created by the media. If all of the claiming that they are victims of a sexist society." He asserts that the only legiti- mate example of rape is the kind commit- ted by sociopaths who prey upon strangers in the night. "They are men who have been victims of sexual abuse as a child." First of all, not all sociopaths were sexu- ally abused as children and not all people who were abused as children are so- ciopaths. More to the point, he totally ig- nores rape and sexual abuse committed by men whom the victims know. One in 'On the pages of magazines and on our television screens women are reduced to two dimensional images defined by their sexuality.' discarded at their convenience. I am not saying that every man who looks at Sports Illustrated or Playboy will become a rapist. Just as there are varying degrees of sexual harassment so are there men who have been affected by society to various degrees and who perpetuate that harass- ment. As an example are the four hockey players who followed a group of women and verbally harassed them. The excuse given by these esteemed members of the University was that they are young and acted impulsively. A better excuse is that they are victims who continue to perpetu- ate our sexist society. Smith then denies the right of Univer- sity women to be angry about our society. "The vehemence with which some 'feminists' brow beat and preach would lead us to believe that these women are forty year old secretaries [who are victims] and not middle class 19 to 25 year olds who get a check from home every month." There are several injustices in this argu- ment. First, every person has a right to be proud of him or herself whether they are a 40 year old secretary, a 20 year old stu- dent, or anything else. Just because some- one is a secretary or a janitof does not make them inferior. Second, women at all levels of society are subjected to ha- rassment in the workplace and economic discrimination. The "Good Old Boy Club" persists in present day society. Note that 95 percent of U.S. congressmen were fra- ternity members. Third, oppression mani- ape fests itself in every facet of society. Vio- lence against women and economic dis- crimination are just two examples of in- justices perpetuated against every woman in our society. Oppression is encoded in our laws. Women today are threatened with the loss of power over, and control of, their own bodies. The Supreme Court is threatening to overturn or severely erode the provisions of Roe vs. Wade unless we act to stop them. With the approval of Proposal A last fall, every day poor women in Michigan are denied the right to an abortion whether or not they are vic- tims of rape or incest. I agree when Smith says, "It's horribly true that women have been the repeated victims of rape or incest. Rape is the most horrible and evil crime a man can commit and it is an absolute disgrace on our soci- ety that it happens so frequently and is dealt with so leniently. I am horrified and disgusted with the way our system deals with rape." That is why it is the responsibility of men to understand and sympathize with the anger women feel. Men must join the Feminist movement and help to change our sexist society. We must work on a personal level to under- stand the ways we are manipulated by the media. Men must fight to overcome this manipulation and assert their own moral- ity. As a button distributed by The Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center at their fall rape victims speakout pro- claimed, "Men can stop rape." I women in SI could not satisfy his stan- dards of attractiveness then certainly the women whom he actually knows in real life are incapable of satisfying these stan- dards. Nonetheless millions of women do try to reach these unrealistic standards. Many of them fall victim to anorexia and bulemia in the process. Smith goes on to claim that "'feminists' are 'angryists' and they ra- tionalize their misery [about rape] by three women are raped in their lifetime. 90 percent of rapes on college campuses are acquaintance rapes. This is not to men- tion the sexual harassment, physical or verbal, which every women is subjected to in our society. These rapes, abuses and harassments are committed by men who are victims of our sexist society. In their minds women are reduced to sexual objects to be used and 4 q IP £itbrjau Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Speaking out for women 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Vol. IC, No. 108 Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board. All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion jof the Daily. Sa otag1ng Peace, Again LAST MONTH five Central American presidents agreed to disband Nicaraguan contra base camps in Hon- duras if Nicaragua would hold demo- cratic elections. President Bush re- sponded by announcing that his administration would seek funding for the Contras. The motivations for this agreement are clear and it is beneficial to all the parties except the United States. Hon- duras wants to get rid of the contra army because, as former members of the Nicaraguan National Guard and as mercenaries, they have no appreciable skills except those of killing. Since U.S. military aid was cut off last February, the contras have focused their talents on Honduran peasants. It is now widely recognized by Hon- durans of all parts of the political spec- trum that the contras are a great threat to the stability of their country. Nicaragua obviously wants an end to the terror and destruction inflicted on the Nicaraguan people by the contras. For the other countries, it is a chance for stability in the region and a more rational U.S. policy. Nicargua's part of the agreement will be easy for it to keep. It is required to hold elections nine months sooner, al- low opposing parties access to national media, insure a fair electoral process and allow international observers to in- sure compliance. Nicaragua did all this in its 1984 elections - which all international observers, except the U.S. embassy, agreed was a fair elec- This is contrasted by events in El Salvador and Guatemala, where civil- ian government is a thin curtain for military and oligarchical control. Elec- tions have little meaning in these coun- tries other than propaganda for the U.S. public and Congress. The Reagan and Bush administra- tions have long maintained that Nicaragua has a history of breaking treaties and that the contras are neces- sary to force compliance by the Nicaraguan government. Yet it is the United States that has a history of sab- otaging peace agreements. In 1984 eight Latin American governments put together an proposal to end the war. It would have eliminated Cuban military advisors from Nicaragua, limited So- viet military aid, provided for reduc- tions in the size of the Nicaragua army, prohibited foreign military bases and addressed other issues that have always been distorted to provide justification our terrorism against Nicaragua.The proposal was agreed to by all the Cen- tral American countries, but after pres- sure from the United States, El Sal- vador refused to sign.Weeks later the State Department was crowing about how it had successfully blocked the signing of the treaty. Implementation of the Arias Peace Plan in 1987 was similarly blocked by the United States, which sought continued military aid for the contras, not a negotiated peace. President Bush cannot seem to admit that the military effort against Nicaragua has failed. The contras have wreaked enough destruction in Nicaragua and Honduras and it is long past time that they be disbanded. The United States created the contra army and should now accept responsibility for them. The five Central American presidents have taken a first step towards peace in the region. Instead of blocking it by seeking more contra aid, the Bush ad- ministration should respect this step. And it should follow it by normalizing relations with Nicaragua, lifting the trade embargo and paying the repara- tions ordered by the World Court for the damages of the contra war. By Anonymous I am writing in response to Daniel Smith's article "Feminists far too angry" (Daily 2/23). This response is not to pro- vide all the facts that cut through Mr. Smith's arguments, the women's and anti- rape groups on campus will probably do that very adequately. My purpose is to tell the personal story behind the facts. I am a survivor of rape, and conse- quently I am angry. According to Mr. Smith I should not feel this way: I am wrong. The men who raped me (when I was 14 and 19) were acquaintances. The first was a boyfriend. Contrary to Mr. Smith's claim, these men were not from "dysfunctional" families or deranged or even "abnormal" (I tend not to date such men). They just be- lieved that a little force was o.k., perhaps normal. If I cannot, as Mr. Smith suggests, blame their families or their psychological make-up (they were just red-blooded American boys) for their actions, where can I place the blame? I blame the men themselves, but they do not live in a vacuum. Somewhere they learned that it was acceptable to treat me like I am less than a person. I was some- thing for them to control and humiliate. Where did they get such ideas? You guessed it: society. I would contend that Sports Illustrated is a good example of our society. Eleven months a year the aggressive, physically active male is featured. One month a year the passive, sexy woman is shown for the men's sports enjoyment. Sound familiar? I do not wish to re-argue the negative aspects of Sports Illustrated. I do, how- ever, wish to point out that rapists come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They are businessmen, fraternity members, law students, medical students, fathers, broth- ers and friends. It is not necessarily the To protect the privacy of the author, the following letter has been printed anony- mously. rapist's "dysfunctional" family that causes them to rape but our dysfunctional soci- ety. All rapists may not read Sports Illus- trated, but they live in a society that al- lows such magazines to treat women's bodies as sport. Mr. Smith suggests that feminists look "more closely at what they are angry about" and that they are not "confronting their own neurosis." Well Mr. Smith, I have looked painfully close at what I am angry about, and I don't believe that I am neurotic because I am angry that this society allows rape to happen. It taught my attackers since they were little boys that I am an object, and a little force is o.k. Since these men learned their lessons so well, I must live with the pain they have caused for the rest of my life. They will go on believing that they are just red- blooded American boys, while I deal with the feelings of depression, helplessness and hopelessness that many rape survivors experience. I'm sorry if this upsets you Mr. Smith but I am angry. But my anger is not exclusive, as Mr. Smith claims, it is inclusive. I am part of the growing anti-rape movement here on campus that actively encourages both men and women to join the struggle against rape. I welcome any man (or woman) who wishes to understand my anger and my pain. One who wants to figure out where rape originates and how s/he can help stop it. A man may even get angry, as some men are, at the role he is taught by society to play. We are all victims in some way of sex- ual assault because we all, women and men, have roles society teaches us to play. Until more women realize their objectifi- cation and more men realize their part in the struggle, sexual assault will continue to devastate and control the lives of many women (and men). To answer Mr. Smith's mock of femi- nists "Isn't the fact that we are victims of sexual harassment and violence enough to justify self righteous anger?" I am angry. And I am right. 4 4 Learn the facts .about rape. RAPE IS... I out of 4 girls will experience sexual abuse before the age of 14. " a crime of violence imnwhichthe goal Over 80 percent of all sexual assaults is to overpower, intimidate, and degrade are committed by someone known to the victim. the survivor (according to FBI statis- " the most frequently committed violent ts.) crime in our country (according to the In a recent survey conducted on 35 Fhs)r crime th college campuses it was found that: 90 " the most underreported ciion e percent of the women who were raped country. According to the FlI, oly knew their assailants and 47 percent of S-An Arbor police reports show that in those occurred on first or casual dates, or *AnnArbr plicereprtsshowtha in in a romantic situation. 1987 there were 141 sexual assaults re- r 63% of the rapists are under 25 years ported in the City of Ann Arbor. old. - One in three women and one in ten 79% act alone, and most commit 21 men will be raped sometime in their li e7 aon easge2 (according toIFBi satistcs.) n f rapes on the average. acBording4% FBIs atistics.)50% of all sexual assaults take place S etweenan wives in in residences. Only 20% occur outdoors. United States are raped by their 4us- - 35% occur between 5 p.m. and 12 iands , ~ 4 Letters to the editor *-. Daily not anti-Jewish To the Daily: With regard to your article of Wednesday, February 22, 1989 which covered a student demonstration directed at the Daily, a few points need to be clarified. The demonstrators al- leged that the pro-Palestinian American-Arab Anti-Discrimi- nation Committee (ADC) at the University is particularly concerned with and opposed to all forms of racism and dis- crimination on any basis. Our group has just completed thor- ough research intended to dis- cover the bases, if any, of the demonstrators' allegations against the student newspaper. In short, no overtly anti- Semitic statements were found Daily to be sensitive to the sensibilities of all groups. ADC is firmly committed to freedom of expression, however. We strongly urge that allegations of anti- Semitism not be used as in-- struments in an attempt to si- lence views not congruent with those of the pro-Israel commu- nity at the University. Support for Palestinian rights of self- determination can under no anti-Semitism. Those attempt- ing to do so are guilty of intellectual dishonesty and of suppression of freedoms of speech and press. The Daily's support of Palestinian rights is not anti-Semitic, but is a re- flection of the growing na- tional acceptance of the legiti- macy of Palestinian rights for self-determination. -Dina Khoury 4 :'. ., a x .e'.. .a., ::03 : ~ ,ra 9. xm ' : .,k. ^'k .'F .. e ...,.. .. ...:2 .., .A,3 .. ' ' . . K..n ,..