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EDITORIALS
October 15, 1992
THE PANTHER
Staff Members
LaKesha Gage
Editor-In-Chief
Jayme L. Bradford
News Editor
Tara C. Gunter
Editorial Page Editor
Chandra R. Thomas
Lifestyles Editor
Lewis Pryor
Sports Editor
Danni Conner
Photo Editor
Trenton Chipley
Illustrator
Charles Jones
Graphic Artist
Ann Wead Kimbrough
Tom Hallman
Advisers
GENERAL INFORMATION
The Panther is a student publication that
saves Clark Atlanta University. No items
published in the Panther may be reproduced or
used in any form without the written pemtission
of the Editor and Advisers.
The ideas expressed on the editorial page are
the opinions of the individual authors and do not
reflect the ideas of the university or Panther staff.
The Panther’s mailing address is Panther
Newspaper, Clatk Atlanta University, James P.
Brawley Drive at Fair Street, S.W., Box 329,
Atlanta, Georgia 30314 or call 880-8077 for
inquiries. The Panther office is located in the
Mass Media Arts Building. Meetings are held
every Thursday at noon in room 120 in the Mass
Media Arts Building.
CIRCULATION
The Panther is distributed free of charge by
week onThursdayss. Copies of the Panther can
be found at the entrance of each campus building
and at the intersection of James P. Brawley and
Fair Street
ADVERTISING
Thedeadline for reserving advertising space
and submitting advertising copy is Thursday at
3 p.m. prior to the publication date. Advertise
ments or requests for a rate chart should be
mailed to The Panther.
The Panther reserves the right to accept or
reject an advertisement. The acceptance of an
advertisement does not imply endorsement of
the advertiser, product or service.
By policy, The Panther does not accept any
advertisements soliciting the use of alcohol or
tobacco products.
IJSTTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letters to the editor are encouraged. Letters
should be 200 words or less, typed and double
spaced. All submitted letters must include the
author’s full name, signature and affiliation with
the university in order to appear in the Panther.
The deadline for all letters is Friday of each week
by 5 p.m. Letters will run according to the date
received and amount of available space.
The Panther reserves the right to edit for
clarity, length, grammar and libelous material
All submissions, once received, become the
property of The Panther.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
As a service to chartered C AU campus orga
nizations, the Panther will run announcements
for upcoming organizational events. The dead
line for all announcements is every Thursday at
noon. They will appear in the Panther in the
order they were received.
Organizations not listed on the official list of
chartered university organizations can still use
the Panther to announce events, but will have to
purchase advertisement space and meet the ad
vertisement deadline.
The Panther reserves the right to edit for
clarity, length, grammar and reject announce
ments that we deem inappropriate.
On the double
By Chandra R, Thomas
Lifestyles/ Entertain
ment Editor
I recently mingled at a
party and overheard a
male guest comment,
‘Sherri sure has made a
lot of trips upstairs to
night." Another male
guest replied, “Yeah, you
know she’s a slut.”
Anger literally raced
through my veins as I
boldly responded, “Why
isn’t the guy she was with
a whore? She’s obviously
not up there alone.” The
two guys just stood there,
seemingly shocked by my
words.
Well, I’m tired of this
madness. I’ve had enough.
Why do women always get
the “bad rap?” If a woman
is promiscuous or demon
strates aggressive behav
ior, she is labeled a whore,
a si—, or a fast girl (and
those are the nice words).
On the other hand, soci
ety labels amanwith simi
lar traits as ‘cool,’ a ‘Mack
Daddy,' a ‘stud,’ a ‘lady’s
man,’ or simply, the man.
When a woman fulfills
an “immense sexual appe
tite”, she has committed a
crime punishable by so
cial castration.
Similarly, a man fulfill
ing his sexual desires is
considered as “taking care
of business.” Sadly, this
blatant bigotry is consid
ered acceptable.
It’s not enough that men
find these labels appropri
ate, but women too are
guilty. Once I heard two
females comment, “I don’t
like the way [the all-fe
male rap group] Oaktown
3-5-7 dances. They’re too
nasty.” I asked how she
felt about [the all-male-hip-
hop-group] BellBivDevoe’s
gyrating hips, bare chests,
and their stripping down
to their shorts in concert.
She responded, “That’s dif
ferent.” I knew she would
say that.
How different is it? Fe
males should not solely be
labeled as whores for en-
cuous activity. A man is
just as much a whore for
his behavior. That is, if we
are to pay homage to the
standards that women
endure.
Men are not born with
any exceptional quali
ties that make them
superior to the female
gender.
Historically, women
have been scalded by this
perpetual double- stan
dard. Infact, women didn’t
even receive the right to
vote until 1920- a mere
70-years ago in a nation
founded 216 years ago.
The stigma is like Ener
gizer batteries-”It keeps
going, and going, and go
ing....”
For example, by society’s
standards, an older man
is dignified and sexy. An
older woman is decrepit
and sexless.
In the work force a pow
erful, demanding man is
savvy and sprightly. In the
same regard, a woman
possessing similar char
acteristics is called a BWA
(“bi— with an attitude”).
When a man rapes a
woman it can be con
cluded, in a country that
promises “...liberty and
justice for all," that she
“asked for it.” I guess that
would go something like
“Uh, excuse me sir, I’d re
ally appreciate it if you’d
rape me.”
A comedian once said,
“If a woman ‘asked for it,'
next time you see an ugly
person, shoot him. In your
defense, tell the judge he
asked for it.” I agree.
It is time to acknowl
edge that people are indi
viduals that should be
judged individually.
In fact, if truth be told,
we all begin as females in
the womb.
• I expect to be j udged by
the same doctrines as any
man or woman. Learn to
judge both sexes by the
content of their character
and not partake in these
insidious stereotypes. Let
us begin to acknowledge
these unfair labelings and
reevaluate our percep
tions.
When we stereotype
people we lose the very
unique qualities thatmake
us all individuals.
True enough, perception
includes sterotyping but
we must realize that in
doing so, we lose the the
very essential qualities
that makes every man and
woman a unique being.
Too much division already
exists.
Stop making allocations
for men, they are not bom
with any exceptional quali
ties that make them supe
rior to the female gender.
Don’t let these distorted
societel perceptions cloud
ourjudgement.Make your
self an "equal opportunity"
critic. In other words, if
the dress fits, wear it.
Black t.v.
shows on
the rise?
By Wendy Isom
Staff Writer
The time has finally ar
rived. Black sitcoms are
aired throughout the week
instead of just on prime
time Mondays and Thurs
days
Since 1988, statistics re
vealed that black house
holds watch 49% more
television than any other
household.
When this statistic was
read in class, a few of my
peers said, “That’sbecause
there are more black qual
ity shows on prime time
TV for us to watch.
Should we believe the
hype?
What about the black
shows that get dropped
after the first few seasons?
As a matter of fact, NBC
was the first network to
play a black show on tele
vision.
That show was Nat King
Cole’s show in the 1950s.
Because of this, NBC was
nicknamed the Negro
Broadcasting Company.
That show didn't last too
long of course.
Besides, the more things
change, the more they stay
the same.”
The media's mind has
not changed.
The television business
is similar to the
stockmarket in many
ways. They are both profit-
motivated.
The mainstreaming of
black shows is a lot like
insider trading.
Insider trading is when
white broadcasters air a
lot of black shows when
they are in demand.
Then they sort out the
black shows that will give
other networks a run for
their ratings.
When they grasp the au
dience, the show is
dropped.
Eventually, black shows
will take their place.