Newspaper Page Text
The women’s movement:
NEW YORK - (NEA) - Six
years ago, thousands of women
thronged streets throughout the
country to commemorate the
50th anniversary of women’s
right to vote. In New York, the
event was celebrated by a
jubilant march down Fifth
Avenue culminating in a mass
demonstration in Bryant Park
behind the Public Library.
“Wow,” said feminist Kate
Millett, author of the
movement's new bible, “Sexual
Politics,” “we really have a
movement now.”
Where is that movement
today?
There have been notable ad
vances (ERA, abortion) as well
as major setbacks.
The Equal Rights amend-
r'
ji ll fli tlV- *j» * •* v ■ ■
.• .’•.<• • •<' WHra m^B 1 w 1 n 'B«BBwwt4&- •
Getting ready
GETTING READY for the eventual flood of black gold from
Alaska’s North Slope oil fields, storage tanks begin to take
shape at Valdez, southern terminus of the Trans Alaska
Pipeline. The tanks, each with a half-million barrel capacity,
will be topped off with conical roofs to shed heavy winter ac
cumulations of snow.
U.S. artists
useful to society
WASHINGTON - (LENS) -
Urged on by the National En
dowment for the Arts, many of
America’s cultural institutions
are trying to benefit from 1974’s
amendments to the Comprehen
sive Employment and Training
Act (CETA).
Under this legislation the
federal government sub
sidizes local authorities to
provide jobs in their public ser
vices for people who are out of
work. The range of jobs
authorized is very broad, from
crime prevention to waste
collection; the chief require
ment is that the work shall con
tribute to the betterment of the
community. Salaries may be as
high as SIO,OOO a year.
The National Endowment
points out that this offers a
wide choice of possible employ
ment for artists, craftsmen,
writers and performers — in
schools, in poor neighborhoods,
in museums. It also means that
federal funds can be used for
improving and extending
cultural opportunities at a time
when both private and govern
ment funds specifically ear
marked for such activities are
being cut back.
In San Francisco 113 artists
(over 1,200 applied) have been
employed through CETA, to
conduct educational demon
strations in museums, to
run workshops in drawing, pain
ting, photography and acting,
and to paint murals in public
places. Across the bay. the
Oakland museum has
supplemented its overworked
staff with 77 new employees, so
that galleries can be opened for
longer hours and special ex
hibitions can be put on. In
Honolulu, CETA money is help
ing a ballet company and out
door performances of
Shakespeare.
People can only be employed
for a year under the act but
where the work ought to con
tinue some local sponsor may
be found before funds run out.
How extensive an impact the
program will have depends
largely on how many cities and
counties can be persuaded to
use some of their CETA alloca
tion for cultural purposes. The
idea that governments should
patronize the arts is now widely
accepted in the United States,
as it was not 40 years ago when
artists were first employed on a
large scale by the federal
government under the Works
‘We’re going into phase ll’
ment, a target issue, still
remains unratified. The
national day care centers bill,
passed by Congress, suffered
presidential veto and lies dor
mant. Women’s right to abor
tion on demand, while confirmed
by the United States Supreme
Court, is being attacked in
many ways in various parts of
the country. Because of the
recession, many jobs recently
gained by women have been lost
because of seniority rules.
And this summer at Mexico
City, the much hailed Inter
national Women’s Conference
sponsored by the United
Natons, degenerated into a
political forum.
Back home, there have been
Progress Administration.
That controversial program
recognized that artists were
specialized workers who should
not be forced into other oc
cupations. At its peak this
federal art project (which also
helped actors, musicians and
writers) was supporting 5,000
artists, half of the estimated
total in the United States in
1935.
This was a straightforward
relief program with each artist
having to prove not only that he
was indigent but also that his
work had promise. He was then
paid $23.50 a week and expected
to produce an average of one
painting every six weeks or a
print every four weeks, from
materials provided free.
The list of those employed in
cluded almost all the
Americans who dominated the
art market 20 years later —
Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko,
Stuart Davis, Ben Shahn and
many more. Indeed, without the
federal art project it is doubtful
whether these men would have
survived as artists or whether
the abstract expressionist style
would have enabled New York
to replace Paris as the world’s
artistic trend setter.
Ludwig
wants
bullet
SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) -
Cabdriver John Ludwig, wound
ed by a bullet fired at
President Ford, says he has
asked the FBI to let him have
it as a souvenir.
Authorities are still holding
the bullet as evidence in the
case of attempted assassina
tion.
Ludwig, 42, said Tuesday he
already had received a note of
sympathy from the President,
which said:
“You and I, and the others in
the crowd in front of the St.
Francis (Hotel), have a special
reason to thank God for
watching over us.”
It was signed “Jerry Ford.”
signs of open rifts between
segments of the movement.
One group, the Red Stockings,
whose founding manifesto
emphasized “sisterhood,”
issued a wordy document at
tacking editor and writer
Gloria Steinem as “purported
CIA agent.”
In addition, the year has seen
the growth of several national
women’s organizations
dedicated to "teaching the art
of pleasing the man in happy
subservience."
Despite these losses, feminist
leaders remain optimistic
about the movement now and
its future citing widespread
acceptance and growth at the
grass roots.
"You can compare the move
ment today to a kid who shoots
up like a bean pole and then
takes time filling out,” noted
one observer.
“We re going into Phase II,”
said Audrey Colom, president
of the National Women’s
Political Caucus. “The era of
confrontation is passing. We’re
moving to the nuts and bolts
technical politics. It’s not so
dramatic but this is how we are
going to win the power. We’re
digging in for the long haul, lear
ning that success in business or
politics depends on a well
developed game plan. Shirleys
(Chisholm) and Bellas (Abzug)
don’t just happen.”
If you judge by numbers, the
movement is certainly filling
out at all levels. The National
Organization of Women, found
ed in 1966, now boasts a
membership of 50,000 here and
abroad with major growth
reported in suburban chapters.
The National Women’s Political
Caucus, formed in 1971 with a
membership of 271 women, has
grown to a political force of 35,-
000 with organizations in nearly
every state. The National Coali
tion of Labor Union Women,
founded in 1974, has a roster of
4,000 members in 45 chapters.
Labor union organizations of
white collar women office
workers, who represent one
third of the female work force,
report dramatic growth with
almost 23,000 enrolled last year
alone.
The growth, however, is more
than just in organization
numbers. It’s in numbers of
women gaining political power
at all levels.
In 1974, according to the
NWPC, more women were
Fresh Cut-Up
kt Quality in Griffin IKWWHH FRYERS
e TV/Tcw I" t~ B lh,m -
Wfc? ■ I ■ LANKY FRANKS
Hr B B I Ik-
I
F . Fresh Pork Fresh Ground Thompson’s
PIGTAILS SAUSAGE STO “*“ BEEE
IKc £sl29 - s r° ?9 C SAUSAGE
■ U I Fresh Beef«f’orfc Te «'“ Pink lotion A
PIG FEET LIVER DETERGENT [J ■
flgfl 39‘ - 39" .. hH
ANTIFREEZE MARGARINE
HXii - 5395 1 OO IM!W1B!!
ktJ EMlßji
HrTmlUi I h B
CORN SWEET POTATOES JIB
3si°o jge fl>pl TiS- 3 ”9?'.
S«»jf f J
” !?
y yffi* * %2M hv Hr-r' > jMwwtl W
*Fjp* fejjSft: * <§£»-
H^y^jMEoo^^WwWi3 l
KlraM£^^PKlfe£^^MKfWi>.B 7
L kJI ■ *'*
SOMETHING TO celebrate in the women’s movement — the 50th anniversary of the passage
of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. Women’s liberation demonstration was
in park facing New York’s City Hall.
’■“.HF - O
H
Karen DeCrow
elected to Congress than ever
before in history. There are
currently 19 women in the
House of Representatives; 610
women in state legislatures,
twice as many as in 1969. Also
at the state level, Connecticut
has a woman governor, Ellen
Grasso, the first to be elected
on her own merit and not
succeeding a husband. New
York has a woman lieutenant
governor, Mary Ann Krupsak.
Meanwhile, at the local level,
women are running for a mul-
u Ciltl
Gloria Steinem
titude of offices, from dog
catcher to register of wills. In
Texas, during the last election,
2,400 women were candidates
for office throughout the state,
according to a WPC survey.
There’s a growing political
awareness by all women, in the
opinion of Colom.
“The growing consumer
movement and demonstrations
prove that women are becom
ing more political,” she observ
ed. “When a woman goes into a
supermarket and refuses to buy
beef, she’s made a political
Page 25
Betty Friedan
decision. Look at the meat
boycott. It was organized and
led by women. It couldn’t have
happened without the
movement.”
The years have seen
legislative gains-in many areas.
Domestic workers are now in
cluded in minimum wage
legislation. In education, Title 9
prohibits discrimination — and
discriminatory attitudes. The
New York State Department of
Education recently issued
guidelines for a whole new
educational system which bans
— Griffin Daily News Wednesday, October 1,1975
sexism in everything from
books to teacher attitudes. A
presidential order prohibits job
discrimination on the part of
federal contractors. Rape bills,
guarding the rights of victims,
now exist in several states and
are top priority in others. In
California, in a recent decision,
the judge is now prohibited
from a traditional charge to the
jury, “Rape is easily charged
and hard to defend.” In New
York City, women have a
special number to call and sym
pathetic officers to help them.
On the labor front there have
been gains, too. Thanks to
CLUW, many unions have for
mulated separate women’s
departments. Such a depart
ment is the women’s division of
the Amalgamated Meat Cutters
and Butchers, headed by CLUW
founder and vice-president Ad
die Wyatt.
Noted Wyatt, “For the first
time during our lifetime, trade
union women are being called
on to make policy not only in
the union but in every institu
tion in the country. Every
woman, activist or not, is being
forced to take a good, hard look
at herself — why she’s working
and what she expects out of that
work. Often, she’ll find the
traditional man’s job to be
easier and pay more money. In
that knowledge, we’ve got
strength.”
Office workers are standing
up and being counted, too. An
independent union, District 65
which has offices in New York,
Chicago and Los Angeles, is
currently directing its efforts
toward organizing women
workers at universities and
publishing houses. Among re
cent accomplishments: A new
contract at Harper and Row; a
pending election at Simon and
Schuster. Union spokesperson
Margie Albert is enthusiastic
about future prospects noting,
“As offices become more
mechanized they become more
like factories. And, these
positions pay less than most
blue collar jobs. There are a lot
of women office workers out
there to be mobilized — 12
million of them.”
Increasing numbers of
women are engaged in top level
research at universities. In
academia and elsewhere, dis
torted Victorian concepts of the
female, which influenced scien
tists such as Freud and Darwin,
are being discarded. Data
revealing role sharing in
animal societies is being un
earthed and publicized.
“Women are discovering once
buried research,’’ says
Elizabeth Fisher, editor of
“Aphra,” feminist literary
publication, who is now writing
a historical book on women.
“Many anthropologists have
had to retract earlier positions
regarding male dominance.”
The changes in our language
itself indicate the pervasive
nature of the movement, she
added. “Ms,” “person,”
“MCP,” “sexist,” she observ
ed, are all words now in com
mon use.
What of the future — and
today’s problems? Nobody ex
pects the millenium overnight,
a sign of the movement’s new
maturity.
“So, Mexico City was a dis
aster,” said Karen DeCrow,
NOW president. “It was a start.
You can’t expect people to shift
gears instantaneously. Sexism
has been going for 6,000 years.”
“The important thing to
remember,” said suffragette
and 80-year-old Pennsylvania
activist, Mildred Scott
Olmsted, “is that the Mexico
City conference was actually
held and the women’s move
ment has become international
in scope. The movement has
made enormous advances in
this country. It’s been a social
revolution. In any revolution,
you have the radical and
moderate elements. Look at
Portugal today. In our day, we
had the suffragettes and the
suffragists.”
The key problem, as most
women see it, is in enforcement
of legislation benefiting
women. “Women have to be
there not only in passing bills
but in enforcing them,” summ
ed up Colom. “We also have to
make sure that the women we
support are supporters of
women’s issues.”
“Quality — that’s what
counts,” said Olmsted. “We
must apply the same high stan
dards to women that we do to
men. We must be careful not to
defend women just because
they are women. We are human
beings and, as such, we will
have our crooks as well as our
good ‘guys’.”
“Let’s hope,” said Elsa
Puder Suplee, Pennsylvania
woman political activist, “that
we will grow and that as we
grow, we won’t lose our sense
of kindness.”
i NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN l