AS LONG AS THEY STILL CALL US "BABY" . . .

Two women who, like Bella Abzug, served in THE House, have written books about their experiences.  One, a Democrat, served for 24 years; the other, a Republican, served seven years.  Bottom line -- nothing has really changed for women in Congress.

Pat Schroeder's book is called, 24 Years of House Work...and the Place is Still a Mess.  Susan Molinari wrote, Representative Mom.  Both note how they were stereotyped, pigeonholed and generally patronized by male colleagues

Yet both apparently allowed their publishers to continue this treatment with their book titles.

The general theme of their books is identical.  Although they were proud to have served in Congress, they felt it would have been much better if the men hadn't fixated on their faces, figures and cloths, but had instead listened to them.

Sound familiar?  It should, since we've heard this thread from women in business, education, industry, etc ad infinitum.  Heard it and still hear it.  Recently, the House and Senate approved legislation that contains abortion restrictions on the payment of $926 mil in back dues to the United Nations.  Our President will veto it, but tying this "religious" restriction onto a bill that should pass shows the power of the anti-woman majority in Congress.

We can just sit back and rationalize that, after all, it just affects third world women, but we would serve ourselves better if we read the writing on the wall.

One state after another is putting restrictions on women's reproductive rights.  Restrictions that are sponsored and driven by the irreligious right and the unchristian coalition.  They are not talking rule of god here, they are talking the "old time religion" -- rule of man over women.

At this writing, Vermont has no laws restricting access.  One out of every four women who have an abortion in that state is not a resident.  They come from Canada and surrounding New England States that have placed restrictions on a woman's reproductive rights.

This has stirred Vermont's anti-choice-terrorist-supporters into a frenzy of activity to force the passage of abortion-restricting laws.  They are dogging the steps of all the legislators and challenging them continually.  Catholic legislators are special targets as they accuse them of being "non-practicing Catholics" and warn of the possibility of excommunication if they do not change their vote.  They are relentless.

This is a formidable political group and well financed.  The Vatican has approved VIAGRA, while still condemning CONDOMS.

To reiterate GenderGapper's position:  We have no quarrel with people of faith and their religious beliefs.  We do, however, object to those who use their religion as a basis to demand that EVERYONE must agree with them -- the fundamentalists.

Our country's fundamentalist are determined that all of us must live by their beliefs.  They are of the same stripe as those fomenting trouble in Bosnia, Israel and Ireland.  They have not as yet gained a foothold in all States, but they are working on it.

Currently, they are trying to pass laws that mandate the teaching of religion (theirs) in schools. First step is school prayer.

Soon there will be vehicular vanity plates in Florida, that its proponents claim are non-political, but are decidedly anti-choice.  Watch for your opponents to claim that pro-choice women choose death.

They also may stop using the term "partial birth abortion" if they follow the advice of one of their leaders.  Instead, they will refer to "partial birth infanticide" to indicate the procedure is murder, not medical.

Sure there is always the ballot box, but in order to vote wisely, we all must be continually aware of what is going on in our locality and our state.  We must all help to spread this information to others.  We, too, must be relentless.

Just one act of a legislature in your state or ours or just one bill passed by Congress could begin to effect you and all women.  What took years of struggle on the part of our foreMothers may be lost in the blink of an eye as our rights become eroded, one by one.

Disrespect for women and our movement still abounds.  The recent criminal contempt charges filed by Starr against Susan McDougal shows the vastness of his anger toward Susan but is also aimed at intimidating Monica, her Mother, Betty Curie and others.

We may never really feel that we have made it.  We may never be able to take equality for granted.  We may always have to be eternally vigilant. 

As long as they still call us, "baby", we have NOT come a long way -- we've just got a long way to go.

TWANDA@ConnRiver.net

1998-019

Copyright 1998 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: TWANDA@ConnRiver.net.

G e n d e r G a p p e r s   ^{T M}