DISRESPECT AND DOMINATE

Using words and phrases of age far beyond what the baby-voice conveys, daddy is given the correct answer. This public service radio spot on its face should be instructive but is ruined because the child's voice is so utterly at odds with the speech content.

Two teenage girls are cooing, awe-ing and oohing about "buff" teenage boys in another public service radio bit by the Library of Congress. Their voice tone and structure reminds one of the super silly and vacuous "Valley Girls" of yore.

The boy's speech and tone is normal and informative in stark contrast to the girls who respond that the boys are buff -- history buff and end with more silly patter, long drawn out oohs and sighs. Silly, boy crazy females -- who would believe they could ever grow up into beings that could be trusted to govern.

Harvard University President, Lawrence Summers, speaking recently to an economic conference, suggested that the innate differences between the sexes could explain why fewer women succeeded in science and math careers.

There continues to be an undercurrent of negative slants against women that have grown in strength throughout the last four years. They surface in movie reviews where women have the lead. Catwoman bombed; Elektra reviews call her a "tomboy." Both show strong scantily clad, curvaceous females.

Loyal fans of Xena - Warrior Princess still yearn for a post-series movie in vain in this climate. Strong, independent women-heroes are verboten. This line would never be tolerated today:

"I don't have the patience of Gabrielle, the love of Eli or the serenity of my mentor Lao Ma. I'm just an angry, ass-kicking warrior." -- Xena, The Way

Even columnist, Maureen Dowd, no friend of feminism, has noticed:

Moviemakers these days seem far more interested in the soothing aura of romances between unequals. In James Brooks's "Spanglish," Adam Sandler, as a Los Angeles chef, falls for his hot Mexican maid. The maid, who cleans up after Mr. Sandler without being able to speak English, is presented as the ideal woman. The wife, played by Téa Leoni, is repellent: a jangly, yakking, overachieving, overexercised, unfaithful, shallow she-monster who has just lost her job with a commercial design firm. Picture Faye Dunaway in "Network" if she'd had to stay home, or Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction" without the charm.

Television offers many examples but none so blatantly sets forth so many negative female caricatures as Desperate Housewives. No chance that this popular show will portray a kick ass female hero.

The media delights in telling us of slurs like "Girley men" as it touts stories that feature the god of war, testosterone, that are so prevalent in a country with a war mentality. It ignores the very real heroes of our time such as Jesselyn Radack or Sibel Edmonds. Radack blew the whistle for lying under oath on Judge Michael Chertoff, the person Bush has chosen as head of the Dept. of Homeland Security.

"Radack was an ethics lawyer at the Department of Justice during the John Walker Lindh case. She warned Chertoff about interrogating Lindh without the presence of his lawyer. Despite Radack's warning, the DoJ went ahead and interrogated Lindh without his counsel; Lindh's testimony resulted in a twenty-year prison sentence. However, in his previous senate confirmation hearing, Chertoff denied having any contact with Radack and her office. Radack not only has emails and hard evidence of warning Chertoff, but the Bush Administration has retaliated against her by forcing her out of two jobs and placing her on the no-fly list." -- Unfiltered [airamericaradio.com]

"Sibel Edmonds is a former FBI translator. She blew the whistle on the cover-up of intelligence that names some of the culprits who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks. These culprits are protected by the Justice Department, the State Department, the FBI, the White House and the Senate Judiciary Committee. They are foreign nationals and Americans. Ms. Edmonds is under two gag orders that forbid her to testify in court or mention the names of the people or the countries involved." http://baltimorechronicle.com/050704SibelEdmonds.shtml

Sexism is rampant and obvious in the selection of Condi Rice for Secretary of State. There is no one in the present administration that has made more catastrophic mistakes than she has. However, she is Bush's left brain and Cheney's right testicle. She is a dedicated receiver of the machinations of these males who use her as a female symbol and mouthpiece.

Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, identifies social and political agendas common to fascist regimes. His comparisons of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto, and Pinochet yielded this list of 14 "identifying characteristics of fascism." One of the 14 is rampant sexism. http://www.bushflash.com/14.html

# 5 - Rampant Sexism: The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy. http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm

gapperserve@peoplepc.com

2005-004

Copyright 2005 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: gapperserve@peoplepc.com.