Canton Observer for November 13, 1975 - Canton Public Library

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SUBURBAN LIFE (i) li srru rrOfl£ r r ru t Pu"Jisl>«j o' ">« Biimingfum Blgom'ieW Oliw»»i & ttcens-c Wtsi BiOOWlifH) tdmon OOMivei & tccfil '< 1'oy fDillon ODtovfi 4 tccenmc Rochntti 06 *>»t< & turttic Fiimiiigian ObM'vr & IccfUu SoutMieid 0&»i>v* 4 Eccentric Rrtkxd OBsei.e & fccwuic Plymouth OOwivf 4 tcccnbic #«ltUnd OCsfve'4 Ecctn»ic &J'«" C'ty ObMivW 4 EcCtfMIK C*iBn06M'*H 4 IcMMiK » , . . „ « ' k * . . m m , . • v ; •V »• -•' •»« > v \ f * r *-.i • * V ^ ' < . • " '*•' Thursday, November 13, 1975 * IB BY SHERRY KAHAN "The effects of the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment will be severe. disastrous and harmful to women." claimed Mrs. Elaine Donnelly in a recent debate on ERA at Schoolcraft College sponsored by the women's resource center "ERA will protect men and women equally ." returned Audrey Perry. "It will require federal, state and local governments to treat each person as an individual " Mrs Donnelly is Michigan chairman of the Anti-ERA Committee. Mrs Perry is chairman of the Monroe County Republican Party and active in feminist causes Sitting in for Mrs. Perry after she had to leave was Vicki Toensing, research attorney for the Michigan Court of Appeals, who participated in the question and answer session Hi AT THESE SPEAKERS held for two hours the full attention of 106 women indicated that the ERA pot still is boiling, despite the Michigan legislature's approving vote j^iven in 1972 Anti-ERA forces, such as those led by Mrs Donnelly, are saying the approval sh ,uld be rescinded Never, say the pro-ERA women "ERA has nothing to do with equal pay for equal work." maintained Mrs Donnelly "There are already laws on this, as well as laws about equality in credit, education and opportunity. A new law won't give women anything they don't already have." ERA The debate goes on as Schoolcraft women's center makes a new attempt to clarify some issues Ms. Toensing retorted that "they forgot two groups" when the Constitution was written a couple of hundred years a 8° , "Later they put in the blacks." she added. "Now it's time to put in women. 1 cannot see how ERA will take away benefits from women when it will extend benefits to all people." WHILE MRS. DONNELLY is happy to have equality in credit and pay. she was concerned that legislation that has traditionally protected women would go by the board if ERA becomes the law of the land. "ERA will outlaw laws that say a husband must support his wife and family." she declared "If women do not have this right, how can they make long-term commitment to preserving the stability of the family." Ms. Toensing indicated her belief that such protection is not always certain today. "A man can go to California and a woman would have to go there, too. in order to collect support money." she said Mrs. Perry observed that children today are usually placed with their mothers after a divorce. "Alimony or support Ls given by a judge based on economic needs," she maintained. "The support is based on the needs of the children. The amend ment would ban a state from imposing a greater liability on one spouse than on the other. Support obligations would be defined in regard to each spouse." Florynce Kennedy on the campus of University of Michigan- Dearborn. ANOTHER KIND of protection was also introduced at this point, on-thejob protection for women Mrs. Perry felt that laws to protect a women at work by defining the kinds of jobs they could do and the weight they could carry were often used to produce reverse discrimination. Men used these laws as an excuse not to hire women "These protective laws were put in codes by women after a lot of hard work." said Mrs. Donnelly. "Employers were making women carry too heavy a load. But under ERA this protection will no longer be available. If a women doesn't do what she is told to. she will be fired. Women are physically different from men and need these kinds of protection." Two popular issues raised by anti- ERA militants were thrashed about by the debaters. They concerned the draft and the question of co-educational toilets. "Yes, if Congress declared a crisis and said people were eligible for the draft, women could be drafted." said Mrs. Perry "But who can say they love a daughter more than other parents love their son?" Mrs. Donnelly, who decried the emotionalism raised on the draft issue, said that if ERA is passed. "Congress would not have the choice to exempt women from the draft even if 80 per cent of the women in the country stormed into their building " Mrs. Donnelly, in an interview, added that she was for equality of sacrifice during a crisis but not the same sacrifice. "In World War II. women sacrificed for the war but it was not the same as the men's sacrifice," she said. Until the majority of people in the country feel that it is appropriate to demand equality of sacrifice, we shouldn't have it." She reiterated: "Men and women are different." BUT THEIR PRIVACY is guaranteed by the Constitution, pointed out Mrs. Perry "ERA guarantees equality not sameness," she stated The states have power to require the separation of the sexes in sleeping quarters and toilet facilities. Every public place has to provide a place for both sexes." "I don't want to alarm anyone," interjected Mrs. Donnelly, "but a lot of people would like to get in the private areas of the other sex." She added: "Under ERA you can't predict what will happen " Mrs. Perry was hopeful that "ERA will have little effect on athletics," referring to the fact that guidelines on sports in public schools have already been published under Title IX by the Department of Health Education and Welfare. Mrs. Donnelly countered with the fact that in Pennsylvania, which has a state ERA. a court ruled that girls should compete as equals against boys, and men against women. "Not even Title IX goes that far." she said. "Female athletes ought to be able to compete against each other as women instead of being forced to play on a sexually-integrated team 1 ELAINE DONNELLY AUDREY PERRY Florynce Kennedy's visit 6 it could have been great' Bv MARGARET MILLER There's got to be a special place for the University of Michigan- Dearborn campus in the memory of feminist lawyer Florynce Kennedy. And vice versa. Her visit last week involved strong feminist and civil rights ideas expressed in stronger language and a few sharply-worded parodies. These evoked boos and catcalls from a few white male studenLs on the fringes of the group that gathered to hear her. And that action led to fast counterverbage from the 59-year-old speaker, who called herself "offensive and proud of it. because people oppressed are supposed to be offensive. "I've been to 370 schools, and this is the first campus where there has been persistent hissing and booing at satirical parody." she told her audience . "It doesn't matter to me—I am capable of walking out and they had better have my check in New York. "But it is an insult to the people here interested in feminism and what a nigger has to say." AND THOSE WORDS somehow set the tone of the speech, although Ms. Kennedy made some powerful points in her inimitable style. Larry Melton of Redford Township •i *•" M M •1-1 expressed one student's post-Kennedy viewpoint "I have always believed in the causes she's fighting for. but I think she was offensive and insulted the campus." he said. A couple of other male studenLs suggested her fee was money badly spent by the college's Office of Student Life. But from women students came the idea that the hecklers caused them to be "cheated." "I really respected her. " said Denise Farrugia of Taylor. "We need more people who will speak out as she does. But I felt somehow cheated, because she talked so long to get the heckling kids off her back that she didn't have time to speak to the issues." THREE WOMEN STUDENTS, Lynn Crawford and Robin Westby of Dearborn and Shirley Blochman of Miami, Fla., suggested that "a racist and sexist element on the campus was challenged by her mere presence." But they also agreed that because of Ms. Kennedy's visit "our fellow students are forced to confront social and political realities they would rather ignore." Judy Phair, of the University relations office, saicj it was the first time in her memory that kind of hissing had occurred and "you got the impression some had come to heckle." "I'm glad she put them in their place." Ms. Phair added, "but I somehow wish it hadn't taken her so long to do it." BILL SHADE, director of the campus office of veteran affairs, had a similar reaction. "I've had the opportunity to hear Florynce Kennedy at New York University." he said, "and I know she had a lot to say but somehow her emo tional self took over before she could say much of it. "It could have been a really fine ex perience. But what it did was serve to bring to mind the extent to which we still are so many poles apart. And that's too bad." Shade said he was sure the studenLs who joined a rap session preceding the speech had a good experience, "and I had hoped the points she would make later would go beyond what she said then. But it didn't really work out' that way." . BUT ALL THE PROBLEMS didnt keep this champion of women's rights from making some points clear One involved the Equal Rights Amendment and its defeat in New York and New Jersey referendum votes. "The media sold us out on that," she said. "It practically ignored the existence of the referenda until after • the voting, and then it called the defeats a major setback "That's like pulling a curtain in front of you when a truck is coming at you. and then when it hits saying. 'Look, you just got hit " She suggested that now women "won't sit hack and rest " MS. KENNEDY commented that her life as a fighter probably had its origins in the fact that "I was lucky— my parents did not teach us to bow to authority and they made us feel pre cious and not just some more pickaninny niggers." She also urged women and blacks to "challenge the most powerful interests by dealing with the most pow erful oppressor." "Every institution that damages you can be damaged." she declared, "but direct your indignation where it really matters." Directing strong indignation toward the church, she said she objects to its anti-abortion stand as a sample of "oppression because it keeps you from controlling your life." * Ms Kennedy is a graduate of the Columbia University law school and active in both the civil rights and women's movements since the She is a co-founder of the Natioml Organization for Women and Founder «f the Feminist Party. , ,\ ,vns ;• '>.1; nl bsJfii >•
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