300 Years & Counting 1H KILLS - On The Issues Magazine

MERLE HOFFMANO N T H E I S S U E SIt was one of those defining moments: Iam watching the finals of the Miss USApageant and the tension is palpable.Dick Clark reaches into the large glassfish bowl and chooses the question, theanswer to which will decide the winnerfrom the six semifinalists. Miss Kentuckyis up — her blond hair cascading ,wildly down her shoulders as she facesher judges. "Would you rather be Presidentor First Lady?" I hold my breath —is it possible? Not a moment of hesitationas the young woman flashes a brilliantlytoothy smile and says, "FirstLady of course. We all know how importantit is for any man, especially thePresident, to be kept in line, and I thinkthat would be one of the most importantjobs in the world." Enthusiastic applausegreets her as she basks in the righteousnessof her response. Miss Kansas wasnext. "If it were a hundred years fromnow and you could look back at thiscentury, what woman do you thinkmade the greatest contribution andwhy?" Her answer, just as fast andbreathless, comes effortlessly: "BarbaraBush because she keeps GeorgeBush in line."I sighed the sigh of the damned, adefining moment indeed, "define andconquer" —just another reinforcementof the historical and collective realities.These young women have learned theirlessons well and fleshed the "myth" ofwoman — given form to the continualcreating and creation of the archetypesknown as female and feminine. For asSimone de Beauvoir has written: "Oneis not born, but becomes a woman. Nobiological, psychological, or economicfate determines the figure that the humanfemale presents in society. It iscivilization as a whole that producesLoyalty toone's husbandbefore honor loroneselfthis creature, intermediate betweenmale and eunuch which is described asfeminine." (The Second Sex)This "myth of woman," this "mark ofgender" that is placed on the femaleform is taught early and well and has atits core the concepts of derivative power,masochism, low self-esteem, sex, sexuality,self-effacement and the reproductiveimperative. It is by and throughthese vehicles that stereotypes of womanare realized and it is within these categoriesand qualities that women aredefined and judged.Both Miss Kentucky and Miss Kansas,along with millions of their sisters,started their education in "woman" veryyoung in a school system that has beenproven to systematically shortchangeand discriminate against girls. A newreport by the American Association ofUniversity Women (A. A.U.W.) presentsdata which gives lie to the myth thatboys and girls receive equal education."The wealth of statistical evidence mustconvince even the most skeptical thatthe gender bias in the schools shortchangesgirls."Among the findings were that "teachersdraw less attention to girls, thatreports of boys sexually harassing girlsare increasing, that textbooks still ignoreor stereotype women, and thatgirls learn almost nothing about manyof their most pressing problems, likesexual abuse, discrimination and depression."In a previous study, theA.A.U.W. reported that girls' self-esteemdrops markedly as they approachadolescence, as "students sit in classroomsthat day-in-day-out deliver themessage that women's lives count forless than men's."And it is not only in school where onelearns how to wear the subservientmark. Reinforcement comes through"NUMBER TWO"[Mrs. Bill Clinton]NUMBER TWO"[Mrs. George Bush]ON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1992PHOTOS AP/W10C WORLD