I Am Beautiful: A Celebration of Women in Their Own Words

thors suggest are naively "grateful" forfeminist literacy, and I don't think thisgratitude means one must embrace PR tothe detriment of the feminisms outsidethe mass media.The point for me, which I think constitutes"real politics," is that feministsmight more often laud and appreciatethose who fashion progressive politicalplatforms into more popular (albeit simplistic)terms. I believe such mainstreamfeminisms can encourage women tochange their lives and to seek out furtherfeminist activity. I don't mean to suggestthat ''power feminism" is progressiveenough—a sort of "don't worry, behappy" approach to social justice. However,when feminists are unable or unwillingto celebrate and to capitalize onsuch media attention, as well as to engagein sustained political critique, perhapswe need to worry more about ourown goals and motivations, as well asthose of the "unfair" media.Devoney LooserIndiana State UniversityBloomington, INNo Laughing MatterPaula J. Caplan, in her article "Try DiagnosingMen's Mind Games Insteadof Pathologizing Women" [winter '97]refers to Gloria Steinem's article onFreud; perhaps Caplan attempted to followSteinem's lead in using humor andsatire to shed light on the misogyny embeddedin some psychological researchand diagnostic measures. However, Caplan'sarticle lacks Steinem's tongue-incheekwit; she fails to illuminate theproblems inherent in the classification offeminine behavior as mental illness.Caplan complains that "the gatekeepersof the DSM" are mostly white, malepsychiatrists. However, her resignationfrom a DSM committee is in part toblame for this situation. It is unfair forCaplan to criticize the DSM for excludingwomen when she had the opportunityto remedy the problem. But ratherthan serve on a DSM committee, Caplanhas settled for writing a male-bashingpiece which does not help feminists inmeeting our goals.I give Caplan credit for recognizingthat many of the diagnoses found in theDSM are biased and detrimental towomen. I wish that she would use herintelligence, determination and title in amore productive manner that wouldbenefit women.Liza FeldmanAlbany, NYIn Defense of EquestriansAs a feminist and a lifelong equestrianand horse lover, I was delighted to findNorine Dworkin's "Equestrian Equality"[fall '96] in my first issue of your magazine.The following issue included BatyaBauman's patronizing and disparagingletter, to which I am responding.So many people in this country believethat equestrian sports are all about"dominating the horse and bending it tothe master's will." In reality, to be at allsuccessful, riders must be in tune withtheir equine partner's body and mind.Brute force or intimidation, althoughused by ignorant trainers, never produceslasting positive results. This is, Ibelieve, why women tend to do so wellin the equine world. We are sometimesmore apt to try to understand why ahorse is behaving a certain way, whereasmen can be more prone to simply demandobedience.I ride horses not because I want powerand control, nor because I think it isprestigious, but because the partnershipand fusion that can occur when myhorse friend and I concentrate intentlyon one another is a singular joy in mylife.Ms. Bauman states that she would feela "whole lot better" about women wholove horses if we were in the forefront ofefforts to "end the many ways horses areexploited and abused in our culture." Inmy 16 years of experience with horses, ithas been the professional trainers, instructors,veterinarians, blacksmiths,barn managers, etc. who have been themost active and the most effective incombating abuse and cruelty. They arethe ones who educate the unknowingowner about caring for their pony, runthe local 4-H clubs, buy washed-up racehorses to retrain for a new life. I personallyhave called the local humane societyseveral times about starving horses I'dseen, and know many friends who havedone similar things. I mounted a largealumna letter-writing campaign to mycollege alma mater when I discoveredthat the person hired to run the school'sequestrian program had allowed thehorses to become thin due to underfeeding(that person subsequently resigned.)So, it is simply wrong for Ms. Bauman toimply that women who love horsesaren't involved.One more point: What is this obsessionwith women riders wearing tallleather boots with spurs, carrying crops,and so on? It occurred to me that imagesof S&M/bondage must be flittingthrough the minds of the uninitiated. Letme set the record straight: We wear tallboots because they are practical. I wouldhave raw holes rubbed into my legs if Irode without some kind of protection.Tall boots are also traditional, originatingnot with the military, but with overthe-kneeboots worn by English foxhunters.Let me now explain why we use spursand crops. When horses are interactingamongst themselves, they often bite andkick one another as a matter of course.These bites and kicks do not really hurtthe horses, although if one of them wereto bite or kick a human in the same way,it would severely injure us. The use ofspurs (nowhere near as harsh) as anotherhorse nipping the side of the one beingridden, is to encourage the horse tomove away from the pressure. Only experiencedriders who have enough bodilycontrol to use the spur selectivelyshould wear them, if they are needed fora particular horse. The use of the cropimitates the same thing, only it can beused in different places such as the rumpor shoulder. Again, a rider must be experiencedto use a crop or whip. Whipsand spurs, used properly, are trainingaids, not devices for punishment.Allison L. SchrafPittsburgh, PACorrection:NOW would like to correct informationincluded in the article, "Will PaternalParanoia Triumph?" [winter '97] by TrishWilson. The National Organization forWomen has not established a "ClearinghouseAgainst Fathers' Rights." NOW'sNational Board of Directors passed a resolutionat its 1996 National Conferenceto establish a clearinghouse for informationabout so-called "fathers' rights"groups whose objectives are to restrictand limit custodial parents' rights and todecrease child support obligations ofnon-custodial parents. These groups andtheir political agendas can be especiallyharmful to battered and abused womenand children. However, NOW's data collectionon these groups, like-mindedjudges and sympathetic policymakers isin the preliminary stages, and the clearinghousehas not been activated or formallynamed.Patricia Ireland, PresidentNational Organization for WomenWashington, D.C.EDITOR'S NOTE: Sorry we jumped the gun!ON THE ISSUES regrets the error.S p r i n g 1 9 9 7 • O N T H E I S S U E S