A joint publication of the Commission on the Status of Women and The Women's Studies Program
Indiana, Pennsylvania 15705
Volume 10 April 2001
A Word On Women and Friendship
by Jill Vivirito
There
seems to be a lot of negative press about women and friendship. Remember
Billy Crystal’s line from the 1989 film When
Harry Met Sally, that “women and men can never be friends because the sex part
always gets in the way”? Well,
considering how often it’s been said that “women don’t really like each
other,” I think Crystal’s line should have read
that “women can never be friends with each other because…” And you can
probably fill in the blank with the
answer. Most likely words like “jealous” and “catty” will come to
mind, which is no surprise; society has been telling
women for years that they don’t
really like each other. And if I
didn’t believe it before, my 84-year-old grandmother
has set me straight. A strong,
dynamic woman, Grandma recently gave me the following advice:
“Never trust women; They’re all backstabbers.” Considering the suffering
and abuse my grandmother endured at the hands of my grandfather, whom
I never met, it seems curious to me that in the end she holds the greatest
contempt, not for him, but for the woman he left her for. Today Grandma has one
good friend, a German woman named Anna who lives down the street.
But she is the exception, Grandma says, “not like all the other barracudas.” If
the message about women and friendship had failed to reach me through my family,
however, there’s always the television to get it through. Just recently during
a sleepless night of channel surfing, I stumbled upon an episode
of Bill Maher’s show, “Politically Incorrect.”
Playing the role of devil’s
advocate, Maher started the discussion by asserting that “women are all
haters.” One guest on the show, an author of a book about women and
friendship, disagreed but conceded that women often distrust other women, seeing
them as competition in one way or another. Although we have entered the
Twenty-First Century, one thing is clear—women are still competing with each
other for men, or at least for the attention of men. Believing that the
prettiest girl wins, many women caught up in this cultural myth strive to be the
“fairest of them all,” in hopes of winning the ultimate prize, which, of
course, is the man/husband. In search of women like literary foremother Virginia
Woolf who might actually like other
women, (forget the sexual subtext; I’m talking friendship here) I set out on a
mission. Lately I’ve been asking women everywhere their thoughts on the
subject, and the answers, though varied, are interesting. My friend Karen,
now in her fifties, told me that she didn’t used to like women. “Women can
be nasty,” she said, “They’ll steal your man from you. You can’t trust
them.” But now she feels differently. Three husbands and four children later,
Karen says that today she enjoys a powerful network of women friends who are
there for her in ways that men never were. Maybe
friendship is something women mature into. Maybe seeing men as the
prize is something women need to get past. Anyway, isn’t it time to shatter the
cultural myths that are destructive to women’s potential? Maybe some women are
catty and jealous “barracudas”
as the stereotype goes, but so what? Should all women therefore accept
the blanket stereotype? Why don’t we instead stand up for what we know to
be true, the secret behind the lie, that women, more
often than not, have always made the best friends?
by Rachel Goss
As
sources of inspiration, people often look to pop culture, literature or
historical figures to draw upon. For women, however, this is not always so easy.
Take the Bible, for example, a document which has affected Western
culture at large. Regardless
if it is your source of spirituality, it has undoubtedly shaped social values in
this country as we know them today. What
does the Bible say about women? Feminist
hermeneutic scholars are beginning to look at the text in new ways, challenging
traditional interpretations. The
fundamental problem lies in the fact that there is no objective history. History
is merely a collection of perspectives and in cases such as the Bible, it has
been re-written, re-worded and even changed throughout time. When
texts are re-interpreted this way, the
Interestingly
enough, another woman who has her enemy killed is considered perhaps one of the
wickedest of women in the Bible. Jezebel,
commonly used even today to refer to someone who is evil or a harlot, is someone
who is strong, outspoken and in fact, loyal to her husband.
Though her act was no more admirable than David’s,(who commits adultery
and has the woman’s husband killed), she unlike David, has not
been forgiven. This is probably
because her deeds were done in the name of the ‘wrong god’. The writers of history were followers of Yahweh and took time
the opportunity to villianize one of the their religious competitors, even if it
meant hypocrisy. While Jael fights
for Israel, Jezebel who is also a strong leader, fights against Israel.
It
is clear from these few examples, that history is perspective of those who have
triumphed and survived. Women are
portrayed in many ways throughout the Bible, but to find the purest
representations of them is a difficult task indeed.
Regardless, the intent of the final editors and latest interpreters has
impacted the way we view women today. Probably
the paradigm of this is Eve, who is often used to blame the downfall of
humankind, and warrants an article of her own.
It is time to let go of misunderstood stereotypes and begin viewing women
in a more positive light.
An Overview of the Feminist Student Art and Poetry Reading
by Jess Donald
I wanted to start this article out with this quote, because the women who brought their artwork and poetry to the reading on Friday, March 16, in the University Museum, have that fire. They were fierce, passionate and amazing. I read that evening and watched the faces of those who understood my meaning distort with half full eyes. I watched as Dana Jerman read her poetry to a roomful of people that understood her concept, that had held their daughters in their arms at one time or another. I saw within Sarah Smelter’s artwork, unending ties to each of us, colors that melted together and created the person you saw before you, reading loudly, sternly, with more emotion than I have ever seen before. I caught glimpses of time and energy, of life and questions answered through Lindsey Glass and her poetic words.
Yes, we only had four readers. Yes we only had one artist. Yes, we only read about fifteen poems, but within that time period each of our audience members entered our lives. The three other readers and myself, that stood up and said their piece about the world, created a fuller picture than in my opinion, any classic novel could ever. We, as poets and artists, screamed to our public via small lines, and short phrases. Passion encased in each carefully pronounced vow. We are the new generation of hands that literature and poetry will fall into. We are the new artists that hold brushes and paint when we are angry or frustrated, enthusiastic, sad, complicated by our lives.
This article is to say thank you to all those who showed their passion through their words and paintings. This article is to show appreciation to those who came and supported us. I want to present these women in the highest light that I can. I hope they realize that each of us holds within our values something different, but we are always able to express it. Thank you to all those who read, Dana Jerman, Sarah Smelter, and Lindsey Glass. I appreciated your help and I loved your work, not only does it inspire me, but it makes me realize that we are as fierce as we want to be, as passionate as we choose to be, and as outspoken as we push ourselves to be within this world that expects us to be silent to a point. I hope you continue writing and painting. We are the new generation of artists, here and spoken aloud.
A special congratulations is extended to Lindsay Glass, who won EGO's Poetry Slam!
Woman to Woman, Face to Face Exhibit
by Jess Donald
Woman to Woman Face to Face,
opened up our March events with great enthusiasm and an amazing new look at the
latest work by and about women. The
different pieces of art that created this exhibit fall under the categories of
traditional to extraordinary. Each
artist expresses their view of women, every piece different as every
woman is unique.
The curators were Brenda
Mitchell, Rosaly Demaios Roffman, and
Theresa Smith. Through hard work,
many emails, and phone calls, excavating artists of the past and present, and
more time put forth than I could ever imagine, they brought this spectacular
exhibit to us.
Each unique work of art enters the soul through
mind, spirit, and body. Watching
these different designs and pieces of lives communicate through mediums, such as
hair, pottery, baskets, and so many
others, you would be surprised how well they compliment each other.
The entryway speaks of living in a time before our own, where music was
written by hand and wood carved for beauty.
All of the rooms were decorated throughout by high-heeled shoes that were
glued together.
The
pieces that were collected within these walls hold within them each of our
spirits. The diversity of the
artwork speaks of the diversity of women in our society.
We are not made of one medium, nor are we created by machines, each piece
of our being is as unique as this exhibit was.
If you did not have a chance to see the artwork created by so many and
brought to, arranged, and confronting you in Sutton, I encourage
you to take the time, the next time you see a piece of artwork that inspires you to
realize how much you, yourself are captured within it.