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Women protest against violence of night
I pack my laundry into a duffle-bag and sling it
over my shoulder. She looks at me with big eyes
and I smile as I step out and plunge into the cool
darkness of the night. It dawns on me that her eyes
weren't responding to my smile — her eyes were
big with fright. I become confused, then angry
realizing that she saw in me someone other — a
potential Rapist. I understand why she was afraid
and know there's no way I could experience the
real and pervasive fear of the night that grips her.
To survive after dark she has to see every man as a
potential Rapist.
Sixty percent of all rapes occur between 6
p.m. and 2 a m. . Women are held hostage by the
darkness But can they live without fear of rape in
daylight? No. Two recent instances of rape in
Eugene took place in daylight. In one incident a
woman was abducted from a telephone booth in a
residential district at knife-point. Safety for women
is no longer relative to the night or the neighbor
' IWKP RjR'lbu,"M WALRUS SAID:* I P2PW SflAWWE."
hood.
Saturday night, women fighting against the
fear will stage a candlelight march to protest
sexual violence The march will be through the
most dangerous (in terms of rape) areas of
Eugene, the west University neighborhood and a
portion of downtown
To call this a march of protest is something of
a misnomer It is a march of outrage against the
darkness that can shelter a Rapist as he waits in
shadows to attack, then protected by night sex
ually assaults a victim, finally to steal away im
mune into the blackness.
But it is not simply the night that provides the
cloak for the Rapists who will rape one of every
three women in the United States (FBI statistics)
Subtle attitudes condoning the act of rape poison
this society. To combat this workshops on the
awareness and prevention of rape, panels on
violence against women and domestic violence,
meetings on sexual harassment and demonstra
tions of self-defense are scheduled for all day
Saturday at Harris Hall, 8th and Oak Streets Men.
as well as women, will benefit from attending.
Rape is possibly one of the most heinous
crimes The Rapist has demonstrated an inability
to adapt to the society Rape is more than the
violation of a woman's body Rape is the physical ^
and psychological brutalization of a woman — the
act of misogyny The bruises eventually heal, but
the psychological wounds bleed forever
The Rapist should be paid back in kind and
removed from society The recidivist Rapist shows
he cannot be rehabilitated and deserves lifelong
incarceration. Does castration seem extreme in
the case of a habitual Rapist?
Saturday night women will retake the night —
but it is only one night in the many nights of fear
throughout a woman's life Men can show their
support for the march from streetcorners
gabriel boehmer
editor's note
In the United States, the second Sunday in
May is observed to remember one’s mother by
some act of grateful affection — usually a phone
call on Monday to apologize for forgetting to send
a card.
To prevent her from saying, "That's okay. I
don’t need anything as long as I have you," and to
keep yourself in pot roast and mashed potatoes
awhile longer, consider the following gift sugges
tions.
First, the traditional:
The bouquet. A perennial favorite of siblings
who either work as part-time delivery drivers for
florists, or have the collective buying power
afforded by several brothers and sisters
The I.O.U. A coupon for odd jobs around the
house is a natural for offspring who never go
home on weekends, or who are forced into man
ual labor when they visit anyway.
The home-made card. You should be able to
find all the necessary ingredients around the
house: construction paper, crayons, safety scis
sors, a little imagination and lots of glue It worked
in grade school, didn't it?
If you put your mind to it, however, you can
turn an ordinary gift into that something special
For instance:
The hairdo. Instead of giving mom a coupon
for a permanent wave at her regular salon con
sider a complimentary visit to Johnny Rotten's
Razor Emporium for a new wave
The Sunday ride. In lieu of a peaceful afternoon
drive, send her to the Fox Hunt at the local
dragstrip There's a little Mrs. Robinson in every
mom
The evening out Rather than treating mom to
your company and a champagne brunch, give her
some spending money and tickets to a nightclub
featuring exotic male dancers
Of course, there are gifts you can give mom
that benefit both of you.
The new baby. If you're the last one in the
nest at home, give her someone else to mother —
a puppy will do just fine She'll have her hands full
keeping track of the new family member and won t
have time to worry if you're eating right.
The bottle of scotch. Your mother can share
this symbol of success with the gals — if you don't
get to it first
The concert. How were you to know that the
Tom Petty tickets you bought mom were for the
same night she had to chair a school board
meeting? Valiantly, you offer to take her place,
even if it is at the last minute
Remember, there are only two shopping days
left If you've forgotten your mother's name or
address, check the city directories available in the
University library Or call your dad He probably
needs a reminder too
letters
Forthrightness
In a letter to the Emerald April
30, Todd Weber casts asper
sions on the editorial board for
'calling those of differing opin
ions liars and comparing them
to Nazis" — in this case, Ronald
Reagan, the fascist gun in the
West, because he has re
peatedly said the U S is trailing
the Soviets in nuclear weapons
capability
On the contrary, Emerald edi
tors: once again you've demon
strated journalistic courage and
forthrightness, calling a spade a
spade I can think of few better
comparisons than the Nazi
regime and Goebbels' ministry
of lies The main difference is
that Goebbels was condemning
only certain races and ethnic
groups, and defending ovens
built for the sole purpose of
incinerating these people,
Reagan, Haig, Weinberger.
Thatcher and the like are
effectively condemning the en
tire human race and nature itself
(the National Academy of
Sciences states that an all-out
nuclear war would destroy the
ozone layer around the earth,
which would result in the even
tual death of all living things),
while defending nuclear ovens
designed solely for incinerating
civilizations
It is an outright lie that tne
Soviets have any kind of nuclear
superiority It is pure Nazi-style
salesmanship to insist that nu
clear weapons are a security
and a protection 50,000 nukes
haven't made us safer and
51,000 won't either Both coun
tries are throwing their money
down a rathole and starving
their people in the process The
sooner we realize this and stop
with a negotiated "freeze", the
closer we'll have come to res
toring a measure of sanity in this
world Nobody's going to
recognize and solve the prob
lem but us, and the best solution
or starting point put forward so
far is the "freeze. Meanwhile,
Todd Weber doesn't know what
he's talking about The Emerald
has taken an admirable stand of
conscience and common
sense
Vip B. Short. D.C.
staff
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