K T S <Si ENTERTAINMENT
s "natural," that God or Freud or biology
decreed us to be second-class citizens And
ve have gained majority support in popu
. ir-opinion polls; most people now support
; he idea of equality. That means we’re
ready for and just beginning to make insti
■ utional changes, including parental leave
ind child care—for women and men. We
have the idea of equal pay but are pretty
Car from having it. We have majority sup
port for the idea of equal parenthood but
don’t have equal parental leave; it’s still
women who take care of the kids more
than men.
How wiH progress be aflected by the current
conservative climate?
Once you get majority support, two
things happen: you are ready for institu
tional change, and you get a backlash
because you are a majority challenge to
the old order, which is what is happening.
Legalized abortion is more popular than
Ronald Reagan is, was or has ever been;
but in spite of that there is a newly
alarmed and organized minority. There is
concern on my part that some of our gains
will be eroded. We have spent a great deal
of our time during the Reagan administra
tion battling just to save and hang onto
the ground we already have, which is a
waste of energy when we should be mov
ing forward But it’s also the way change
happens If the women's movement has
learned anything, we've learned this is a
long-term process
Racantly you ware a sabstitata host aa tha
"Today" show. MHH yoa ha doitty mors warh on
tolasiston?
I plan to continue working for the "To
day” show about once a month as a con
tributing correspondent. I’m also very ex
cited about plans for "Ms. TV,” a weekly
video version of the magazine, in which I
will act as one of the hosts
You hsvs obviously bocomo a kind at Icon tar tbs
tamimst movomout In tha Unltad Statas. lust as
Marilyn was an Icon far women In bar time How do
you teal about yeur rolo as ana ot tho most Intluon
flat woman's spokssporsons?
I'm not saying there aren't moments of
considerable fear and discomfort, but by
and large it feels like an opportunity to
report what women are doing and feeling. I
can be a journalist in an unusual sense:
most newspapers and TV shows can report
on only a small proportion of what people
are doing It’s my pleasure, as a journalist
and feminist, to report on what very ordi
nary and very courageous women are doing
and what solutions they're finding Maybe
if you report on a solution here, someone
overtherewon't havetoreinvent the wheel
I feel more likea bridge than an icon
JA< VKSIIENR1 l>KTKUie PANTMiajN WmiUBHAHY
Three Masters
in Photo Series
Pantheon Books is performing a mir
acle: publishing very affordable
photography books. Their small-for
mat-puperbuck series—edited by the
Centre Natu ;>al de la Photographie in
Paris—sells lor $7 95 per volume New
books include: WM«M. on the sensation
alistic New York news photographer;
Mr* Karim, on the Hungarian-born
classicist, and JacQMS-Maari LariOaa, on
the pioneering French lensman.
LnHf: Storm at Nice (1925)
ANIIKK KKHTKSZ PANTIIBON PHOTO IJHKAKV
Kartasz: Staircase <1955>
WKKilKl: PANTMKDN PHOTO MHHAHY
WM|M: Dead man with rei'oli'er(1940)