EDITORIAL
The right to choose
applies to everyone
A woman needs the fundamental right to chooso what
to do with her body
She should be allowed to act and think for herself and
to make important decisions without unnecessary criti
cism from others. She should be able to got an abortion
if she so chooses —- a right women have championed for
years.
She should also have the right to pose nude for mon
ey without scorn. It is her body, and she needs to be
respected enough to make her own decision If a person
over 18 is allowed to vote and thereby Influence the
direction of this country, that same person should be
able to pose nude whenever she wants.
The argument arises from Playboy’s visit to the Uni
versity this past week From March 30 to April 1. repre
sentatives from the
magazine interviewed
University women fora
fall pictorial called
"t .iris of t he Far • 10
Conference ” Kverv
year the magazine fea
tures a different college
conference, and the
Pat-lO’s number was
c ailed for the first time
si ne t
At its worst,
pornography may
trigger a sexual
crime, but so can
almost any movie
and television
show.
Opponent* of tin*
magazine have raised lhe traditional pornography objec •
lions l'hey claim pornography is largely responsible for
sexual abuse and disrespei! toward women l hey sav it
exploits women for profit
The argument is partially true - women in the maga
zines are rarelv respected for more than their bodies.
Playboy representatives mav < burn they "like to know
(their) people." but in reality, looks and a nice body will
get you in the magazine, not a 1.400 on your SA'I s.
1 iowever. claiming that pornography and sexual abuse
are connected is stretching the truth. No t redible study
has ever proven a direct causal link, Fd Monse s com
mission came down heavily against pornographers. but
the data was largely insubstantial. Meeso is a conserva
tive who dislikes anything not on the Family Channel.
Reducing a complex psychological disorder to one
cause is irresponsible. A rapist is a deeply disturbed
individual with violent tendencies. Pornography doesn't
cause a person to become disturbed. At its worst,
pornography may trigger a sexual crime, but so can
almost any movie and virtually any television show.
A woman who wants to pose nude for Playboy should
have every right to make that decision without undue
criticism. Many women say they would pose nude for a
photographer provided that the pictures wore used for
an artistic purpose. But one person's filth is another's
art. If a woman admires the pictures in Playboy, she
shouldn't be attacked for choosing to pose.
It all comes down to making adult decisions. A
woman has a right to chooso, whether the topic is abor
tion or posing nude.
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V
COMMENTARY
Courses will foster understanding
By Sumi CfiO
and Owniard Tay-' >t
T~1 he Multu nltural t urn< u- 1
luni Committee's motion
X going before the I on ersi
t\ Assembly April ? to revise the
existing Rate, Gender ami Non
European requirement is an
attempt to get our students to
understand their contemporary
world. We believe such discus
sions prepare students for the
increasingly multi-ethnic and
multicultural societies both here
and abroad.
We in Oregon are not isolated
from these global changes We at
the University have the obliga
tion not only to respond to these
changes, but to provide leader
ship — to generate a mode! — for
others in the state who are grap
pling with the realities of societal
transformation.
Although most on campus
agree that the original require
ment was set up with gocxl inten
tions. we found few defenders of
the requirement as it is i urrent
ly written.
In order to correc t the existing
deficient; ies we are proposing a
two course requirement instead
of the present single course One
course will focus on contempo
rary rat e issues in the United
States The other course seeks to
provide an understanding of the
variety of fai tors — gender, eth
nicity. ( lass and race — that
impa< t on sik ini identity global
Racial oppression is a founda
tional feature of American soc i
ety. For example, for several
dec ades following the ratifica
tion of the Constitution, only
landowning white males could
vote People of color were sys
tematically prevented from
espial participation in American
soc ial, political and economic
life through race-based exclu
sionary laws and practices.
Closer to home. Oregon voters
approved a state constitution in
1857 containing a c lause exclud
ing people of color from the
entire state Vigorous Klan activ
ity in the state enforced the con
stitutional exclusion. Klan
sponsored legislation, aimed
originally at Catholics and pre
vented the wearing of religious
garments by teachers, was used
as recently as 1984 to dismiss a
South Asian Sikh teacher in
lv
Eugene The University main*
tinned a white* only polii.\ in its
housing from 19^‘t until well
, into tin* t'HOs, refusing to allow
Afrii.dii-Arnerit .an women to
live in the dorms Today. the
pert entago of tenure and teiiurv
trac.k fat ulty of color at the Uni
versity is lower than even that of
the slate's ? pert ent people-of -
color population There are only
eight tenured tenure track biat k
faculty and two Native Ameri
cans out of over 1,000 There is
exactly one Latino and one
Asian-American woman in the
entire social si unices at the Uni
versity
The creation of a course on
contemporary race issues is a
recognition of student concerns
that under the existing require
ment. a person could graduate
from the University without
ever having learned anything
about the history and culture of
l5 percent of the ITS. popula
tion. The Committee ret ognized
that rat e has historic ally been,
and continues to he, a great
divider in our nation and is the
most obvious line of social
demarcation If we are ever to
confront contemporary issues
sm h as those relating to < rime
and justice, poverty, public edu
cation. health t are, immigration
and welfare reform, then we
cannot avoid an examination ol
race.
The second course to satisfy
the revised requirement can
focus on gender, rat e. ethnicity
and/or t.lass as those shape iden
tity. social relations or creative
expression in either the United
States or Europe, or in any non
European society It is designed
to augment and complement the
first course.
We believe a grounded under
standing of our own country's
problems is prerequisite to a
credible treatment of the inter
national situation. And. similar
ly, we think the domestic U S.
situation tan only Ik* accurately
assessed within an international
context. Our students are woe
fully uninformed about the
world outside our borders. They
also generally lack the tools,
concepts and bodies of informa
tion with which they could
approach the complexities of
social identities that form along
the multiple axes of gender, eth
nicity and class, and in conjunc
lion with other sot ia 1 determi
nants
To fulfill the second course
requirement, students will have
.1 wide variety of courses from
which to choose in grappling
with the complex is^pes ot cul
tural diversity inter-ethnic
cross-i ultural relations; gender
and the challenges id changing
constructs of gender and gender
roles, and the varied social rela
tions that are the foundations ol
the many different cultures that
form our global community
We believe the 210 possible
courses we have identified to
date allow our students to exam
ine these issues from the differ
ing perspectives ol anthropolo
gists. sociologists, economists,
biologists and psychologists The
point of tins requirement is not
to get the students to think in one
particular way about race, gen
der, ethnicity or class Rather, our
goal is to get them to think criti
cally and from an informed posi
tion about these subjects
We know some will say it is
naive to assume that two cours
es at the University t ould help
students solve the world's race,
gender, ethnicity and class prob
lems However, it may Ire equal
ly naive to assume that just
because we cannot unilaterally
resolve these issues that we
should not bother addressing
them m our curriculum. We
view this requirement as a start,
lust like our other general edu
cation requirements — a start,
not a solution.
We propose this revised
requirement because we feel a
sense of urgency, compelled by
events as far away ns Somalia
and the former Yugoslavia and
as close to us as law Angeles and
Kincaid Street We must begin
an honest, constructive'dialogue
on race, gender, ethnicity and
international issues not because
we want to divide our campus
or our community or to inflame
passions. Our role should be to
provide for dialogue in the calm,
deliberative atmosphere of the
classroom as a first step toward
bridging those divides and eas
ing tensions.
$umi Cho and Quintard Tay
lor. members of the President's
Multicultural Curriculum Com
mittee, submitted this on behalf
of the committee