Real world really isn’t that great
By Andrew Ross
Susa tine Steffens express*** an admirable desire
to reach dreams and goals in life ("Does anato
my still mean destiny in U S.?." ODE. July 2‘l).
If she believes her goals will be furthered by
achieving "equal opportunity" with men. howev
er. she is leaping from the frying pan into the fire.
Many women these days art* discovering to their
outrage and despair that equality is gist what they've
achieved.
As Chuck Norris once said. "Welcome to the food
chain, pal."
Women seem to have this fantasy that, while
they've l>een chained up in the kitchen w ith Junior,
men have been off having endless fun in the real
world. Once they make it into the real world them
selves, they are shocked and unprepared for the
ordeals of life as corporate chattel.
In elementary school, while girls were being
taught the principles of cooperation and nurturing,
boys were being taught that theirs was not to rea
son why. theirs was to shut up and gut in the line
behind authority figures Insubordination was the
most common offense.
in higher education, we learned that professors
and administrators may break commitments at will
and that the key to high grades was to adopt the
thoughts of the teacher
In the ormv. we learned that our Ixxfies were dis
pensable cannon fodder at the whims of people stu
pider than ourselves.
All of this was designed to prepare men for the
real world, where all independent thought and
action is not to lx* tolerated, and where civil lifx*r
ties and dignity are left at home Intellect and mem
bership in unions or civil lilx-rties groups are used
as evidence of lack of patriotism.
One boss of mine encouraged Ins two dogs to pee
in the personnel office, with no apparent reason
exi ept that he had the authority Another regular
ly used humor that diminished people and dispar
aged their minds, bodies, sexuality , achievement
or potency, and xve wore expected to roat I posi
tively, or else.
This was not considered harassment; it was just
another fact of life in the workplace
As demonstrated through Stanley Milgrnm’s
famous electro shock experiments, relatively fexx
men have the resources needed to resist authority
any more We've seen our pensions and benefits
eliminated, our unions busted, our xvnges loxxered.
our working conditions xvorsened, our jobs lost
entirely, all without a peep.
We are not allowed to have our own opinions on
pollution, safety or other issues that might conflii t
with the company 's profit margin Does Susanno
Steffens yy.mt to las ollie equal to tins'
Most women, encountering real world oppres
sion for the first time, art1 understandably enraged
Unfortunately, many of them see the problem in
terms of their gender They approai h harassment
as a sexist issue, failing to realize that it happens to
all of us The men consequently see the women
as demanding spix tal treatment based on their gen
der. and resent them fur it This leads to the hot
tie of the sexes mentality, vvhii h benefits nobody
Women emerging into the real world have a
chance to deeply affect the quality of life They
could join men in the equal opportunity to become
chattels. They could continue struggling for unequal
positions of privilege and hostility for themselves
()r they could work yvith men together to create a
new "real yvorld" in which self-determination for
all people is n reality, and opportunity for all is lim
itless instead of merely equal.
Andreiv Hiks is n graduate student in the / ric
versity l<n\ school.
nyfflT«
OCA way
I ant disturbed by the reports
that the rec alls of state and t itv
officials in Oregon are merely
based on a disagreement over a
controversial issue and because
the Oregon Citizens Alliance just
wants to have its own wav.
Why shouldn't Oregon c itizens
be disturbed when their officials
violate their oath of office in
whic h they promise to support
the* constitutions and laws of the*
Uniter! States, Oregon and lc« ,il
municipalities'
The (X.A's "no spec tal rights’
initiatives were passed under the
permission of the Oregon (.on
stitutiem. Artie le IV, Sec 1 (rt).
which reserves "to the people
independently of the Legislative
Assembly" (IV(2)) "initiative and
referendum powers to thft qual
ified voters of each munic ipalitv
as to all local, special and
munic ipol legislation of every
charm ter in or for their munici
pality ..."
House Hill 3500, for whic h 1-t
legislators an* being rec ailed,
takes away from the people this
right of the people to the petition
process on the subject of homo
sexuality anti offends the will of
the people of the winning initia
tives
When city count il members
join as plaintiffs in an American
Civil Liberties Union lawsuit
against their own city, as has
l>een done in Canby, the violation
of the oath of offit e and assault
on citizen rights deejxms further
The ret ails are addressing the
demtx rot it prtx ess. not a partii •
ular controversial issue It's time
for our legislators to re-read tile
constitution under which they
must operate and quit playing
politu *ii games wfide making the
laws that you and I must live by
Pat Smith
Canby
Prez again
1 am extremely pleased by
action taken Tuesday by the Sen
ate in passing (lie National and
Community Service Trust Act I
am also gratified that Republicans
and Democrats were able to wurk
together to turn this landmark
legislation into reality
National service will take on
our nation’s most pressing unmet
needs while empowering a new
generation to serve as leaders of
change National service is about
enhamed educational opportu
nity and rebuilding the Ameri
can community Most impor
tantly. national servii e is about
getting things done,
A number of senators played
crucial roles in helping pass this
bill In partic ular, I would like to
thank Sen Kennedy for the lead
ership and dedication lie lias
shown throughout this pita ess
Thanks to the efforts of the Sen
ate Tuesday and the House last
week, young people will soon lie
serving their country in their
communities here at home
I’ve always said national ser
vile is the American way to
i hange America I commend the
t’ ,S Congress for taking action
that will prove that true
Bill Clinton
U S. President
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