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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 1997)
▼ EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Steven Asbury MANAGING EDITOR: Thom Schoenbom NIGHT EDITOR: Jennifer Schmitt EDITORIAL EDITORS: Ashley Bach & Brian Diamond editorials, letters, commentary and perspective BS83SS8SES8SS88S8^833aS88«pSi NEWSROOM: (541)346-5511 DISPLAY ADVERTISING: (541)346-3712 BUSINESS OFFICE: (541)346-5512 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: (541)346-4343 Mags stray far from reality From Cosmo to Redbook, womens magazines hurt women more than serve them At the University, there’s a dichoto my of the politically correct world — those who never veer from their political correctness and those who strongly adhere to the PC backlash. Those of us who fall between these two categories find ourselves realizing that not every “issue” is worthwhile and that those issues that are worth fighting for often come across as repeti tive and worn out. Many people, men and women, consider sexism to be a tiresome “female” issue even though men are just as affected. Likewise, many Laura Daniel people seem to think sex ism extends only so far as getting paid less for the same quality of work as a man or simple derogatory statements. But sexism creeps into our lives in a multitude of ways, many of which have been pointed out time after time. A few, such as “women’s” magazines, have slipped past the soapbox and need to uc auuitibMtJU. We all know that magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse encourage men to look at women as brainless objects that must have large breasts and a tiny waist in order to be desirable human beings. But other, less obvious magazines are fighting hard against women gaining respect for themselves and from men. These are the magazines in the grocery store checkout line like Cosmopolitan, Mademoiselle and Redbook, whose covers often feature scantily clad women next to phrases like “12 Love Tests (Will your relationship last?)” and “Want Him Back? (Making love stick the second time around).” There is nothing inherently wrong with maga zines focused on females in their twenties and early thirties. But these specious magazines, which feature articles aimed at improving the lives of women, actually teach women how to pretend in order to get what they want. One article actually suggested that women not talk to their partners about their problems be cause men just don’t want to hear about them. At another point, the article advised women not to mention when something positive happened at work because the man would be jealous. So in other words, if you’re male, it’s OK not to care about your girlfriend or wife, and if you’re female, don’t admit that you have a brain and tal ents that might actually get recognized. Even if we ignore all the tips on how to suc cessfully land a man (which, according to these types of magazines, is what gives women their worth), we are bombarded with hundreds of pic WOMAI :i P.1.2 ..—niu'ini'i 1 ' What YOU can do to look better for HIM! P.27 CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald tures of grossly underweight women who rarely represent the general female population. So much exposure to underweight women makes many women feel that their bodies are in adequate, when in fact they are fit and healthy. Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are propagated by these “thin” expectations, a problem which is not going to go away until ad vertisers realize that normal body weight is beau tiful, too. Everyone strives for beauty, be it inner, outer or both. And there is nothing wrong with wanti ng to be attractive and desirable. But when maga zines send out the message that being attractive is keeping one’s mouth shut and being desirable is living 20 pounds underweight, it’s unacceptable. These magazines show very little respect for ei ther women or men and perpetuate the unequal roles that many of us are trying to leave behind. Women’s magazines should stop trying to teach women how to appear happy and start showing women that by making their own decisions, they can learn to be happy. Laura Daniel, a junior majoring in biology, is a columnist for the Emerald. Her views do not necessarily represent those of the newspaper. E-mail: moonpie@gladstone.uoregon.edu EHMumsm What areyoux plans for Valentines Day? “I’m done with all my midterms so I’m probably going to just hang out." Jackson Kellogg Fine Arts J “All my friends and I get together and buy ice cream and paint our toe nails and stuff. It’s a bitter-and-single party." Heather Nadolny Classical civilizations “I'm going to a Valen tine’s party and am going to be using some pick-up lines.” Brian Forsythe Sociology Lt I 11no Kicker options I am writing to express an opinion and a possible third option to the tax kicker de bate. If the kicker is kept to fund educa tion or other programs, it is really a band aid that will help for this year only — unless it happens again next year and the same debate is revived. If the kicker is returned to citizens, each Oregonian will receive a chunk of money. It’s great to get a few hundred dollars back that you didn’t expect, but the reality is that for most people this will buy some nice evenings out or a couple weeks of groceries. The third option that I am proposing is to take the money and invest it into a money fund that will benefit the people of Oregon forever. Alaska is the perfect ex ample of a system that works for the state and the people. The state has a permanent fund that is growing at a rate that is pro jected to be $26 billion by the year 2009. The principle in this fund can’t be touched, but a portion of the interest goes to the residents of Alaska every year. You can get detailed information about the hind on its web page at: http://www.apfc.org/ Please take the time to talk to Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles about the program and how it might work for us in Oregon. 1 am one that is not in favor of the state gov ernment keeping the tax kicker. We would be much better served to address unneces sary bureaucracy rather than eliminate necessary programs. I would, however, be in favor of my portion of the kicker being deposited into a permanent fund that would eventually provide a healthy stabil ity for this state well into the future. Since this type of surplus occurs from time to time, changing our protocol to deposit these funds into a permanent fund would be logical. I don’t think the majority of people want the money back because they need it to survive. Instead, they want it back be cause they feel the state government has n t been paying attention. If the money was directed toward a good investment in the future, instead of patching problems in perceived irresponsible spending, I be lieve it would receive a wide base of sup port. Eric Heidmann Clackamas More than a cross In her Feb. 5 letter to the editor, Stephanie Jacobs argues that the cross on Skinner s Butte should be allowed to re main because the cross, once a religious monument, has been redesignated a war memorial. She concludes, “The cross is a cross. Nothing more, nothing less.” Does Ms. Jacobs actually expect us to be lieve that a huge cross high above Eugene can simply be designated a secular object? People attach great significance to the sym bolism of certain objects and the cross is a strong symbol of Christianity. If Ms. Jacobs is correct and we can sim ply ignore the meaning attached to objects, then nobody would object to a giant swasti ka looming over Eugene as a war memori al. After all, it’s only a twisted cross. Noth ing more, nothing less. Right? One can’t separate the symbolism from the object. The cross is clearly a religious symbol and as such should be removed from public property. Sean Brient Eugene
