OPINION
Thursday, February 18, 1993
5
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Reader says Rush's quacks are insensitive
Ed Connelly's letter to the *Kansan* was, in a word, ridiculous. He quotes from Rush Limbaugh's book – "We should all laugh more at ourselves" then asks Lisa Cosmillo to lighten up. The problem is that Limbaugh laughs at *at others*. There is a big difference between not agreeing with Carol Moseley Braun's views on abortion and playing the theme song to "The Jeffersons" when her name is mentioned. Is the latter supposed to be funny? It seems almost racist.
Ah, but I can't call Limbaugh racist,
can I? I don't have any facts. All I can
do is offer a few Rushims (for lack of
a better word):
1. Calling the movie Malcolm X
"Malcolm the Tenth"
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
2. Carol Moseley Braun"《The Jeffersons"
3. His stances against welfare and affirmative action
4. His continual attacks on Jesse Jackson's speech patterns
Though racism cannot be applied to any of the statements individually (the first two are quite insensitive), I must agree with Steve Chapman's article from last Thursday: Limbaugh provides only pieces to the puzzle, and his audience must come up with answers themselves. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck – well, I never said it is a duck...
The criticism Ms. Cosmillo is getting is deserved only journalistically. She did fail to define the term "feminazi" as Rush has defined it. But what about the definition? A feminazi is one who wants more abortions performed. Who are these women? Kate Michelman? Patricia Ireland? Fay Wattley? Not at all; they, as all pro-choicers, want fewer abortions. But the issue isn't about quantity. It's about choice. It's about who controls women's bodies. Fay Wattleton has said she would be very happy if fewer
abortions were performed each year. But not if it is enforced by the government, only if women choose to abort less often.
In addition, Mr. Connealy's ideal that Limbaugh uses the term "feminazi" only for ratings and laughs is sickening. If Limbaugh doesn't mean to evoke thoughts of Nazis, why does he use the term? As Limbaugh says, it's symbolism over substance, and if he doesn't mean for this to be a symbol, he should use a different term. As a Jew, I find it insulting.
Finally, since, as Ed Connetly thinks, Lisa Cosmillo is a "self-proclaimed leader" of the feminazi movement, I think that she should gain a few hundred pounds, get her herself radio and television program, s write a book, and tell everyone that she has talent on loan from Gaea. She can rent and rave about "conservanazis." And when people complain about it, she can say that she's only joking and that they should lighten up.
Nathan Olson Chicago graduate student
Movie portrays sexual appetites not violent rape
I am writing in response to Shelly Solon's column on Feb. 3, 1993. This column was titled, "Latest Madonna movie perpetuates rape myths" and seemed to condemn the film industry for "imagining society." It wasn't clear what her position was until the end of the column, and even then the last sentence was incomplete. As a woman, I will be the first to acknowledge that rape is a horrible and violent crime that is unfortunately, at times, trivialized. I also realize that there are people in our society who incorrectly believe rape victims asked for it or deserved it. However, after seeing "Body of Evidence," I would like to disagree with Ms. Solon's charge that the movie perpetuated rape myths. The basis for my opinion is that I feel
Madonna was not raped in the movie and that this was not what the movie was denying.
Inher columna, Ms. Solon defined the activity in one particular scene as rape and claimed it perpetuated rape myths because "what they portrayed was not sex like the sex Madonna's character regularly engaged in" and because, at first, Madonna "is mad, but by the end, she's glad." If this was to serve as a general definition of rape, then Willem Dafoe was likewise raped in the movie. He didn't seem to enjoy having hot cake wax dripped on him as foreplay in one sex scene, but by the end of the scene, he was "glad". Similarly, the sex that Dafoe and Madonna engaged in was not at all like the sex he normally engaged in. But wait, this was not rape. This was just kinky sex, right? It couldn't have been rape because the "victim" in this scene was a man.
"Body of Evidence" was not perpetuating rape myths; it was simply showing one woman's lifestyle, perverse though it might have been. Madonna didn't react like a rape victim because she didn't think she was one. She may have been caught off guard by the role reversal in her sexual games with Dafoe, but it really did seem like part of her game. A scene like this one needs to be considered within its context. It should not be judged solely on the basis that we are uncomfortable with this type of sexual lifestyle. The only thing that has been perpetuated is a double standard for men and women in regards to sexual preference. And this double standard has been perpetrated by noneotherthan Ms. Solon. To assume that all men enjoy pain and force in sex is unfair and untrue. If we are to condemn the film industry for perpetuating a myth that some women like rough sex, why aren't we condemning them for perpetuating the same myth for men? Or would this be too difficult for someone with a "feminist bias"?
What a woman does with her body is up to her
Wendy Doyle Skokie, Ill., senior
I was so blown away by the ludicrous comments made in Ann Jurczyk's column on Feb. 8, I had to read it twice before I realized it wasn't a joke. As a man, I don't have the right to tell a woman what she can and can't do with her body, and neither do you, Ann. It frightens me that you, as a woman, can condemn an operation that helps women who need it. You can make the statement, "Legality does not equal safety." Tell that to those women who died or were seriously injured during illegal abortions. Abortions are expensive because people like you want them to be illegal. Pro-choice advocates do not force anyone to have an abortion, so where do you get off telling people they can? You said thanks to Clinton, women will not be told about the risks involved in having an abortion. Thanks to the previous administrations, women were not even allowed to be informed about abortion as well. And as for the anti-abortion rally in Washington, that was not exactly an accurate representation of the American population, was it? If these protesters are so concerned about the value of human life, why don't they use their time and effort to help the countless number of living children who are in need of assistance. The point is, Ann, you can believe whatever you want. But don't forget that everyone else has that right as well. What a woman does with her body is her business, not yours or anyone else's. The next time you have the urge to express your narrow-minded views, go to church — not to the Kansan.
Lance Vannerson Wichita sophomore
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