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A few months after I returned from the Beijing conference, a woman approached me at a social gathering. "I heard you were in Beijing. Tell me about it," she said. "It must have been exciting. I read all about it." As I explained a little about what had gone on, she was shocked. "I never heard any of this in the press." She was correct. While U.N. conferences attract substantial media attention, the mainstream media seemed determined to avoid the real story and focus on peripheral issues.
The Beijing conference on women was no exception. The coverage concentrated on China's human rights violations, Hillary Clinton's attendance, Chinese harassment of women attending the associated NonGovernmental Organizations Forum-but not on the central theme of the conference"mainstreaming a gender perspective." With affirmative action and quotas a hot issue at home, one would think that the reporters might point out that the platform calls for across-the-board quotas. With family values a major political football, it might be expected that the press would note the negative treatment of marriage, family, and motherhood in the text.
But, this failure on the part of the media is hardly surprising, since they have consistently failed to investigate the Gender Agenda and the ideological implications behind it, even though the Gender Agenda is everywhere, as the following examples demonstrate. These examples have been paired with applicable paragraphs from the Beijing platform.
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[The number and/or letter preceding the quotations from the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action references the paragraph from which the excerpt was taken. Some of the quotations are preceded by two numbers. This is necessary because the first number is from the draft and is the number which was used during the discussions. The second number in brackets is the one used in the final document where some of the numbering was changed because of additions and subtractions. The same system of referencing the document will be used through this book for the sake of clarity.]
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FORCED EQUALITY
Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, a member of the prestigious Ivy League and recognized as a leader in its commitment to women's equality, diversity, and multiculturalism, was recently sued for discrimination against women. Brown was charged with violating Title IX, which mandates that educational institutions which received government funds must provide equal opportunities for participation in sports to women and men. Brown had willingly increased the number of teams for women, providing more women team sports than any other college. When a budget crunch came, Brown cut women's and men's teams equally, but the women's coaches took Brown to court, arguing that while the student body at Brown is more than 50 percent female, participation in interscholastic sports is 60 percent male/40 percent female.
The university presented evidence that male students are more interested in playing sports than female students; that more men go out for sports in high school and in college than women; that men are willing to sit on the bench and never play a single game, whereas women who feel they will never play frequently quit the team. The school argued that the existing women's teams had vacant slots and, therefore, ample opportunity already existed for women who wished to participate in a team sport at Brown.
The judge ruled that if Brown could not raise the number of women, they would have to lower the number of men, until statistically equal participation between men and women was achieved.
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Beijing Platform 280(d)-Promote the full and equal participation of girls in extracurricular activities, such as sports, drama and cultural activities.
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GENDER ENFORCEMENT
In the wake of the Brown case, the U.S. Department of Education published new rules requiring colleges and universities to issue yearly reports on how much they spend for men's and women's intercollegiate athletics. Advocates for female athletes said the new rules could make it easier for them to prove charges of sexual discrimination ["Colleges Told to Publish Sports Costs," New York Times (3 December 1995)].
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Beijing Platform 209(a)-Ensure that statistics related to individuals are collected, compiled, analyzed and presented by sex and age and reflect problems, issues and questions related to women and men in society.
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COED BASKETBALL
In an article in the Education section of the New York Times, Dr. Charles Corbin, professor of health and physical education at Arizona State University at Tempe was quoted as saying: "If boys and girls are equally matched by age, ability, experience, height and weight, girls can play on boys' teams and vice versa . . . It's more enjoyable, fun, and real life."
Dr. William Squires, professor of biology, health fitness, and nutrition at Texas Lutheran College stated, "If you had an informed society, you could have a coed basketball league and have the three best boys and three best girls on one team play another school's three best boys and three best girls."
On the other hand, Mary E. Dunquin, professor of sports psychology/sociology at the University of Pittsburgh thinks the answer is no contact sports at all [Elaine Louie, "Unequal Contest," New York Times: Education (July 1989), p. 291.
In North Kingston, Rhode Island, the junior high school gym classes are coed. Boys and girls wrestle each other. Some of the boys are so embarrassed they have refused to take part, while others have embraced the situation.
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Beijing Declaration 24-Take all necessary measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and the girl child and remove all obstacles to gender equality.
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OUTRUNNING MEN
According to an article in the New York Times, research done by Dr. Susan Ward and Dr. Brian Whipp, physiologists at UCLA, suggest that
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if women's running performance continues to improve at the rate at which it has soared since the 1920's, the top women will soon be running as swiftly as the best men, and may even outrun them someday .... The researchers suggest that elite female runners have been getting so much faster at such a rapid pace that they should be running marathons as quickly as men by 1998 and other shorter track events before the middle of the next century.
These startling predictions are based on a new statistical analysis that compares trends in men's and women's world records over the past 70 years and projects those patterns into the future. |
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The researchers admit that the fleetest female runners today would not even qualify for the men's track events in the Olympics-the men's world record (for the marathon) is 2:06.50, the woman's 2:21.06, but they are sure that the differences can be overcome. [Natalie Angier, "2 Experts Say Women Who Run May Overtake Men," New York Times (7 January 1992), p. c3]
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Beijing Platform 28 [27]-In many countries, the differences between women's and men's achievements and activities are still not recognized as the consequences of socially constructed gender roles rather than immutable biological differences. |
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FEMALE FOOTBALL COACHES
The Department of Education in the state of Rhode Island, in conjunction with the Commission on Women, is promoting gender equity programs in every public and private school in the state. The program was initiated after a survey revealed inequalities in education in Rhode Island, including the fact that 100 percent of the football coaches are men. The report admits that in coaching, "no women apply for vacancies and in many other instances the quality and years of experience place women at a distinct disadvantage when they do apply for positions. Recruitment efforts and support programs need to be provided to increase the number of women in coaching."
The report concluded: "Intervention to change attitudes toward gender stereotyped careers and to increase interest in nontraditional areas must begin in kindergarten and continue throughout school" [Kathryn Quina, "Report Card for the 1990's: A Report on the Status of Girls and Women in Rhode Island Education" (Rhode Island Commission on Women, July 1992)].
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Beijing Platform 85(m) [83]-Support the advancement of women in all areas of athletics and physical activity including coaching.
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STEPSIBLINGS AND CHILD SCOUTS
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's work on a study of sex bias in the U.S. legal code secured her reputation as a champion of women's rights. Ginsburg, who was at the time professor of law at Columbia Law School, and Brenda Feigen-Fasteau, former director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Women's Rights Project, were commissioned to design a plan to erase "sex bias from our most basic laws." Their report, published in 1977, found numerous examples of sex bias.
It appears that they discovered that the U.S. code contained a number of laws which referred to "husbands and wives," rather than "spouses"; "fathers and mothers" rather than "parents"; "grandfathers and grandmothers" rather than "grandparents"; "sisters and brothers" rather than "siblings"; and "stepsisters and stepbrothers" rather than "stepsiblings."
The report also expressed concern that the antilitter symbol Johnny Horizon was a "sex stereotype of the outdoorsperson" and "should be supplemented with a female figure promoting the same values." Furthermore, "the two figures should be depicted as persons of equal strength of character" [Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Brenda Feigen-Fasteau, "Sex Bias in the US Code" (Report of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, April 1977), p. 100].
The report criticized section 371 of the U.S. code which deals with the validity of marriages contracted according to Indian customs, because
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[t]he section contains unnecessary references to the sexes of the parties to the marriage. More substantively, it specifies that children of such unions shall be deemed to be the legitimate issue of the father, but makes no such specification as to the mother. Apparently, it was regarded as beyond question that such children are the legitimate issue of the mother. The unique physical characteristic that the natural mother of a child is invariably present at the child's birth does not justify this distinction in all cases. [Ginsburg and Feigen-Fasteau, p. 119] |
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The report also complained about government support for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts: "The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, while ostensibly providing `separate but equal' benefits to both sexes perpetuate stereotyped sex roles" [Ginsburg and Feigen-Fasteau, p. 145].
The report did support allowing the continued use of gender specific place names, such as Twin Sisters Mountain and Minute Man National Park [p. 208].
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Beijing Platform 232(d)-Review national laws, including customary laws and legal practices in the areas of family, civil, penal, labour and commercial law and. . . revoke any remaining laws that discriminate on the basis of sex and remove gender bias in the administration of justice. |
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FIFTY/FIFTY QUOTAS FOR CONGRESS
Mim Kelber, who was deeply involved in preparations for NonGovernmental Organization's (NGOs) participation in the Beijing conference, is the editor of the book Women and Government: New Ways to Political Power. Former Congresswoman Bella Abzug coauthored the introduction. The book, written explicitly for the Beijing conference, lays out plans for achieving fifty/fifty quotas in all elected offices. In the U.S. this would be achieved by, among other things, rewriting the Constitution to mandate that the Senate be composed of two hundred members, two women and two men from every state [Mim Kelber, Women and Government.- New Ways to Political Power (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1994), pp. 215-218].
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Beijing Platform 192(a) [190]-[E]stablishing the goal of gender balance in governmental bodies and committees, as well as in public administrative entities, and in the judiciary, including, inter alia, setting specific targets and implementing measures to substantially increase the number of women with a view to achieving equal representation of women and men, if necessary through positive action, in all governmental and public administration positions; Take measures, including where appropriate, in electoral systems that encourage political parties to integrate women in elective and non-elective public positions in the same proportion and levels as men.
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LESBIAN STUDIES
Kathleen Westergaard, a student at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, received an assignment in her women's studies class. "Women in class will pair up and spend 10 minutes walking around campus holding hands. Feel free to be more demonstratively affectionate. Try to walk around crowded areas. When back in class you will report how it felt for you to do this .... If you are not able to make yourself do the exercise analyze why." Ms. Westergaard refused and filed a complaint. "I wanted a woman's studies degree because I believe in women's rights and fighting for equality .... They should change the name of the course to lesbian studies" [Steve Vanagas, "Lesbian conversion," Western Report (19 June 1995), p. 44].
According to University of Alberta anthropologist Ruth Gruhun, "The explicit objective of Women's Studies is political: the ideology is to be propagated as widely as possible, with the ultimate goal of achieving social change . . . . An ideology entrenched by formal institutionalization within the university, however, can be maintained far beyond its time, as long as it can be protected from criticism" [Steve Vanagas, "Lesbian conversion" Western Report (19 June 1950, p. 44].
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Beijing Platform 209(c) [206]-Involve centres for women's studies . . . in monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the goals of the Platform for Action.
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ASK THE BABY
Elias Farajoje Jones, a divinity professor at Howard University, believes: "We are taught we have to be one thing. Now people are finding they don't have to choose." Farajoje Jones, who has been sleeping with men and women since he was sixteen, has a two-month-old baby with his bisexual partner, Katherin. He has decided "that his child Issa-Ajamu will know no gender barriers. With help from a fillable, strap-on tube, both parents will breast-feed. And, when people ask if the child-who has both ears pierced-is a boy or a girl, Farajoje-Jones responds: `Ask the baby " [Steve Rhodes et al., "Bisexuality," Newsweek (17 July 1995), p. 49].
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Beijing Platform 245(a)-Promote the equal sharing of family responsibilities through media campaigns that emphasize gender equality and non-stereotyped gender roles of women and men within the family. |
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ASK THE TRANSSEXUAL
In San Francisco, the police are forced to deal with alleged perpetrators whose "chosen" sexual identity does not match their biological identity. To accommodate "transgendered" people, "unisex" bathrooms in addition to separate male and female bathrooms were suggested, but not required by legislation passed recently in San Francisco. Cynthia Goldstein of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission said that the city is "looking at a tiered system of accommodation . . . Whenever nudity is involved, such as a community shower, your genitals should match the facilities." Police were instructed to house transgendered people "in jail cells appropriate to the person's gender identity." According to the article, police were told: "It is respectful to ask a person whose gender identity is in question which gender they prefer." The problem of women who object to having to share a ladies room or dressing rooms in clothing stores with men dressed up like women still must be addressed [Lambda Report on Homosexuality Newsletter].
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Beijing Platform 125(k) [124]-Adopt all appropriate measures, especially in the field of education, to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women. |
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NO PRIVACY
Wendy Shalit, a sophomore at Williams College, reports that at the beginning of each year, male and female students in each dormitory unit gather in their common room to vote on whether or not to have a coed bathroom. The vote always goes coed because freshmen are harangued into voting for it, because if they vote for gender privacy they are accused of not being "comfortable with their bodies."
Miss Shalit, who insists that she is comfortable with her body, would like to use the bathroom in privacy. "In the world of the coed bathroom, young women are free to perform strip teases and parade about in wet towels secure in the knowledge that their college administration will come down like a hammer on any young man found guilty of `objectifying' them with the `male gaze'."
Ms. Shalit sees the bathroom situation as an "allegory of the present intellectual atmosphere in our universities where everything is relative, nothing is `essentially different from anything else, there are no fixed meanings-and in the name of this very open-mindedness students are daily invited to accommodate the most monstrous propositions, philosophical no less than sexual" [Jeffrey Hart, "Sex Re-education at Williams," Providence journal (28 November 1995), p. B7].
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Beijing Platform 283(a)-[T]ake measures to eliminate incidents of sexual harassment of girls in educational and other institutions. |
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OUR FATHER/MOTHER IN HEAVEN
In the Oxford University Press's new inclusive language version of the New Testament and Psalms, the phrase "Son of Man" is translated "Human One." The Lord's Prayer begins "Our Father-Mother in heaven." References to the kingdom of God are dropped because the word kingdom has a "blatantly androcentric and patriarchal character." In the scene where Jesus' worried parents find him in the temple, the text now reads, " `Why were you searching for me? Did you not know I must be in the house of my Father-Mother?' But they did not understand what Jesus said to them."
References to the right hand of God are dropped out of deference to lefthanded people. Darkness is no longer used as an image of evil for fear of offending blacks.
Some think that this translation has not gone far enough. The Postmodernist Bible, a collection of essays produced by the Bible and Culture Collective, complains that "nothing is said of a God the Mother or of God made Woman, or even of God as a couple or couples .... We need to be liberated from the oppression of racism, classism, and sexism, that is, from patriarchy," argues the Collective. "The attention paid to Jesus' death diverts attention from that oppression" [Anthony Lane, "Scripture Rescripted," New Yorker (23 December 1995), p. 100].
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Beijing Platform 276(d)-Take steps so that tradition and religion and their expressions are not a basis for discrimination against girls. |
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EQUAL EXPLOITATION
Hooters Restaurant, which promotes itself by hiring very attractive young women as waitresses and clothing them in skimpy outfits, has recently been charged with discrimination against men. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint charged that the refusal to hire male waiters constituted discrimination against men, even though no male had applied for a job as a waiter at Hooters. The EEOC demanded that Hooters agree to establish strict quotas-roughly fifty/fifty-hiring of women and men ["Who gives a hoot?" Providence journal (3 December 1995)].
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Beijing Platform 165 [163]-[R]ethinking employment policies is necessary in order to integrate the gender perspective and to draw attention to a wider range of opportunities as well as to address any negative gender implications of current patterns of work and employment. |
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SAFE SEX PLASTIC (W)RAP
Lani Ka'ahumanu is the coordinator of the Safer Sex Sluts, an HIV education group. The group "does fun and funny skits that show the awkwardness of safer sex but also eroticizes it," says Ka'ahumanu who often opens the skits with her "Safer Sex Plastic (W)rap" ["Facts," Ms. (July/August 1994), p. 45].
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Beijing Platform 99-HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases . . . are having a devastating effect on women's health, particularly the health of adolescent girls and young women. They often do not have the power to insist on safe and responsible sex.
Strategic objective C.3-Undertake gender-sensitive initiatives that address sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/ AIDS, and sexual and reproductive health issues. |
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INFLATABLE DOLLS
The Non-Government Organizations Forum held in conjunction with the Beijing conference on women scheduled workshops on lesbian flirting and "The Role of Inflatable Lifesize Plastic Dolls and Dildos in Improving Health." While the lesbian flirting workshop was well attended, the organizers of the dolls and dildos workshop didn't show up, leaving the attendees to discuss the question among themselves. While several decided the whole thing was a joke, American health writer Rebecca Chalker disagreed. She suggested that the plastic or rubber dolls could be made lifelike and penetrable. They could be mechanical and made-toorder. Men could go to the store, choose a doll, and pick a background tape with a woman's voice to accompany intercourse [Jennifer Griffin, Being Watch (11 September 1995), p. 3].
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Beijing Platform 27 [26] Women, through non-governmental organizations, have participated in and strongly influenced community, national, regional and global forums and international debates. |
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BISEXUALS AND PROSTITUTES
A story in the Wall Street Journal, entitled "Dating Game Today Breaks Traditional Gender Rules" discussed the current trend to bisexual dating on campus:
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Young women openly enter into intimate relationships with both genders that are more than just experiments. They resist being described as straight or gay-or even bisexual, which some think suggests promiscuity and one-night stands. Instead they use words like fluid and omnisexual . . . . Tolerance of same-sex dating among women often begins on college campuses, where gay relationships raise few eyebrows these days. At her 1993 graduation from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., Laura Bradley stood before parents, grandparents, the school's board of trustees and faculty and read a letter to her mother who had died of cancer two years earlier. In the essay, she thanked her lover, Marcy. The two women later kissed on stage after receiving their diplomas. [Wendy Bounds, "Dating Games Today Breaks Traditional Gender Roles," Wall Street, journal (26 April 1995), p. B1] |
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One of the newspapers published for the Beijing conferences carried a story entitled "Prostitutes Demand Dignity and Legal Rights." According to the article, "Prostitutes say that they should have the same rights as other working women, including retirement benefits . . . . `Prostitutes are no different from any other working women .... We are just ordinary women,' said Mexican prostitute Claudia Commimore Arellano. `Like all women too, we worry about how much is a taxi, how to impose safe sex and how to avoid assault'" [Natacha Henry, Beijing Watch (11 September 1995), p. 3].
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Beijing Platform 97 [95]-The human rights of women include their right to have control over and decide freely and responsibly on maters related to their sexuality including sexual and reproductive health, free of coercion, discrimination and violence. |
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Reading through these examples of the Gender Agenda, one does not know whether to laugh or weep. When ordinary people are exposed to examples of the gender perspective, the question they ask is, why? Why are those who claim to be the spokesmen for women advocating such absurd policies?
The promoters of the Gender Agenda talk about oppression and liberation, but the tune I was hearing wasn't a free melody, but a totalitarian rhythm which demanded that everyone march to the same beat.
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