Hello all I feel I must respond to Lee’s comments. This, in my opinion is a typical case of political correctness gone over the top, something which seems to happen too often these days.
I see absolutely nothing wrong with the original statement at all. In fact it goes out of it’s way to be as non sexist as possible. It’s fine to say “lets simply be people” but the simple fact is the vast majority of relationships are heterosexual and of these the majority of long term ones are traditional married ones, and there’ absolutely nothing wrong with that! That’s’ why it cites “Chirac and his wife Bernadette” and “Tarya Halonen and her husband” etc. There’s nothing wrong with this at all. They are married so why hide this fact? By the same token there’s no reason, in my mind, to hide the fact of a same sex relationship, that’s where the term partner has it’s merits. All of my colleagues and friends who are in long term same sex relationships value and respect my marriage just as I value and respect their relationships However, it seems of late that political correctness has gone out of control and be dictating that we should not mention the word marriage or somebody’s wife or husband. It’s almost like some want to avoid acknowledgment of traditional marriage’s at all. This I find really sad and personally a bit offensive. I feel it devalues the special relationship between myself and my husband. Another example of this was when I got married two years ago. Shortly afterwards I was criticised and accused of “selling out” and of not being a true feminist (which I am) because I changed my name upon marriage and use the title Mrs. Why do should I hide the fact that I’m married? I don’t want to. While I will use the title Dr. for professional purposes when I obtain my Ph.D., I see no reason to hide my married title in my personal life. The bottom line is that traditional married relationships are still the norm and there’s no reason to hide that fact or same sex relationships either. Yes, lets be people but value them both! Samantha Walker Norwich, England > Although there is some merit to this critique of patriarchal political > contol, it's missing something. Although I agree that the concepts of > domination and submission are poisonous constructs, by the same token I > consider this an oversimplistically bi-polar, and unduly limiting, > conception of "gender". Part of what is outmoded is the insistence on > putting people in one of two, and only two, boxes. Moreover the > characterization of a person as "and his wife Bernadette" is hopelessly > stereotyped. Although adding another person called "husband" may attempt > to > create parity, why not the neutral term "partner", so that the standard > does > not have to always be heterosexual marriage (or marriage at all)? The word > Frenchman also ought to be dropped. Let's simply be people. > > Thank you, > > Lee Hall. > > > > With the French gender parite election in April, let > > us think of this April as the month of blooming gender > > mutuality - human nature balance month, a critical > > time leading up to the balance of nature Day (Earth > > Day) on 4/22/2002. Mutuality - 2x2 genders thinking of > > each other with love and mutual whole equality and > > empowerment instead of the outmoded ways of domination > > and submission, can and urgently must start now, with > > this April, including Earth Day - and become every day > > and month. > ... > > > > Invite the following guests to attend and/or call in: > > > > Ms. Budson and any man in or outside of the US who > > will speak with her about the 50-50 balances in many > > marriages, workplaces and organizations in the world > > and US, in medical and law schools, and the levels of > > gender balance in all modern governments currently > > compared to the US. > > > .... Also invite opponent Jacques > > Chirac and his wife Bernadette, as well as female > > third running candidate Arlette Laguiller, and black > > female candidate Christine Taubira. Also invite Anna > > Karamanou women's EU Parliamentarian, and economic EU > > official Giscard d'Estaing, another Frenchman, who > > needs worldwide attention to discuss his personal > > tardiness in bringing gender equity to the EU > > convention. > > > > Finnish President Tarya Halonen and her husband, > > Pettya Arajarvi, who is also a Minister in the > > Government to discuss marriage and leadership for > > human rights and dignity, as well as women and men > > speakers of Scandinavian legislatures which are > > generally 50-50 or nearly 50-50 male and female. > > > > Ms. Bailey Hutchinson and the man who nominated > > Elzabeth Dole for President about gender balance > > leadership to discuss gender, patriarchism, and female > > tokenism among conservatives. > > > > Politically Independent and Unaffiliated Men and > > Women,, Including members of third parties such as > > Winona Laduke, Ralph Nader, and political scene > > commentators like Michael Moore and any of the women > > he lists as his choice for President in his currently > > best-selling book. > > > > Sonia Gandhi, Benizar Bhutto, and men who supported > > their political careers. > > ...
