Not all women buy hypocrisy of feminists
by Joe Fitzgerald
Monday, March 1, 1999
Joan Rizza was on the phone a minute after reading a piece here in
which a lifelong Democrat, Ed MacKinnon, 74, charged: ''It's the
women who put this bum (Clinton) in. The feminist movement has
shown itself to be what it really is, defending this guy. I think I'm
becoming a misogynist.''
Her phone mail message was received at 8 that morning: ''I'm so
frustrated with the idea 'women elected Clinton.' Women did not
elect Clinton! Some groups of women voted for him, that's all.
'Women' is a generalization. I didn't vote for him, my daughter didn't
vote for him, my nieces didn't vote for him. Guys are always saying,
'You women did it!' I'm tired of hearing it. It puts such an unfair
burden on the rest of us.''
Reached a few hours later, she'd cooled down, but only a bit.
''I didn't mean to sound off,'' she said. ''I know I seemed
frustrated, but that comment in your column was like the straw that
broke the camel's back.''
For the record, Rizza is 59, has four grown kids and works at Faulkner
Hospital as a nurse in breast cancer research.
And yes, she's a Republican, albeit a convert: ''I'm from an old Irish
Catholic family in Jamaica Plain that was all Democrats. I didn't switch
until Ronald Reagan.''
She comes to mind this morning because the lunatic fringe of the
feminist movement is back in the news again with Mary Daly, a radical
philosopher, its latest martyr. Portraying herself as a victim of
''right-wing pressure,'' Daly is refusing to permit male students to
enroll in her classes at Boston College, defying school officials who
insist her discriminatory policy violates federal laws.
Daly's position, that those laws are invasive and impractical, is
absolutely right, it says here where she and her ilk would find an ally
if only they were consistent in their logic and beliefs.
But consistency has nothing to do with this crowd, nor does common
sense.
When VMI or the Citadel are forced to admit women, tossing tradition
to the wind, where are the cries of ''left-wing pressure?'' Doesn't
that exist, too?
Daly's refusal to teach men is reminiscent of a Lawrence attorney's
refusal to represent them, remember?
Her name is Judith Nathanson and she's so skilled in probate law,
especially divorce cases, that a man named Joe Stropnicky sought
her services. She turned him away, explaining, ''I didn't want to be
in a position of arguing a case against a woman. I would feel just
terrible.''
What do you suppose Nathanson would have said if a white lawyer
refused to represent blacks, or a straight refused to counsel gays?
Forget it. The question's rhetorical.
Now comes word Anita Hill, the woman who accused Clarence Thomas
of sexual harassment in 1991, has accepted a three-year
appointment as professor of law at Brandeis.
Hill never had to worry about James Carville calling her a tramp, or
Ann Lewis doubting her intentions, or feminists pooh-poohing her
alleged pain as a small price to pay for the furtherance of their
movement.
So, unlike Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, Juanita
Brodderick, et al, Hill continues to enjoy credibility, only because the
man she accused is a conservative, the personification of all that
liberals abhor.
If feminists had any sense of shame they would be mortified these
days, their hypocrisy revealed, covered only by the G-string of
political correctness.
Little wonder normal women like Rizza bridle at the suggestion they
should bear any responsibility for, much less identification with, these
chronic malcontents.
''Can't they see Clinton's making fools of them all?'' she asks. ''The
women I know just shake their heads, wondering what's happened to
this country's sense of right and wrong. It staggers the mind. What
this man has done ought to be an affront to all women.
''So, please, the next time you quote someone about how 'we' feel,
keep in mind they don't speak for me or any other women that I
know.''
Lady, that's a promise.
bostonherald.com
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