Abcarian, Robin

English

Hollins University

Hollins University Hollins Digital Commons Ann B. Hopkins Papers Manuscript Collections 5-7-1989 Religious Frenzy vs. Sexist Whimsy Robin Abcarian Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.hollins.edu/hopkins-papers  Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons Skim 1Tsi d; Thon Eis,  at; 5V.I.P., Page 3P aren;: Ts! ; Pags 6Cail Ths Way  /c Live: 2 :. -6!310-       "    *Recycli g worker Rudy Altgelt of Bloomfield Hflls stomps oa plastic contain rs to make room for more at ti  Birminghain KeeyeH g®w I jF 1¦ I11|iIS IIIRecycling m y be key to the futureby mike WilliamsFree Press Staff Writerot so long ago, people who recycled trash thatthe rest of us were cheerfully throwing awaywere consi ered a bit peculiar.T ere weren t many of t em, an  mostseemed to be young or eccentric or both  the kin  of people who wore  Save the| V j Whales  buttons and were always circulatingj '>-1 petitions to ban something. Their warnings_JL   about environmental calamit  in the nextcentury didn't win many converts amongpeople who thou ht the  had done their bit by putting aside afew bun les of newspapersfor an annual school paperrive.That was before hospi¬tal syrin es started wash¬ing up on beaches, andships loaded with incinera¬tor ash became pariahs onthe high seas; before to icseepage from lan fills thatmost people never thoughtabout started fouling welleffort to cope with A erica s mounting garbage crisis.You can witness tha  effort if you drop by an  of the dozensof rec cling centers that have sprun  up in metro Detroit o erthe past  ear. You’ll find people of all income, age, occupation¬al and educational levels chucking plastic mile cartons,newspapers, non-deposit bottles, cans and batteries into bins.Ask them why they re going to all that trouble and you llget an earful.I m tired of the Earth being fouled. Bir s don t do it totheir nests the way we re doin  it to our own environment, says Kathy Golden, 52, a Royal Oak housewife and mother ofthree.As she talks, Golden is em tying her car trunk of! news apers, plastic bottlesand glass j rs outs de the ¦ublic services building inRoyal Oak. It’s one of hereekl  chores, she says.No big thing. But she’snotice  that her recyclingeffort has begun to affecther shopping.It makes you start tothink. I’ve switched awayfrom a few brands becauseamiflygli (Jutla d, an em loyee at the recycling center,unloads papers from truck. Whe  cm a e lined up,workers unload while drivers stay behind wheel.¦ What can fee recycled? Mow do you do it? Where doyo  take it? Page 4.isiE Fmi Jewelry h s goiie beyondglitter to become wearable, art. Page 7.: Sunday  May 7, 1989sexist whimsyast month, a news item witha Tehran datelineannounced that women inran might be punished withI up to 74 lashes   and we renot talking Maybelline glue-ons  if they wear clothing thataccentuates body curves or uselipstick or eye shado  in a: provoc tive  anner in public.: Last week, a news item with a! Washington dateline announcedthat Ann B. Hopkins might havebeen punished by the accountin firm Price Waterhouse for not ;we rin  clothes that  ccentuated: her body curves and for not using: lipstick or eye shadow in apro ocative manner.My, my, my. It s still so hard; to.please me .Women in Iran, of course, aresubject to the religio s laws of thetheocracy in which they live. _Women at Price Waterhouse, it; seems, might just be subject to the.! sexist whi s of the co p ny s malepartners.lit liicl ifferenciWhich is worse? Frankly, I don’tsee much difference, except that;inIran, at least you know what therules are before yo  break them. Inthe American business world, therules are unspoken and vague. Yetwomen who want to advance areautomatically assumed to knowthem and act accordingly.But what are we to make of acorporate culture that val esag ressiveness and mieliigence,then  enalizes women who showthose traits because they have! failed to varnish their shells?ccording to news accounts,Ann B. Hopkins had brought moreclients to Price Waternouse ilia any of  he other 87 people who _were candidates for partnership inthe firm. This was not enough.Supervisors suggested that sheshould go to  charm school  towalk, talk and dress “morefemininely  and to wear makeup .and jewelry. They said she was“macho” and “overcompensated;for being a woman.  So when 47 'men were made partners, andHopkins was not, she sued. Thecompany has said that Hopkins wasnot promoted because she wasabrasive, hard to work with andlacked sensi ivity, tact andleadership.I wish I had a mill for everysuccessful man who fits that •description.Tit burden slitsThe U.S. Supreme Court, whichis composed of eight men and onewoman who wear black, flo ing! robes, doesn’t care what Hopkinslooks like and suggested Mondaythat she may have been; discrimina ed against illegally.Justices sent the case back to alower court, so it’s not over. Theimportant victory here for womenis that the burden is on PriceWaterhouse to prove it did notdiscriminate, rather than onHopkins to pro e the firm did.“An employer who objects toaggressiveness in women butwhose positions require this traitplaces women in an intolerable andimpermissible Catch-22: out of a jobif they behave aggress  ely and out,of a job if they don’t,  wrote JusticeWilliam Brennan Jr. This makes mew nt to kiss Justice Brennan andJoseph Heller, a ridiculouslyfeminine reaction, as I am sure IsiahThomas and Magic Johnson wouldattest.Is there   woman alive in theworking world who has not beencaught in the bind of being expectedto execute the ridiculous act of“thinking like a man” while “actinglike a woman ?Before I left graduate school, allfired up for the job hunt, rny favorite,professor sat me down for  nins irational chat and ended withthis importa t advice: “Don’t for etit never hurts to gussy yourself:p like a racehorse. Yeah. Do that here and you get ajob. Do that in Iran and you getwhipped. ;J odm Abcarian appearsSunday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Religious Frenzy vs. Sexist Whimsy

https://digitalcommons.hollins.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1068&context=hopkins-papers

Religious Frenzy vs. Sexist Whimsy

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Hollins University