United Women's Convention

Press, 11 June 1977, Page 12

United Women's Convention

Sir, — I am broadminded, an average type of woman, but the United Women’s Convention shocked me, and alarmed many of the friends who attended” the event with me. Where are we going in New Zealand with all the bitterness and hatred against ordinary men, good and bad (just as we woman are)? Noise and confusion, and no answers. I learned what can happen when people centre their thoughts on rebellion and selfishness. Never again for me and many of my average fellow-women. — Yours, etc., JOAN LEWIS. June 8, 1977. Si ’, —The major importance of the United Women’s Convention is in the cpmmunication and participation that took place among 2600 women. Women are verbal communicators and it is the experience of talking together and the associated feelings about our oppression that forms the basis of the changes that women will make in this society. I feel that media coverage is of less importance for the real growth of the women’s movement than we realise. Some of the coverage, that done by women, was direct and unbiased and I feel , grateful for that. Mostly we have been sensationalised. Thus, once again, women become alienated from each other, and denied the oppor-

tunity for interpersonal communication which is so vital. I therefore suggest that no media attend future conventions and that coverage take the form of supportive communication organised as a press conference after the convention. — Yours, etc., ROSEMARY REID. June 9, 1977.

Sir. — I thoroughly enjoyed the United Women’s Convention and supported the exclusion of the media. We are tired of seeing the women’s movement sensationalised and ridiculed by the media. Unfortunately, such a ban also affects those reporters who do a fine job of giving unbiased coverage but it is time we confronted this issue and demanded a fair deal from everyone. People seem surprised at the di sension and heated debate. Surely this is healthy./ The convention is no place for complacency and support for the status quo. We are not a bunch of bored businessmen pushing through dreary remits. We are a diverse group of women discussing our common oppression, a matter of vita 1 concern to our lives and to the future of the human race. Naturally feelings run high. This shows that both we as individuals, and the women’s movement as a whole, are alive and growing. — Yours, etc., DIANE E. ROBERTS. June 10, 1977.

Sir, — For me last weekend was at times more an Anti-Men’s Convention than a United Women’s Convention. Many feminists present -gave the impression of having only had bad experiences of men and saw their oppressors as men in general. These became a pressure group who tried to manipulate the rest of us to make the "unity” of the convention a matter of agreeing with them. Not so. Many of us enjoy the company of men, find fulfilment in home

and family, and have husbands who affirm our dignity as equal Gartners in our marriages. Surely the way forward lies in recognising that the problem is oppressive people, male or female. Feminists are in danger of replacing the dominance of men with the dominance of their lesbian sisters. — Yours, etc., MAY CARRELL. June S. 1977. Sir, — Speaking as a male and (hopefully) a feminist. I must disagree with Mrs Mollie Clark’s criticism of a lesbian group at the Women's Convention. What were the suffragettes but a “minute group of extremists” who refused to “abide by the rules” that governed the lives of their sisters? Indeed, what advance in the human condition has not been initiated by some tiny minority of "radicals” against all the “commonsense” of their era? Has “tolerance and good nature” on the part of the oppressed ever been a remedy for social ills? History suggests not. Furthermore, might not the blatant discrimination practised against male reporters for a week-end help them appreciate the everyday experiences of all women? — Yours, etc.. ROBIN TAYLOR. June 9, 1977.

Sir, — I thank the committee which convened and organised the United Women’s Convention. It was a stimulating, thought provoking, wholly rewarding experience. The attempt to disrupt proceedings by the activist radicals, mostly teen-agers, was more than compensated for by the calm dignity of the chairwoman and the tranquil beauty of the speaker Mrs Murchie as she emphasised the need for tolerance and understanding among women; both as sisters, and as part of mankind. — Yours, etc., ELIZABETH MARTIN. June 9, 1977.