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[bostic@okeeffe.Berkeley.EDU (Keith Bostic): Anti-Bigotry Watch]

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Date:    Wed, 29 Aug 90 14:21:18 -0700 
From:    bostic@okeeffe.Berkeley.EDU (Keith Bostic)
To:      /dev/null@okeeffe.Berkeley.EDU
Subject: Anti-Bigotry Watch

1) In some recent paper or magazine, I forget which one, some person or
   persons used the phrase "women of size" for obese women; they
   appeared to be serious.

2) In Saturday's Murky News [San Jose Mercury News], there was a story
   about a group of witches protesting the movie *The Witches*,
   complaining that the film does a grave injustice to "real witches".

      "Hollywood tends to perpetuate this image of the evil wicked
   witches," said Sonja Howes, who stood outside the United Artists
   Theater in the Pruneyard Shopping Center in Campbell with her two
   children John 2, and Sabrina, 9 months.  "We want people to know
   that's not what we're about.  We are not baby-murdering Satanists."

     Howes stood in front of the theater with a sign that read, "Real
   witches love children too," while John and Sabrina toyed with signs
   that said "Jr. witch," and "Baby witch in training."

3) In the latest Harpers, they report on this item from "The Time for
   Access Is Now!" by Sara Karon and Catherine Odette, published in the
   Summer 1989 issue of *Dykes, Disability & Stuff*, a Boston
   newsletter.  According to an introduction, this is a draft proposal;
   the authors seek "everyone's input to develop a final version for
   nationwide distribution."

   It reads:

   For a long time, wheelchair access and sign-language interpretation
   have been understood to be forms of access that should exist at all
   lesbian, gay, feminist, and lefty events.  Even so, these are often
   implemented only when convenient for the event planners.  It's time
   to stop accepting inaccessible space quietly.  It's time to demand
   full access to all concerts, conferences, festivals, dances, and
   meetings.

   *To be done immediately*:

     * All community members and event planners must immediately make a
     real commitment to accessibility.  This commitment must include
     good-faith efforts to eliminate ableist language and images from
     our poems, prose, songs, dances, artwork, and hearts.

     * All announcements made at conferences that are not printed in
     advance must be read out loud at least once.  Often notices are
     posted with the expectation that interested people will read them. 
     This denies access to this information to women who are blind, have
     low vision, are dyslexic, are illiterate, or do not read the
     particular language being used.

     * Commitments must be made to develop access for women with
     environmental illnesses.  Events should be advertised as
     scent-free, with "sniffers" posted at entrances to ensure that
     anyone wearing scents should be turned away.

     * All publications must be available in one form other than regular
     print.  Options include Braille, cassette recordings, and large
     print.  Since not all women with visual impairments can use the
     same form of access, all printed matter should be available in all
     three alternative forms within three years.

   *To be achieved within one year*:

     * Air purifiers should be placed throughout event spaces, and should
     be set up and running before the event begins.

     * Accessible seating should be provided for women of all sizes. 
     Large-sized women should not have to choose between not attending
     an event or being bruised by the seating.  Couches and armless
     chairs with wide seats (none of those small round numbers, please!)
     are acceptable alternatives.

     * Rest breaks and meal breaks should be scheduled at all
     conferences.  The temptation is strong to plan to work straight
     through the day without stopping.  The result, however, is that
     women who must take breaks are excluded from full participation.

     * Food and drink should be available at all times.  This should
     include sugar-free drinks for women who are diabetic or otherwise
     sugar-intolerant.  Signs can be posted indicating that the presence
     of sugar-free drinks is not an endorsement of the diet industry but
     is a form of accessibility.

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   The questions it raises in my mind are:

	1) to which oppressed minority to "lefties" belong - leftists or
	   left-handers?

	2) Does it also mean that, absent the signs they mention, the,
	   err, umm, *women of size* and the, umm, *pancreatically
	   challenged* women will be at each other's throats?  "You
	   sizeist scum, get these oppressive diet drinks out of here
	   now!"

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