Email This StoryLetters to the Editor
Feb. 16, 1999Choice of clothing should not
impact women's movement
I am writing in response to Jim Hawkins's outrageously hilarious, yet illogical letter in Friday's edition of The Lariat. I think he is gettting a little bit too extreme in his reasoning. Just because a woman feels that she would rather run in a sports bra than a T-shirt, doesn't mean that she is destroying the women's rights movement. I doubt that most of the men here at Baylor would stop looking at an attractive female just because she puts a T-shirt on.
Now, of course I don't approve of men whistling and making obscene gestures and comments to women who wear sports bras when they are running, but I am very offended by the fact that Hawkins thinks women must wear a T-shirt or a sweat suit when it's hot out. If she wants to dress loosely, then she should be treated with no less regard than one of the many men who run around campus with their shirts off.
If the sight of a women running with a sports bra on is so repulsive to Jim, maybe he should just look the other way when he sees those frightening and abhorrent females running by.
Marcus Johnson
Speech Communications '02
Men capable of making right
judgements despite sexuality
This letter is in response to the letter published in Friday's Lariat stating that women who run the Bear Trail in their sport bras are 'hurting the women's movement' because apparently these women are forcing men to see them as 'objects.'
This young man and many others desperately need to hear this statement: you have the power to think for yourself and make your own decisions! You have the ability to rebel against society's standards.
Women greatly outnumber men on the Baylor campus, and you see us everywhere--on TV, on the newsstands, at work, on the Bear Trail. How you view women should not be due to how the media, your friends, your church or your ancestors viewed them. If you know women are not meant to be submissive 'objects' and you have the integrity to treat us with the same respect you show other men, then don't be afraid to show it. If you don't, then do not blame women or society that you are too weak to question the system and promote positive change.
The problem of this situation does not really lie in the dressing habits of Baylor women. It lies in the dangerous point of view that when regarding women and hormones, men have no responsibility for the resulting actions, leading to the view that when a woman is harassed or raped, then she was, in a sense, 'asking for it.'
Every man and woman has the power to make his/her own decisions, even if it goes against society's norms. The women's movement cannot be perpetuated if we regress to covering ourselves from head to toe so that the poor powerless males don't have a hormone attack. The movement can only progress if men and women learn more about themselves and each other to treat everyone with equal respect, regardless of their sex or how they are dressed.
Meredith Curry
Music Education '01
Seek help to deal with grief
of lost friends, classmates
For the second time in as many weeks, tragedy has struck the Baylor community. Since the beginning of spring semester, we have lost two valuable members of our community to tragic car accidents and two more lie in hospitals in critical condition.
Having been at Baylor for only 12 weeks, I had not had the privilege of getting to know Katy Cobb or Holly Yanta. From the stories of their friends, I have learned that they were individuals of remarkable promise. In their short time on earth, they already had touched many lives.
When a tragedy like this comes into our lives, the immediate temptation is to try and brush over it as quickly as possible. We don't like the difficult questions it raises. We hate to admit that life is fragile and that any one of us could go in a moment. We want our lives to be smooth and full of happiness--not bumpy, harsh or full of tears.
My purpose in writing you is to encourage you to not rush past these moments. Instead let us allow God to use these moments to realign our lives with what's important, what's eternally significant. A very wise person once told me, 'God is not the author of all things, but he is the master of all things.' It is sometimes difficult to see how God can possibly bring good out of tragedy. But if we are still, honest and open we will soon see. Let me encourage you not to struggle with these losses alone. Our chaplain's office, counseling center, faculty, staff, local pastors and others stand ready to meet with you or with groups of which you are a part. They can help process the grief and loss in ways that help us come away from the deaths of of these friends with more than just a sense of loss and confusion. As Jesus reminds us, 'blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.'
In closing let me also encourage you to attend the memorial services. Katy's will be 4 p.m. Thursday at Jones Concert Hall. Holly's will be Friday the 26th at Miller Chapel. This is a time for us to celebrate their lives and honor and comfort their family in a time of significant loss. Also let me encourage you to pray for Bobby Herren and Lori Johnson who are still in the hospital recovering from accidents. They can receive cards through the chaplain's office. Finally be careful.
We would all benefit from slowing down and taking extra care in all we do. Let us encourage and support one another through these tragedies. May our community grow stronger through our loss.
Steve Moore
Vice President for Student Life
Copyright © 1999 The Lariat
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