May 1978 Newsletter

WOMEN IN GERMAN

Number 15                                  
May 20, 1978
Subscription fee: $2.00 per year ($1.00 if unemployed)

      As Women in German we can not isolate ourselves from the struggles that go on around us. We, as professional women and men, live on all fronts, be it abortion rights, gay rights, the ERA, or labor union rights. We feel that unless we take an active stance on progressive issues, the forces of reaction forming around us will undo the gains we have made in the past. Recently Wisconsin women suffered a real defeat when the State Legislature ruled to stop funding for abortions. Again poor and minority women are hardest hit. Madison gays have reason to fear an attack launched against them from the hardcore reactionaries rallied around a bigoted preacher, who himself is now facing trial for child beating. We must understand that such assaults on our rights are not accidental and that an attack on one is an attack on all. Roll-backs of hard-won gains and new repressive laws are on the horizon everywhere. For example, under Section 1641 of S. 143 (formerly S.1) and H.R.6869, the criminal code presently being considered in a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, spouses, or any man who is living with the victim would be completely immune from prosecution for rape, Thus women would be left without protection from either rape or sexual assault. Furthermore, Title 39 Section 6035 of the same code would make any mailing of information about abortions a felony. (For more information on the repression of women’s rights under H.R.6869, write to: NCARL, [redacted]

One tactic to help advance our rights is the boycott of states that have not yet ratified the ERA as convention sites. As a consequence of the pressure exerted by the Women’s Caucus of the MLA, that organization has shifted its November meeting from St. Louis to Minneapolis. The AATG, however, has taken no initiative to join the 200 organizations which are participating in the boycott. Let the AATG know what you think about that!

      The infringement of our rights has to be stopped by timely action. Indeed, our efforts for equal rights have to be increased. The opposition to the ERA has been using the ratification deadline of March 1979 to pressure state legislators into blocking its passage or voting against it. The drive for EXTENSION has to be nationwide and strong. At the same time the drive continues for the ratification by three more states before March 1979.

      But most importantly, we think that all Women in German should rally at least ten other people (friends, students, colleagues) to write to their Congresspeople, Senators, and to the President, urging them to EXTEND THE TIME LIMIT ON THE ERA. THe addresses are; respectively: U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515; Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510; The White House, Washington D.C..

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W.I.G., Number 15
May 20, 1978

      As Irmtraud Morgner put it, “a woman who wants to enter history – who wants to become a human being – should enter politics and learn who her allies are.”

* * * *

The complete text of the ERA:

1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
2. The congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

* * * *

ANNOUNCEMENT

   The novelist Gabriele Wohmann has been invited for an American lecture tour for October-November 1978. For details contact Dr. Amanda Martin, Goethe House, [redacted]

* * * *

   At the Women in Germans session at the North East Modern Language Association, a general discussion was held. Co-chairs for the session were Hannelore Lennig (Russel Sage College) and Ruth Sanders (Miami University). Those present chose the topic “Women in the Nazi Period” for next year’s NEMLA session and elected Victoria M. Stiles and Else S. Diduk as co-chairs.

   NEMLA Women in German Program: The North-East Mordern Language Association (NEMLA) will hold its 1979 meeting on March 29-31 in Hartford, Connecticut. The topic for the section Women in German will be “Women in the Third Reich”. Papers of 8 pages in length (on any aspect) should be submitted by September 7, 1978 to both:

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W.I.G., Number 15
May 20, 1978

Prof. Victoria M. Stiles
Dept. of International Communications and culture
SUNY College at Cortland
Courtland, New York 13045

and

Prof. Elsa S. Diduk
Dept. of Modern Languages
College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, Virginia 23185

* * * *

   PLEASE ask your library to order Women and German Studies: An Interdisciplinary and Comparative Approach. Proceedings of the Second Annual Women in German Symposium. They may be obtained from Kay Goodman, Dept. of GREAL Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056. Price: $2 to individuals, $4 to libraries or bookstores.

* * * *

A.A.T.G. SESSIONS OF INTEREST TO W.I.G.

   The Women in German session at the AATG in Chicago this year will be held on Thursday, November 23 from 7:30 to 9:00 pm. The program will be entitled: “Integrating Women’s Culture into the German Curriculum” and will be led by Nancy Vedder-Shults and Miriam Frank, both of whom have recently returned from West Berlin. Our Women in German Business meeting will immediately follow this slide/tape program and discussion.

   The session entitled “Modern German Literature in the Classroom: Two Approaches” led by Klaus Berhahn is also of interest for WIG. The two papers which will be discussed are “Peter Schneider’s Lenz, a Marxist Approach” by Jay Rossellini and “Kafka’s Die Verwandlung, a Feminist Approach” by Evi Beck. This program will take place on Friday, November 24 from 2:00 to 3:00 pm.

BOOKS

   Our readers will surely be as pleased as we were to hear that Christa Wolf’s Legen und Schreiben is now available in English. The title is The Reader and the Writer: Essays, Sketches, Memories, trans. Joan Becker (New York; International; Berlin/GDR; Seven Seas, 1977), and the paperback edition costs $1.95.

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W.I.G., Number 15
MAy 20, 1978

We’d like to draw your attention to two articles we came upon recently, both concerned with Lesbianism. The first is by Ursula Linhoff, “Das zweifache Stigma: Zu einer Kulturgeschichte lesbischen Sexualverhaltens,” in Der unterdrückte Sexus, ed. Joachim S. Hohmann (Lollar/Lahn: Andreas Achenback, 1977). Pp. 113-27. Since the book costs a staggering DM 52, you may want your library to order it. The second article is by Ina Kuckuc (pseud.), “Gesellschaft und Homosexualität, ed. Rüdiger Lautmann, Shurkamp tachenbuck Wissenschaft 200 (Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp, 1977), pp.465-73. Kuckuc may be familiar to you as the auther of Der Kampf gegen Unterdrückung, Materialien aus der deutschen Lesbierinnenbewegung (München: Frauenoffensive, 1975).

MADISON FIRE

   In April Evi Beck of Women in German lost her entire belongings and personal library in a fire. The rest of us who work on the newsletter would like to make this known and to solicit any help which other Women in German might be able to provide – especially in building up Evi’s library again. Probably everyone has at least two copies of some book; the extra copy could help Evi put her academic life back on its feet.

   Also since all correspondence, addresses etc. have been destroyed, anyone who was or is expecting to hear from Evi might better re-initiate the communication. The address of the German Department is Von Hise Hall, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706. Special note to Gisela Strand: Your letter was also lost in the fire, but several people do have papers on feminist-Marxist criticism. Please contact us and we will send you what we have.

REVIEW

   The GDR author Irmtraud Morgner is interviewed in the January 1978 issue of Kürbiskern. In the article, entitled “Weltspitze sein und sich wundern, was noch nicht ist,“ she addresses the problem of female emancipation. Morgner asserts that GDR women rank among the world’s most liberated. Despite thirty years of socialist, however, there still remain inequities which must be eradicated. Tremendous changes have occurred with the entrance of GDR women into the work force. Women have acquired respectability at home as well as on the job. The typical male, unfortunately, does not yet take equal responsibility for child care or household chores. Morgner considers socialist revolution the first step towards human emancipation, for only then can life styles and attitudes be transformed. She then establishes that a basic male-female conflict still prevails. The patriarchal stereotypes of the woman as wife and mother are vestiges of capitalism, which have been carries over into GDR socialism. Although Morgner is aware of these carry-overs, she softens her critique. Men are unable to reduce their work-load and actively con-

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W.I.G., Number 15
May 20, 1978

tribute to child care and household work, since the economy of the GDR could not support this. The capitalist world forces the GDR to produce ever more goods at an increasingly more rapid pace. The arms race and imperialism both contribute to work wide antagonisms which are then reflected in male-female relations. For this reason, Morgner assumes that her country can not yet devote full attention to the personal sphere. Although her arguments may hold some truth, they can not be overestimated, to divert attention from the problems of women at large.

Nadia Donchenko
University of WI-Madison

RETREAT

   The Third Annual Women in German Workshop/Retreat will take place on September 22-24, 1978 at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. June 1, 1978 is the deadline for submission of proposals to the workshop coordinators (see below). We are requesting coordinators to send descriptions of their workshop, including names of participants, to this Newsletter by July 1, 1978 so that we can prepare copy for the early September issue of WiG. A tentative program appears below:

   REVISED TENTATIVE PROGRAM FOR WOMEN IN GERMAN WORKSHOP/RETREAT

Friday, Sept.22

5:00 – 8:00     Arrival: supper

8:00 – 10:00   Open discussion of personal and professional survival as woman Germanist. Discussion leader: Pat Russian

Saturday, Sept. 23

8:00 – 9:00     Breakfast

9:00 – 10:30    Feminism Approaches to Teaching German Language and Literature
Coordinated by Pat Russian and Detti Ledchowski

10:30 – 11:00   Break

11:00 – 12:30   The Women’s Question and Aesthetics
Coordinated by Sara Lennox and Pat Herminghouse

1:00 – 2:30     Lunch

2:30 – 4:00     Women Authors in the 19th Century
Coordinated by Elke Frederiksen and Kay Goodman

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W.I.G., Number 15
May 20, 1978

4:00 – 6:00     Break

6:00 – 7:30     Supper

7:30 – 10:00    Contemporary Women’s Culture
Coordinated by Evelyn Beck and Gisela Strand

Sunday, Sept. 24

8:00 – 9:00     Breakfast

9:00 – 10:30    Business and Planning Meeting: Women in German – Where do we go from here?

10:30 – 12:00   Feedback, self-criticism, evaluation

A registration blank for the meeting is provided on the last page of this issue.

Overall conference coordinators are:

Audrone. Willeke
GREAL
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio 45056
[redacted]

and

Jeanette Clausen
Dept. of Modern foreign Languages
Indiana Univ. Purdue Univ. at Ft. Wayne
2101 Coliseum Blvd. East
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46805
[redacted]

All general questions regarding the conference should be addressed to them.

THINKING AHEAD

URGENTLY NEEDED: CONFERENCE SITE FOR FOURTH WOMEN IN GERMAN CONFERENCE

      Now that preparations for the Third Annual WIG Conference are well underway, it is time to begin thinking seriously about our fourth conference – particularly the question of where it will be held. In the past, such planning has taken place at the conference itself, but this has not proved adequate. In order for us to be able to leave the conference with firm plans for the following year, each of us needs to do some serious thinking an researching in advance of the 1979 conference, and the question of location is particularly pressing: The women in Ohio have been generous to host the conference three years in a row, (and our best thanks go to them for this effort).

      It was our original intention to rotate the conference site. However, cheap and relatively accessible sites, available when we need them, do not spring full blown out of nowhere. Therefore, we are asking each of you to check your own area and find out whether a suitable location for the Fourth Annual WIG Conference might be available on your campus or in your vicinity. (The conference is usually held on a weekend in late September, one that does not conflict with the Jewish high holy days). If you think your location might have adequate facilities, here are some questions that could serve as guidelines for your exploration:

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W.I.G Number 15
May 20, 1978

      Are there overnight facilities for 40-50 people? Are the facilities close to the meeting rooms? If not, is transportation available? Is there a convenient food source – cafeteria, reasonable caterer, a kitchen for our use? What would the estimated cost per participant be? This year we are able to provide room and board for the entire weekend for $16.00per person. Is the entire conference site easily accessible? Can transportation to and from airports be arranged? Are there people in the area or on your campus who would be willing to help with the arrangements in advance and during the conference?

      Please bring as much concrete information as you can to Ohio. If you yourself are not able to attend the conference but would like to host it in 1979, please send the information either to the WIG newsletter or to the 1978 conference planners, by September 16, 1978. Be imaginative; we do not need fancy facilities. Most of us have been bringing sleeping bags and air mattresses to Ohio, and have found it a refreshing change of pace.

NO COMMENT

Oberbürgermeister Erich Kiesl, CSU, zum „Tag der Münchnerin“ (März 1978)

ICH SEH KEINE

      „Meine Damen, da muss ich Ihnen etwas ehrlich gestehen: Ich bin also keiner, der die Emanzipen (!!) so besonders gerne mag. Sie wissen aber ganz genau, dasz hier keine einzige sitzt – iche sehe keine. Also ich meine damit jene, die etwa die Gleichberechtigung so verstehen, dasz die Frau mit dem Mann und der Mann mit der Frau in einen Wettbewerb treten sollte. Ich bin eigentlich grundsätzlich der Meinung: Jeder sollte doch das, was er hat, vertreten. Und ich finde, es gehört zumindest dazu, dass Frauen auch gerade in der Politik etwas entwickeln können. Da ist einmal der Charme, da ist einmal ein gewisses Einfühlungsvermögen, das nur Frauen haben können. Ich muss Ihnen ehrlich sagen, mir tut’s manchmal gut, dass ich in meinen politischen Aktionen von einer relativ unpolitischen Frau, meiner eigenen, zu Hause gelegentlich mal einen Rüffel kriege...Ich glaube also, wir wollen Politik für die Frau so verstehen, dass wir allen gerecht werden, und wir wollen gerade das, was die Frauen in der Politik beitragen können – meine Damen -, das wollen wir mit einbeziehen für eine Stadtpolitik, für alle Schichten, für alle unsere Bürger etwas Positives bringt. So verstehen wir den Tag der Frau.“

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W.I.G., Number 15
May 20, 1978

RE-WIG NOW:

WIG desperately needs your financial support.

Please keep your subscription updated!

Beginning with our next issue, we are introducing a new subscription-checking system. The number on your address label will correspond to the last issue that you’ll be receiving and let you know when your subscription will run out. For example, if you renew your subscription with issue no. 15 then the number 18 will appear on your label.

WIG  15----18   

read your label
and renew immediately
when numbers match

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Enclosed, please fine my $2 ($1) for a year’s subscription to Women in German. Send your check to Women in German, German Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706

Name ___________________________

Address _____________________________

This newsletter was prepared by Evelyn Torton Beck, Yvette Brazell, Nadia Donchenko, Angelika Haag, Viktoria Hawrig, Biddy Martin, James Steakley, Christa Stutius and Nancy Vedder-Shults.

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W.I.G., Number 15
May 20, 1978

REGESTRATION FORM

I want to register for the retreat on September 22-24, 1978
Registration fee of $16.00 (  ) enclosed (  ) will be mailed later
Donation to travel fund (  ) enclosed (  ) will be mailed later (Make checks payable to Gisela Bahr)

I want to stay

(  ) at the camp (  ) will bring a folding bed

( I understand that I need to bring a sleeping bag).

(  ) with friends

(  ) at a motel (please send information)

I shall need day care for ___ child(ren), age(s) ___________ (no.)

I expect to arrive on _______________

(  ) by car

(  ) by plane: will inform you of airport (Dayton or Cincinnati), time of arrival, flight number, as soon as possible.

NAME _______TELEPHONE ______

MAILING ADDRESS _______________________________________

Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope (4x9”) so that we can send you further instructions; mail to Audrone B. Willeke, GREAL, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056

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LAST NOTE!

Luise Rinser will be speaking at the MLA conference in December, 1978.