Re: Bikinimania

[Ken Medlin <dev-plan@moscow.com>]

> I find it odd that a simple bikini
>contest can create such an uproar.  
Dear Scott, I think you really missed Lois's main point, which has to do 
entirely, it sems to me, with the social and cultural values that tend to 
distinguish or appreciate (depreciate) women as compared to men. This 
issue is deeply embedded in European-American traditions affectng legal, 
institutional and social treatment of both sexes. Anything our communties 
do that reinforces the old stereotypes is not only demeaning but also 
dysfuncitonal with regard to our community's realizing its full potential 
and the potential of both women and men. Isn't it odd that the media 
still want to perpetuate female values as ones that engender primarily 
sexual responses and pursuits after monetary gains linked to those 
responses, as compared to the real interests and contributions that women 
can and do  make to our overall well-being as a society? The power of the 
purse wants to dictate how women will be portrayed to society, and 
there's no ultimate fulfillment for women down that road. Isn't it really 
time the male-dominated decision-making systems came to grips with this 
and buried the libido complex?  Think about it. What is the really 
gut-felt or heart-felt purpose of a female-only, girl-only display of 
their bodies to onlookers -- what are they looking at?  What are they 
supposed to see? How about what's behind the shell?    Ken M. 

------------------------
William K. Medlin
Dev-plan associates
930 Kenneth Street
Moscow ID 83843
208/892-0148
dev-plan@moscow.com