European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 17, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Too Many men still regard a woman As a skirt Anna Quindlen this time around we were the ones who did no to get it. Sen. Bob Packwood had always been someone feminists could count on to support abortion rights and family leave to vote against confirming Clarence Thomas for the supreme court. And then one morning we discovered that like a Capitol Hill Dorian Gray the Oregon Republican was suspected of keeping an ugly portrait in the attic of his character. Ten women told the Washington Post that he had sexually harassed them Over what had been a Long and until now illustrious career. Kissing fondling sexual suggestions a there was nothing Subtle about the behaviour they alleged. But there was something emblematic about it. For while it is important that the Senate investigate these charges fully its also important not to compartmentalize this As the Packwood problem. Its not even useful to think of it Only As a Power problem the arrogance of the Man at the top who believes he can do what he pleases. The problem of sexual harassment is emblematic of what Hasni to changed during the equal Opportunity revolution of the last 20 years. Doors opened opportunities evolved. Laws institutions corporations moved Forward. But Many minds did not. At the time of Anita Hills testimony in the fall of 1991, a waitress told me of complaining to the manager of the Coffee shop in which she worked about his smutty comments and intimate pats. He replied a a you re a  then he told her that if she did no to like it there were plenty of other skirts out there who would take the Job a and the abuse. She needed the Money and she got the message a there is one Standard for people and there is another Standard for skirts. This is the Way the world works for Many women the Boyfriend pops you in the Eye the Boss feels you up. It All seems very Distant from . Supreme court Justice Sandra Day of Connor astronaut Sally ride the admission of women to medical school or the rest of what we characterize As Progress for rebbs66b secret areal Pool women. Several weeks ago a Federal judge in new Jersey named Maryanne Trump Barry gave a speech about sexual harassment in which she complained about women overreacting to Small remarks and incidents. A i like a Little chivalry. I like to receive Flowers. I like taking care of a son and a husband a the judge said. A and in my judgment those who recoil from these things done to know what they re  in a disappointed that Barry perpetuated the nutty anti feminist myth that the world is full of overbearing women who go berserk if you Send them roses. And i would Hope a woman in such a visible position would use it to say publicly Over and Over again that the number of women who take excessive umbrage at an off color joke is very Small compared with those who have been humiliated by something considerably More. The International labor organization a . Agency recently released a report on sexual harassment in 23 countries including the United states. The report said Between 15 and 30 percent of working women questioned in surveys the group studied said they had been subjected to frequent harassment including a unwelcome requests for sexual  the reports concluded a the likelihood of being harassed is most closely associated with the perceived vulnerability and financial dependency of the  in other words female Federal judges Are rarely sexually harassed. Barry recommended the deft riposte in the face of Boorish behaviour. But the deft riposte is the Purview of the professional woman with the showy resume. The bitter shrug is More like it for the waitress who puts up with the filthy com ments about her physique so she can afford to buy shoes for the kids. Just As we fooled ourselves that the end of discriminatory Laws would soon Lead to racial Harmony so we thought that increased Access to education advancement and male Only Arenas would erase the attitudes that have led some men to treat women like children fools and punching bags. The allegations against Packwood a the alleged chasm Between Public acts and private attitudes a illustrate the changes that still need to come. After equal Opportunity and role models and life choices comes the hard part the hearts and minds of the men with whom we live and work. Fairness. Civility. The end of the skirt Standard. C Tho now York time Schott a threat on the plus Side you have to say of Marge Schott that she has struck a ringing blow for the rights of women in particular their right to successfully Challenge such male legends As George Steinbrenner for the title of the worlds most offensive team owner. You can to take this away from her. Then of course she is lets be honest extremely fond of dogs. And while documenting her More outrageous rant Ings let us not forget that the principal owner of the Cincinnati reds is on record As saying that Hitler a a went too  lets see i guess that Sall you can put on the Good Side of her. Unless you want to throw in that the tug boat annies and Marge Schotts of this world a to the extent that they unilaterally reject the stereotypical and demeaning View of women As an aggrieved class of simpering victims and shatter tyrannical often female enforced Middle class notions of Ladylike behaviour and of woman so a place a Are unconventional figures that All of us who love Justice for women must cherish in a Small Corner of our hearts. Even so what her fellow major league owners have come to Call a the Marge mess has clearly reached a Point from which there is no suitable conclusion but her disgrace. The very idea that Marge can be allowed with any impunity to go around talking like male owners used to talk 20 or 30 years ago is simply unthinkable. Being of to baseball s Bottom line pensive is a precious right. Would Only that Marge in her terminal loquacious Ness had also been As widely quoted being disgusting in some great and admirable cause. Then we might rally to her As some forgivable eccentric. Still a and make no mistake about it a she goes to just disgrace not for tactless Ness not As a moral example to bigots not for attitudes or beliefs that Are still secretly endemic in the hearts of Many who Rule baseball but for unforgivable commercial offences. A the situation a said one owner anonymously a has become too destructive of  the old boy network of club ownership Learned years ago that baseball could not survive As a Lily White Enterprise and adjusted its hiring practices and conference Call conversations accordingly. Schott has Learned Well Many of the lessons of surviving in a Many a world but not this one. And so she has produced a  of Well if the civil rights struggle of the last 40 years Robert Reno has taught us anything it is that we must take our victories where we find them even if they Are to be found at the Box office and not in the hearts of men and women. If we can to make a lot of unregenerate whities understand that racism is bad for their souls their consciences and an offence before god then at least we can show them that it is bad for business. The Marge mess is one More encouraging example of the degree to which corporate asset owning profit maximizing Box office America has very slowly become sensitized if that a the word to the economic costs of racism. It is almost As if these Guys these Bottom line liberals so conspicuously absent from the Early Days of the civil rights struggle Are now out in front of the White Middle class with their Heads if not their hearts. This could yet produce a trickle Down effect if More White americans with ambivalent racial attitudes Start adding up the True economic costs a to themselves a of social alienation and economic inequality. C no woday the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government