European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 06, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Is Dave Case fire with fire author Naomi Wolf in Frankfurt we be got to get used to the idea that women have a dark Side. And women Are just As capable As men of doing Naomi Wolf fuels the fire in feminism by Deedee Arrington Doke Deputy City editor what do americans associate with the word feminist the answer is Well not 103 no activists polled by author Paula Kamen in 1991, an Swers went like this hairy legged Amazon castrating communist marxist female skinheads female supremacists he women types Bunch a lesbians Man haters it s enough to make any woman who believes in equal pay for equal work race to a Mirror to Slick on some lipstick. Author Naomi Wolf recognized that most main Stream american women believe in the feminist movement s goals but distance themselves from the Fern word. In her Book fire with fire Wolf defines a fair feminism that articulates the Basic Misatis factions with the movement. Fair feminism pro motes a Model of women who hate neither men nor women allow their bad girls to surface and use their votes economic Power and ability to make a scene to exercise their Equality. We be got to be Able to disagree. We be got to be intellectually open Wolf said during a Stop monday in Frankfurt Germany while touring the country to promote fire with fire. It s so bad for feminism if women feel they can t raise a question without being ostracized for having thought a bad thought an anti feminist thought for Wolf who lives in Washington d.c., spoke to audiences at six America houses throughout Germany during her tour. Her Book and strategies for building women s Power bases she said apply to people in any representative however she found in Germany that its women feel less optimistic than american women that their voices count and that they deserve to be heard she said there s much More a lingering sense that the housewife Ideal is the Ideal instead one of Wolf Points to the Anita Hill Clarence Thomas hearings of 1991 As a Milestone for Power feminism in the United states. Hill s testimony and the reaction from the Senate panel receiving it galvanized american thought on gender differences and stoked women s simmering anger. The reason the hearings turned into a Victory for women Long term instead of ending with that de feat. Is the Way other women reacted Wolf said. It is profoundly humiliating for women to fight these Battles sometimes. They get ridiculed and called names and laughed at right i guess what i m saying is that will happen because we re doing some thing very serious Here. Women tend to think of ourselves As so passive and powerless but in fact when we stand up. We Are acting not As passive fragile Flowers but As potent political aggressors. We be got to Start getting used to thinking of ourselves As potent political aggressors because that s the Only Way to understand Why the reaction is so Wolf a Yale University graduate and former Rhodes scholar grew up with parents who shared child rearing responsibilities and believed in Equality Between men and women. I think that did a lot for me As a Little girl because i had very Early memories of being listened to very seriously by a big Man and that s Good for a Little girl s subconscious she said. So Middle of the Road that it s Radical wolfs philosophy would seem As palatable As the huge piece of chocolate cake she did t finish in the Marriott hotel lounge. But she conceded that probably Many people who consider themselves Active feminists believe fire with fire compromises too greatly with the extremes on All sides of the picture. Wolf disagrees for instance with those no hailed the insanity defense acquittal of Lorena Bob Bitt As a feminist Victory. Did slicing off her Hus band s Penis make Lorena Bobbitt a Power feminist no i think not Wolf said wincing. The thing that worried me about someone s uncritical support for Lorena Bobbitt is that it was As if they were Denys a Dave Casey Wolf we be got to Start getting used to thinking of ourselves As potent political ing her any moral Agency. I think that if you re Femi nist if you re a grown up woman having moral Agency is a very important part of being grown up. I think we be got to get used to the idea that women have a dark Side. And women Are just As Ca Pable As men of doing if removing a woman s Clitoris As is the custom in some parts of Africa is mutilation so is Castra Tion Wolf said. Feminism has to be humanistic it s got to be fair it s got to not have a double Stan Dard and i just Don t think we Advance our cause by trivializing harm to any human Power feminism embraces the notions of women enjoying their sexuality responsibly and sexual equal Ity Between men and women Wolf whose next Book will Deal with adolescents and sexuality views Date rape As a result of an evolving culture in which men must adapt to new societal rules in which old courtship practices Aren t acceptable. Dating and touching restrictions such As those imposed by Antioch College that require a couple to ask each other permission to touch parts of the body Are not a plausible thing to adhere to but will result in a plausible 1hing to adhere to Wolf said. It s like taking driving lessons. The Way you learn to drive at that Point in t the Way you re going to drive for the rest of your life. But it teaches you to be extra careful so then you be got some leeway to cover your bases right Wolf considers one of the key Points in fire with fire the concept of forming a women s Power group or resource group built around a common Trade profession religious affiliation or other inter est in which females can network creating a women s version of the old boys club such a Structure Wolf said forces you to behave in an uncharacteristic Way. It forces you for in stance to take credit for your achievements which is something that society. Is definitely going to frown on you for doing. It forces you to be Happy about other women s achievements because they re going to bring it Back and put it on the table and this goes against your socialization to resent other women for what they but it works she said. I m not talking about a huge deep psychic revolution. I m talking More about a Knack Wolf said. It just Means you learn another language in a setting in which it s Between writing oped pieces for major . News papers and magazines and going on Book Tours Wolf wants to do something truly new wave feminist she d like to spend time with her husband an editor Back Home in Washington. I got married last fall. I got to hang out with my husband for five weeks and i be been on the Road Ever since Wolf said As she prepared for an inter View with a German to station. So it would be Nice to say i to my Page 24 sunday february. 1994
