European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 18, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse German american battling with mixed feelings by Elaine Viets St. Louis Post dispatch Man american of German descent. It is not an easy heritage to live with. I envy african americans who take Ashanti names and want schools to teach african history. We German americans would like to forget Purs. When most people think of germans they think of Goose stepping soldiers. They see Hitler ranting London bombed. The italians fought on the wrong Side too but no body mentions it much. It s racist to make remarks about the japanese. But anyone can still insult the germans. And some part of me will wince just a bit. Never mind that my family has been in this coun try More than 100 years. Or that i Don t know anyone in Germany. Or that the men in my family fought in world War ii on the american Side and came Home with medals and War wounds. Or thai i was born after world War ii. Whenever i see the old War movies newsreels and life Magazine i feel uneasy. In High school i wanted to take a German Ian Guage class. My family vetoed the move. You d have thought i was joining the nazi party. You Are an american said grandmother Viets. German is the language of the German is also the language of my family -. Grandmother vices could speak it. My father could understand it. I knew a few words most of them rude. I wanted to learn this intriguing language the family decided i should take Spanish. That was More american than French. Besides i might go to Mexico someday but France was too far away. I wondered if they had t quite wiped out the Nat ural German dislike of the French one thing was Clear English was the Only Ian. Guage for a Good american. I should forget any for ays into the foreign. To be american Means we got rid of the German in us. Even the Good parts. I knew Little about Bur family history except some vague Story about a an. Castor who signed Over the rights to a family Busi Ness and came to America to escape the War Loving " Iron Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Too bad the family would t discuss it. The great great whatever was probably someone to be proud of a pacifist and a Liberal a far cry from the German image. We even mutilated our name. Grandmother vices told me the family used to be called von vices but we Cut off the von about 1918, to make us More people hated the germans because of the great War she explained. Everything German had to be changed if you were patriotic. Even harmless smelly sauerkraut became Liberty cabbage. 1 did t realize How much the German half of Ger Man american lived on until a German immigrant moved into my neighbourhood. I went to his House and stepped Back in time. Suddenly i was in the Home of my Stern German grandmother Viets. There were the same lace cur the windows with the White crocheted pulls. The same Yellowish Wax Flowers in Small tight vases on the window Sills. There were the same dark cases filled with books. The same smell of furniture polish. The Only sound was the solemn tick Tock of the Black Forest clock. A cultured German does not have the to or radio blaring. It was strange that my grandmother s House was so like the Home of this Man a recent arrival from Ger Many. It fascinated me. It would horrify her. Scrippa Howard news service an elevated View of new York City s subway. A topless it won t Bare up by Dave Shiflett Denver Rocky Mountain news Ord that the new York transit authority has ruled that women can go topless on its subway system is being interpreted Many ways As one would expect in such a landmark decision. The Safe observation is that this decision rep resents Progress for it certainly does t represent a return to the past. As recently As this summer Bare chested female riders were arrested no matter How Good they looked. That is now behind us and theoretically at least perhaps it is All for the better. In the broadest context the sight of Bare breasted women in the subways is hardly the worst sight new yorkers and their visitors will Ever face. The Grimy face of Manhattan with its Ever present Graffiti hordes of beggars Barking psychopaths and the occasional Street defector could surely use a Little sprucing up maybe Bare breasted strap hangers will ameliorate things a bit. But this decision May have results its instigators did not foresee. Specifically it May help the men of new York escape some of the penalties that accompany girl watching which must be done very much on the sly these Days. The Freedom riders did t have this in mind when they set out to quash the taboo against partial frontal nudity in the subway. They hoped to put women and men on equal footing the View being that if men can go around Bare chested Why not women in abstract terms this makes some sense and the Freedom riders no doubt Hope to train everyone to consider the female breast As just another piece of flesh not worthy or desirous of special status especially the status requiring that the flesh in ques Tion be covered. But for the men of new York this decision should Bear different fruit. When we speak of men of course we refer to regular Guys the Type who will never be convinced that the equipment As they say in the Bronx is merely another appurtenance like the nose or a set of ears. We speak of men who take great notice whenever these beloved objects appear much As a Fisherman becomes excited at the sight of a rising fish or a drunk in the pres ence of a gurgling Beer tap Only 10 times More so. For these men the topless in the tube decision should make it Safe once again to visually appraise women dressed or otherwise. A Welcome change because these Days a Mere Leer can ruin a poor Guy. The writer Katie Roiphe in her famous Book the morning after sex fear and feminism on Cam pus refers to the phenomenon of reckless eyeball which Means pretty much what it sounds like. For example Princeton University defines sexual harassment to include leering and ogling which is further defined As constituting any sort of look that makes the harassed party feel uncomfortable. Unwanted looks can get a fellow in trouble As Quick As a Wink which can also get him in trouble. Ail this adds up to a nearly unbearable Standard whose imposition has made men bitter not Only in new York but across the country even in some pockets of Salt Lake City. This ruling should begin to change All that for fairly obvious reasons. Because the purpose of Riding Bare chested is to Render All breasts male and female equal any Man caught staring at a Bare Ches Ted female passenger or for that matter a fully dressed woman can offer a fairly simple defense using the Freedom riders own philosophy. To wit i was t staring at Nuttin special officer. Is it against the Law to stare at Nuttin special of course this is a walloping lie. The guilty party was staring so hard you could slap his eyeballs and he would t blink. The fact is this leering Man and most other men it is Safe to say has been mesmerized by the female breast since about age 8. As he stares he May recall the Long series of expeditions undertaken in order to behold the objects of his fancy. First came the skin magazines and later in the dark of night he found himself climbing a tree in order to peek beneath the Shade into a female neigh Bor s Shower room. Then came the age when he could buy his Way into a theater and the strip joints. By now he might have also found a girl with whom he had negotiated a peek or two or is the proper word begged the fact is Many males would never go to a museum if there weren t statues featuring und raped breasts. No honest person denies this. So the men of new York have been Given some thing of a Green Light in these matters and it s not unrealistic to think that the trend May spread to other cities even ones without subways where the Freedom riders can demand they be allowed to ride topless on buses or Light rail. This could do wonders for sagging ridership on mass transit which could surely use a lift. But most men and no doubt most women too will be less enthusiastic about this development when it comes time to counsel their own daughters about the Wisdom of Riding topless. You can hear the new yorker now when his 17-year-old Princess announces she s going to Peel off her shirt and ride the subway what Are you crazy get outta Here we re dealing with supernatural Powers. Like communism Bare chests on subways look Good on paper but will probably cause a lot of trouble in the real world. Scripps Howard news Servlia Page 20 sunday september 18, 1994
