European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 5, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday september 5, 1995 commentary i the stars and stripes a Page 15 Radical conference goal fairness for women for weeks you might have assumed the entire conference hinged on one woman a travel plans. The itinerary of Hillary Rodham Clinton a would she or she go to Beijing a dominated the Early news about the fourth world conference on women. You might have thought the Only real Issue was the relationship Between China and United states. The China question a should we or we a a Reward them with our presence a dominated the sunday talk shows. For that matter you might have believed that the gathering of 30,000 women from some 180 countries was of importance Only for its effect on american presidential politics. Journeying Ever rightward Bob Dole said the whole event was about inflicting a a left Wing ideological agendas on the world. It Wasny to until the activist women finally arrived into the chaos of China until the opening of the non governmental organizations forum that the relationship Between the world and its women became More than a political footnote. The Peoples Republic of China is As awkward a 7 backdrop for a women a conference As the exploding City of Cairo was for last years population conference Geraldine Ferraro vice chairwoman of the american delegation says that when. China volunteered to Host the meeting a they thought it would be like the olympic games. Wed go in run our races and a. Instead for All their to stifle activists the chinese have Learned How hard it is to control the message when you have democratic while the government released a thousand doves in Welcome a thousand stories soared across the world about female infanticide forced abortions and work inequality in a country that holds one fifth of the worlds women. Nevertheless the dirty Little secret is that China ranks smack in the Middle of the Index of gender Equality just Between Guyana and Syria Well below Sweden and Well above Afghanistan. On this list arc countries where women can to vote where wife murder is barely a mis Ellen Goodman Demeanour w Here rape is a Booty of War and girls Are ritually the Globe women make up 70 percent of the poor and two thirds of the illiterate. There Are few enough nations where women Are equally educated none where the political Structure is. Made up of equal numbers of men and women. In the . Itself Madeleine Albright is one of Only five women ambassadors. So the a a left Wing ideological agendas of this two part conference of grass roots activists and governments is to try and push this Many a world another revolution or two on its Axis making it a fairer safer place for women. Officially the . Goal will be to produce a document signed by government delegates that affirms Universal rights and goals for All women a no Small thing for nations where gender Equality is still a dangerous modern notion. This process of change through consensus can seem agonizingly slow and cumbersome. Yet Over time the interaction Between activists and governments can make a difference. A a ten years ago when the last women a conference met in Nairobi Kenya the issues of Domestic abuse and female genital of mutilation were barely on the worlds Agenda. Two years ago in Vienna Austria the . Recognized women a rights As human rights for the first time and violence against women was defined a violation of human rights. Just last year the world agreed that a plan to control population depended on educating women. Nowt Beijing amid the wrestling Over diplomatic words the subjects Range across women a lives. The talk is about violence about human rights abuses about Access to education and credit and medical care about legally recognizing women As equals to men before the Law even in divorce and child custody. A no document can overhaul a culture where the right of inheritance is regarded As an assault on religious teaching or where genital mutilation is defended As a tradition. But it becomes a lever for change a signed Flag to wave before a recalcitrant government. The activists return to their grass roots carrying proof of the worlds support in their suitcases like a combustible souvenir. So do the 7,000 chinese a this conference a says ambassador Albright a deals with a woman As an actor in her own life. Its about having the education she wants and marrying whom she wants and planning her family and her work. Its about the whole picture of women and what we can do in the world when our talents Are freed today in China a baby girl May still be a cause for disappointment or infanticide. Meanwhile even in America the most High profile woman in political life is still of a president. Everywhere you look the a whole pictures of women is due for enlargement. C the Boston Globe newspaper co. A. A for daughter dads words May last a lifetime in be just left a meeting with Nan Cohane the new president of Duke University where in a. New teaching. The first person i meet upon my return to the Washington Post is Keo Hance a sister former editor of the Des Moines Iowa Register and new Post ombudsman Geneva overholser. And in a thinking what was their fathers secret and Why i have raised my daughters like that i have a son too but men generally think we know How to raise sons to be confident and competent adults. My daughters Arentt exactly chopped liver. One has just completed a masters degree and the other is a dissertation Short of a doctorate. Both Are smart pretty confident. Nor do i wish to give the impression that there was no maternal contribution to their Success. A in a saying Only that fathers Are More important to our daughters sense of self than most of us know in time to do much Good. A it Stepfather too my colleague Judy Mann reminds me. Mann who makes As much sense on the subject of raising daughters As anybody Lye come across recalls one of those i 11 urinating flashes from her own household. Her daughter Katherine had just signed up for ninth Grade math and Mann s husband Richard Starnes wanted to know which math she had chosen. A a in a taking _. A ooh great you re going to have so much fun with geometry a ,. A. And she did. Mann who admits being particularly terrified by geometry during her own math hating High school years says she even heard Katherine chatting on the phone with friends about How much fun. She was having in geometry. She has no doubt that that one Small father daughter Exchange which May have registered As Only a Blip in starness own recollection made the critical difference. Mann who has written a terrific Book on the subject the difference growing up female in America knows Well that starness encouraging response might As easily have come from a Mother As. From a father. But she believes a fathers words and attitudes play a special role in helping daughters find their place in the world. A we live in a culture that glorifies men and talks about How important men arc a she says. A and men Are perfectly willing to believe it All. And yet men Are far More important in raising and influencing their daughters than they realize. Just by their own attitudes they can enable their daughters to soar or cripple them into psychological its True. But it is also True that fathers have special Power to lift their daughters sense of self. And often we waste the Power a not through be Gleet but through failure to understand the importance William Raspberry of the Subtle signals we Send. Says Mann a a girl who accomplishes something outstanding might be complimented on her Effort a boy on his ability. There a a powerful difference Between a you ready worked hard and in a so proud of you a and a boy you re Good a a. ,. _ or she says boys will be praised for their accomplishments while girls will be praised for their appearance. V a a i. V a. A did Bill Clinton fall into that trap the other Day at Yellowstone National Park there he was posing for a photograph with Hillary Chelsea and Chelsea s girlfriend., at my girls a a the beaming president Sang out. A a rent to they cute a. In a willing to concede that that May have been a joke. After All just a Day or so earlier Clinton had approved Mountain climbing lessons for Chelsea who then went rappelling Down a 130-foot Cliff. Joke or not girls do learn Early that being attractive can get them More positive attention than being Brave or smart. And when they learn this isso Ithrom their own fathers its bound to affect the Way they View themselves. My children Are Good looking and smart. In a incredibly proud of them. They will do just Fine. Still it occurs to me that they might have done even better if their father had been a Little smarter. I know belatedly that fathers matter an. Awful lot. I wish id known it sooner. Cd pol
