The world according
to Ms. magazine
WAITING in the supermarket check-out line, it's hard to ignore those weekly newspaper tabloids screaming out such scintillating come-ons as "Mom Gives Birth to 10 Babies" or "How to Lose 43 Pounds By Eating Chocolate!"
As a naturally nosy person, I must restrain myself from picking one up and flipping through its smarmy pages.
Know what helps me resist? Fear -- but not of learning. I'm scared people might see me holding the darned thing.
This is why, I hypothesize, many folks have never touched a copy of Ms. magazine.
A woman might be worried that if she's caught reading the publication, someone might think she's a militant, miserable, man-hating feminist. A man might fret that -- egads! -- he may appear to care seriously about equality between the sexes. Heavens.
Therefore, in the spirit of sharing, saving you a few bucks at the newsstand and shedding enlightenment on the treatment of women 'round the world, here is a sample of what's in Ms. this month:
A look at the British-designed personal security device called the Techno Bra, which is loaded with electric circuits to monitor the wearer's heartbeat. If a woman's pulse suddenly jumps -- indicating a panic situation -- her bra signals a central computer that help is needed and it dispatches assistance. The wearer can push two buttons located in the front clasp to override the device and prevent a false alarm.
A story about how women in Australia are fighting to get tampons exempted from a new tax on consumer goods that becomes effective in July, because men running government think the sanitary product is a luxury, not a necessity. Meanwhile, other products already exempted from the tax because they are deemed to be important health products are sunscreen, lubricant and -- of course -- the condom.
An anecdote about a blind man from Canada who was invited to judge the Miss Alberta and Miss Teen Alberta beauty contests. When he asked how to evaluate the "beauty" of the entrants, the organizers told him to judge their "personalities, intelligence, volunteer experience and knowledge about Canadian history and geography" -- and they were serious!
A review of the controversial new book, "A Natural History of Rape," by Randy Thornhill and Craig T. Palmer. The tome's premise is that men rape -- not out of hatred for women, or a need for power and dominance -- but because they are social losers who want to impregnate their victims and perpetuate their genes. When confronted with the results of a survey that showed close to 30 percent of rape victims are under the age of 11 and, therefore, pre-fertile, the authors said the girls may not have been raped in the first place or may have looked "older than their years."
A call for consumers to write letters of protests to Phillip Morris, the manufacturer of Virginia Slims, and to any publication that carries the cigarette's print ads. They feature multi-ethnic models -- black, Asian, Hispanic -- looking extremely happy and serene, all because they choose to inhale tobacco.
Now doesn't that sound suspiciously like one of those hard-to-believe weekly newspaper headlines?
You know, "The Upside of Lung Cancer" or "How To Lose 43 Pounds Without Even Dieting!" Like the tabloids, I'm not buying it.
Diane Yukihiro Chang's column runs Monday and Friday.
She can be reached by phone at 525-8607, via e-mail at
dchang@starbulletin.com, or by fax at 523-7863.
