In the March 1998 issue of Contumacy and in the Daily Texan, Sonia Mohammed presented the "Adolf Hitler Lifetime Achievement Award" to UT professor Sarah Weddington for arguing for abortion rights in the Roe v. Wade case. Campus response to the award was astonishing. Dozens of letters flooded the Editor's offices of both publications, demanding that she apologize for the "atrocious analogy." Her response:
"I WILL NOT APOLOGIZE. I'd love to run the feature again." -Sonia Mohammed
So below, we present the feature again in this issue. But first, let's take a look at a representative sample of the "logic" and "sensibility" of the other side, in the form of an email sent to Sonia from somebody named Tree xxxxxxxxxxx. (No, we're not kidding, that IS her name.)
Return-Path: <treem@mail.utexas.edu
Delivered-To: sonia.mohammed@mail.utexas.edu
X-Sender: treem@mail.utexas.edu
To: Sonia Mohammed/YCT <sonia.mohammed@mail.utexas.edu
From: Miz Tree! <treem@mail.utexas.edu
um, excuse me, but if it werent for feminists you wouldnt be able to vote, get a higher education, etc - do you think schools, esp universities were always co-ed? you know what your problem is? you think you know so much, you think you have all the answers. yeah, its easy being a radical crack-smoking conservative, isnt it, ms. mohammed? whats hard is burning your bra and questioning the patriarchy. do you actually think everyone in your organization is happy that a WOMAN is their leader? honestly, I dont see why youre getting a degree in the first place. i mean why should you? arent women supposed to be in the kitchen and having kids?
Sonia's public reply:
The sight of a few dozen suffragettes marching down 5th Avenue wearing petticoats and girdles did not put the fear of God into early 20th century male legislators and make them pass the 19th amendment, Tree. Men were the ones who granted us the right to vote in national elections. Long before that, women were allowed to vote in many states and municipalities. Feminism had little to do with it, other than presenting a moral case to the men in power in that era.
And let's remember, Tree, that at the time of America's founding, the franchise was limited to property-owning men over the age of 21. That constituted a minority of males, and we can't blame the patriarchy for that one, can we, Tree?
It's very simple to try and fit reality into some neat little ideology . . . until you actually take a look at reality. The changes that we've seen in the role of women here and in other countries over the past century have far more to do with the economic advancement that has freed women from the many burdens of household work.
At the turn of the century, there were no washing machines, electric dryers, or microwave ovens, not to mention disposable diapers, frozen food, or electronic baby monitors. Cleaning and mending clothes, cooking meals, and raising children were far more labor-intensive efforts than they are today.
The social structure of the period reflected not some oppressive male hegemony, as feminist malcontents would delude women into believing, but rather were due to the limitations imposed by the economic conditions of the period.
Somebody had to do the housework, and women were obviously better doing that than standing behind a plow in the fields while trying to nurse infants at the same time. Those economic conditions were relieved, much to the chagrin of left-wing feminists, by technological innovations operating under a robust capitalist system, not by a bunch of feminazis shaming men into submission.
And speaking of co-education, Tree, you've got it now, honey. Why don't you learn how to capitalize and punctuate?
And, no, I never have nor do I intend on smoking crack, or anything else, for that matter.
Sonia Mohammed is the Editor-in-Chief of Contumacy and is an ardent anti-feminist.