04-30 -1995 -  Episode 275 - Women of Achievement and Herstory 

Scorecard of Global Violence Against Women
      "In the US, one in eight movies released commercially depicts
acts of violence against women.
      "In Sudan, 94 percent of all women are illiterate.
      "In Iran, the fundamentalist Islamic interpretation of the Koran
makes it illegal to execute a woman who is virgin.  Therefore, virgin
women sentence to death for an infraction of Islamic rules are raped
before execution.
      "In Thailand, the work of 41.5% of all women working in the
Bangkok area is prostitution.  Seventy percent of the Thai
prostitutes are infected with venereal disease. 
      "In Pakistan, the evidence of two women equals that of one
man in the application of certain laws.
      "In Brazil, a husband can murder his wife (or his girlfriend or
mistress) on the suspicion of infidelity, and then be set free with
any proof of the alleged infidelity.
      "In India, 50% of the women gain no weight during the third
trimester of pregnancy due to near starvation diets.
      "In Latin America, approximately 40% of the maternal deaths are
caused by improperly performed illegal abortions.
      "In South Africa, violence against black women by black men is
common.  Black women are beaten up so routinely on the streets that
no one pays attention to the violence. 
      "In Java, 80% of the pregnant and nursing mothers are anemic.
      "In Africa and on the Arabian peninsula, girls before puberty
(age 3 or 4 and up) have their genitalia mutilated by clitoridectomy. 
It is estimated that 70 MILLION women alive today have been
subjected to their barbaric ritual.
      "In China, the killing of female babies has increased.  The
government has decreed that each couple may have only one child. 
The traditional preference for sons has created an epidemic of
drowning and other murders of girl babies."
      -- Edwards, Gabrielle I. Coping With Discrimination. New York:
The Rosen Publishing Group, 1986 and 1992.

04-30 Anniversaries ...............................................

      Event 04-30 Walpurgis Night, One of the cross Quarter Days. 
The others are Feb. 2, Oct. 31 and Aug. 1 and are considered sacred
days by the followers of the "old religion," or the "craft," who are
sometimes called witches.

      B. 04-30-1879, Alice B. Toklas*, life-partner of Gertrude Stein,
published Stein's letters, wrote 2 cookbooks.

      B. 04-30-1898, Katharine A. Towle was first woman dean of
students at University of California at Berkeley and first director of
the Women's Marine Corps between 1948 and 1953.

      B. 04-30-1912, Eve Arden, best remembered as Miss Brooks in
the television series _Our Miss Brooks_ which netted her Emmy
awards. She was also nominated for a supporting role Academy Award
for one of her many "best friend's" role in _Mildred Pierce_ (1945).

      B. 04-30-1926, Cloris Leachman, actor nominated for Academy
Award for her work in _The Last Picture Show_ (1971).  Very popular
comedic actor on TV. 

      B. 04-30-1939, Ellen Taaffee Zwilich, classical composer, first
woman to receive Pulitzer Prize for Music, first woman to obtain a
doctorate at Juillard.  "There's no reason on earth why women can't
write music.  If so-called serious music has been the province of
western white males, this tells you more about politics and society
than it tells you about the nature of music."

      B. 04-30-1945, Anne Dillard, winner of 1974 Pulitzer Prize for
_Pilgrim at Tinker Creek_.

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(C) 1995 Irene Stuber, PO Box 6185, Hot Springs National Park, AR
71902, irenestuber@delphi.com. Distribute verbatim copies freely with
copyright notice for non-profit use. Don't let anyone tell you there
weren't notable and effective women throughout history.  They were
always there, but historians failed to note them in our histories so
that each generation of women has had to reinvent themselves.