The Wash Rag Issue 2.4 August, 1994 SOUTH DAKOTA WOMEN THINKING GLOBALLY, ACTING LOCALLY On July 14, 1994, the U. S. Department of Labor held a forum in Brookings so South Dakota women could discuss their own problems and successes, and to compile their own list of what they thought should be improved and where they felt women had already succeeded. The purpose of this was to help prepare the agenda for the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing, China in 1995. The Forum organizers asked for volunteers to distribute a questionnaire (some newsletters may not have one) in order to compile statistics about American women. If you are interested in having your own situation represented, you must send it back very soon, as the deadline for them is August 31, which means that I must send them by August 28. This is a unique opportunity to have yourself represented at this important occasion, so I encourage you to not pass it up. I was able to attend, and was happy to be able to make sure that sexual harassment concerns were included in the many other concerns expressed by the women attending. There is a conference in Denver this month where the agenda will be discussed and refined. Hopefully, sexual harassment will be included on the agenda for Beijing. * * * A June 5th Argus Leader article reported that UCLA has paid $1 million out in sexual harassment suits in the past four years. That is $250,000.00 a year. To me, that means that 25 students were deprived of scholarships or five professors could not be hired or a classroom building could not be built because of the immature behavior of UCLA employees. What a waste of money! REGIONALLY A May 7th Sioux City Journal item discussed the claims of Melissa R. Utemark of Sioux City, a Radiologist, who claims that Dr. Jonathan C. Beeler has been stalking her. She claims that Dr. Beeler confronted her at the Marian Health Center where both of them work, at her home and elsewhere. Dr. Utemark denies the accusations (where have we heard that before!). Since we are on the subject of men accused of harassing women denying the charges, it is interesting that John Wayne Bobbitt, of Lorina Bobbitt fame, was charged with domestic battery in July by his current girlfriend. Mrs. Bobbitt's claims that she was a battered wife, which some of us never doubted in the first place, sound more and more true. It has been mentioned in some reports that men will almost always deny charges of domestic violence, stalking, sexual harassment, etc. * * * Ben Chavis, director of the NAACP, has been accused of sexual harassment by former NAACP workers. He has been under fire from the membership for using NAACP funds to pay off one of the women. They feel that the money could have been used in many of the organization's projects to help black people. Some have also questioned his ability to work to stop discrimination against blacks as well as women, and are asking that he resign. Both of these questions get to the very heart of sexual harassment. Indeed, how can any man accused of harassing his female employees be considered responsible, and the money spent paying for sexual harassment suits could always be put to better use. THE CASTING COUCH REVISITED HOW TO SPOT A SCAM On August 1, Sally Jessey Raphael had a program about the victimization of models, actresses and even actors by agents and casting directors. A Minnesota model had sent her demo tape to an agent. He claimed her tape had been lost and asked her to come by his home and meet with him. He had his office in a guest house, and she felt that he wasn't interested in her after the interview. He called her back and asked her out for a second interview. That meeting worked out better, and they entered into an agreement. He wanted to pick her wardrobe, and when he wanted her to change in front of him and he fondled her, she wanted to end the agreement. But because he had her under contract, she was stuck. Later, he exposed himself to her and put her hand on his penis. She left when she could break away from him. Another time, at a meeting with him, when she came back from using the bathroom, he was naked and lunged at her and ejaculated on her sweater. He told her that in this industry if you wanted anything you have to service someone. She took the sweater to a lawyer and subsequently sued him and got a settlement. She has left acting and has gone to law school herself and is entering practice as an attorney. A New York actress moved to Los Angeles and sent pictures to ads in a trade paper. A producer called her and wanted to interview her. She went to his house for the interview. She said that she got an eerie feeling when she read the script that he gave her to read which seemed very explicit. He started coming on to her. When the script said that she should take her top off, (page 2, column 3) she refused. He insisted that she was expected to take her top off. She was alone in the house with him. An east coast mother was trying to get her daughter into modeling. The agent wanted photographs of the girl in a swimming suit, so they left. They later found out that the agent was running a porno ring. They went to another agent, who said he was working on a project and needed a child. He photographed her and charged the mother $4,000 for the photographs, and then she did not get the job. Another model was sent on an audition by her agent. The man interviewing her took her into a conference room where he showed her some materials, then they went into his office where he began to brag about his penis. She felt that it had nothing to do with the film although it was supposed to be about him. He was wearing lightweight pants and he stood up to show her how big his penis was. They were sitting on a couch and he was trying to put her hand on his penis. She reported him to the union. Some women claimed to have been in acting and modeling for years and never had a problem. A casting director who was once an aspiring actress said that women are looking for opportunities and that is how they get into those situations. One well known actress, Martha Burn, who won a Daytime Emmy for her role on As The World Turns said that the casting couch is available if you want to lay on it. Actresses need to set guidelines for themselves, she suggested. Eric Joseph, a former model, said that men are also victims of sexual harassment, and has written a book, The Glam Slam. He defined three groups of victims, young women, parents and children, and young men. One actress warned against people who wield power, another warned against anyone who wants money up front. A talent agent says that actresses are too hungry and don't value themselves enough. The WASH RAG is published by Women Against Sexual Harassment, P. O. Box 505, Hudson, South Dakota 57034-0505. ISSN 1068-2449. Subscription price is $10.00 a year. Copyright 1994 Tesseract Publications. AS THEY SHOULD BE THE HELP WANTED ADS CLERICAL Applications being accepted for data entry, word processing and customer service. Many positions open immediately. If you won't put out sexually, then there will still be many positions open immediately. Willingness to perform exotic sexual acts for promotions and pay raises a plus. Call SUC-KERS. TELEMARKETERS I need help now. Great charity fund-raiser. Permanent, part-time/flexible. Women should expect to donate sex in exchange for preferred phone lists. Apply in person at 999 S. Podunk 9-9. RESTAURANT Chumps Full and Part time waitresses, expect to dress and be treated like a working prostitute. Pay is commensurate with performance as such. Call TUR-KEYS. CUSTOMER SERVICE Temporary and Permanent positions available. Requires good communication skills and attention to detail. We take our commitment to service customers seriously, and expect the same from our employees so expect to give at the office often. Call Cindy at SEX-GIVE. If any of us saw an ad like these in the paper, we would not bother to apply. But written between the lines in many ads are some clues to tell us that they can't keep employees, and frequently the reason for this is that they don't treat them well. It isn't just that they pay poorly, but the environment which an employee experiences is so bad that they move on very soon. I think that a woman looking for a job can save herself some trouble by trying to read between the lines in help wanted ads. TAKE BACK THE NIGHT The fourth annual TAKE BACK THE NIGHT march and rally will be held Saturday, October 15. Participants will meet at 7:30 PM at the Elmen Center at Augustana College and will march to the Steward Center at Sioux Falls College where the rally will be held.