&uilforttan
4
Letters Continued
To the Editor,
It is amazing to me that the cafeteria
fails to accommodate so many stu
dents at one time.
Vegetarians at Guilford, if they eat
in the cafeteria, haven't had a truly
decent meal in at least three weeks.
Many of us subsist on cheese and let
tuce sandwiches, salads, cereal, and
waffles. Anybody can see that this is
not a healthy diet. It's not that we
would choose these items as our main
staples, but many times it seems we
have no other alternative.
All too often, the vegetarian entrees
served at lunch and dinner are less than
appetizing. For instance, when quiche
is served, the people behind the counter
pick it up with their hands. I don't
think quiche is meant to be handled in
that manner.
In some cases, it is obvious that
random ingredients are simply thrown
together in a rush, given a name, and
served to vegetarians. Sometimes no
body even knows what's in the dishes,
not even the servers.
Another source of irritation is the
limited choices vegetarians have. We
have one entree at both lunch and
dinner, while meat-eaters usually have
two or three selections to choose from.
I don't think meat-eaters would object
to having more vegetarian entrees
served, if they would only cook good
vegetarian food. After all, meat-eaters
can always eat vegetarian dishes, while
we cannot eat meat dishes.
What makes me very angry is that
potentially vegetarian foods are made
non-vegetarian by the use of meat prod
ucts, such as lard. Two times in the last
two weeks non-vegetarian refried
The Cinderella Syndrome
Donna DevlallwaJla
Guest Writer
Frustrated? Yes. Why? Because
it is impossible for me to be the
universal all-around woman. I want
to express my being as fully as I
can. But, if I am to express what I
am, I must have a standard for my
life, a jumping-off place.
I am just beginning to realize
how false and provincial that stan
dard or jumping-off place has been.
It started in my fourth-to-sixth
grade years, where lessons on my
sex role began. Like most young
girls, I read Cinderella and sub
liminally accepted my servitude
and worthlessness, which, if en
dured, would bloom into pure
beauty and some greater end.
The Cinderella tale read by mil
lions of females conditions them
into accepting servitude and being
second-class citizens on this globe.
This role model of mine,
Cinderella, put women into this
rotten niche where they strongly
believe that that is where they be
long. These women have accepted
their non-recognition as individu
als with the freedom of choice and
the ability to control their own
destinies. And so, we now have
beans have been served. Beans are full
of the vitamins and nutrients that veg
etarians need, and they are a staple
food for us. However, when lard or
other meat products are used in their
p'eparation, that choice is taken away
from us.
I don't want to write a wholly criti
cal letter with no suggestion or praise,
so I offer some ideas:
-less quiche, casseroles—too many
entrees using eggs
-vegetarian beans, rice
-hummus more often
-tofu burgers more often
-curried lentils
-vegetarian lasagna
-pasta bars more often
-a permanent sidebar for vegetar
ians next to the microwaves
-cleary labeled dishes with meat
products in them
I don't think much thought or con
sideration goes into planning the veg
etarian menu. Hopefully, others will
speak out and express their dissatis
faction.
Karen Rowan
To the Editor,
In preparing for next semester.
Union plans to bring bands to Guil
ford. I feel that since the money that
brings these bands here is ours, we as
a student body should have a large say
in who comes to Guilford.
My specific argument deals with
two bands that could come next se
mester. Union is discussing possibili
ties of Dillon Fence and Sex Police
coming in the spring. When I asked a
"beautiful blond bitches," "dumb
bitches," "horny bitches" and "air
heads."
Qualities such as being ambi
tious, competitive, outspoken and
athletic make, not only husbands,
but even fathers uncomfortable.
"Who's going to marry you?" was
my father's reaction when I told
him he was a conditioned sexist.
"So I discarded my
birthright of shrewd
ness, inventiveness and
intelligence to become
a pathetic "heroine" for
this highly patriarchal
surrounding."
There was definitely a phase in
my adolescence when I did not feel
girlish. I had scars on my knees, a
lot of hair on my legs, socks that
flopped down to my shoes, and
what's more, I spent the morning
lifting my brother's weights. I was
the Cinderella of the kitchen rather
than the princess of the ball.
I wanted so badly not to be a
mixture, but just have one role, a
Cinderella girl, a definite-no-two-
Perspectives
couple of executive members if Dillon
Fence would come, they were unsure
because of the price. They believe that
since we supported Dillon Fence "when
they were nobodies" we should not
pay them over S2OOO. This band is no
longer a "nobody" band, they cost more
than S2OOO and they are worth it. It is
ignorant to think that they should give
us a discount because we supported
them in the past.
If Union wants to argue that the Sex
Police are much cheaper, my argu
ment is that we need to look at quality
not quantity. All too often we have
concert weekends and very few people
go to see the small, cheaper bands we
bring in (e.g. Welcome Weekend, not
Bela Fleck). Wouldn't it make more
sense to pay more for one band that
people will go see than to waste money
and embarrass the Guilford commu
nity as well as the bands? I have noth
ing against the Sex Police (except they
play here so much), but I think that a
large portion of the student body is
burnt out and would be in support of
paying a little more money to see a
different band.
So maybe we can get some of the
Union members off what I see to be
this small power trip and get them to
listen to us. After all, they are respon
sible to their constituents. Let Union
know what you think. It's time that we
have a say in what social events take
place on this campus.
And don't forget that Serendipity
plans are under way. Find out when the
next Serendipity committee or Union
meeting is, go and let Union know who
we want to see this year.
Suzanne Moore
ways about iL..Cinderella girl. So
I discarded my birthright of
shrewdness, inventiveness and in
telligence to become a pathetic
"heroine" for this highly patriar
chal surrounding.
The Cinderella tragedy (as I wish
to call it) became an obsession. I
fantasized Cinderella. I wanted so
badly to be like her. Thus began
my fanatical fervor towards my
physical appearance and insipid
beauty. I became aware of the mil
lions of beautiful girls who each
day left behind their awkward teen
age stage to embark on the adven
ture of being loved and petted.
I had only one ambition: to com -
pete in the realms of beauty and
wealth. I wanted to be the
Cinderella as the ball princess. I
became aware that, in rags, no
prince would notice me. My focus
in life was vague. I slid deeper into
my role as Cinderella, losing all
ability to think for myself, act for
myself or to save myself. I was
caught up in doing what every other
hopeful Cinderella in society was
working on, that is, getting into a
size-five dress.
A Cinderella style implies do
cility, innocence and acceptance
of a condition of worthlessness,
I § IsJl ft 011 l
_ ...........
Mike Livingston : . •.
Staff Writer 111
Did you remember Thanksgi
ving this year?
I almost didn't. Host count of
people wishing mc a"HappyTur
key Day" and of comic stripsafcbut f
turkeys cowering in Underground
Turkey Railroads, as if nobody
eats turkeys except on this occa
sion. I lost count, but I beard far
more references to 'Turkey Day
or some variant thereof, than to a
time of thanks-giving.
This isn't another lecture about
the environmental and ethical rea
sons we should consume less
meat. This is about the reduction
of an important and meaningful
celebration to an excuse for glut
tony.
According to the infallible el
ementary school teachers of
America, Thanksgiving Day is the
reenactmem of the feast at Ply
mouth in 1621, Puritan squatters
and local indigenous people side
by side, celebrating a nourishing
harvest. Fine; but few of us are so
consciously connected to the
sources of our nourishment we
take our next meal for granted.
That's where the concept of
thanks-giving fits into the mod
ern American experience: we who
are so fortunate as to have— and
expect—a feast have supposedly
designated this time to reflect,
with gratitude, upon the land,
people, and suffering that yield
our sustenance. The natural func
tion of the ritual is to remind our
selves of the magnitude of our
demands for food, water, and
warmth and appreciate the fact
thai those demands are generally
met
If theholiday evokes no thought
but of turkeys, it is not a cherish
ing of the natural miracle that we
can consume as much as we need;
instead it is, like mos: features of
but only for some greater end. So,
the female species slips into the
role of martyrdom, to be exploited
and abused in society. Not being
ambitious, not excelling could only
mean profit in the long run for
women. This profit for the major
ity of women is the "happily ever
after" concept.
But there is no connection be
tween ambitiousness and a happy
life. If this was true, this would not
be a society with such high divorce
rates. The point is that girls look
for infinite security, and boys look
for a mate. Both look for different
things.
Women pour their energies in
the direction of their mates. They
do not use their strengths for per
sonal enhancement in society, but
the enhancement of their husbands:
December n, 1992
£ our "standard a symp
tom OEibur sick delight in the l : !
{ ability to coosumeasnroch as w©
HWlf. /' , * ;
;|| The guilt trip was fashionable
in the mid-1980*$, when "the
problem" wasinEthiopia Instead
: of Somalia (or our own cities).
We alienated the they who had
fewer thanks to give: "Do 'they'
know it's Christmas? Arid we
expressed, with uncharacteristic
frankness, our own peculiar grati
tude: "Tonight, thank God, it's
'them' instead of you."
A more constructive gesture is
theannual pre-Thanksgi vingfast
organized by Oxfam Interna
tional in which people give up
food for a day to compensate for ;
their day of indulgence. This
epitomizes the principle of
thanks-giving: theopportunity to
eat should not be taken for
granted, :iv
Beyond that, the midwinter fes
tive season evident in most cul
tural traditions translates into
modern society as a time not only
for spiritual observances and
renewed practice of charity
but of strengthening connection
with loved ones. Amidst cel
ebration at the turn of the year,
our belligerent and industrial so
ciety interrupts its routine: the
competitive machinery relaxes,
strangers become people, and
there are people in each of our
lives to be appreciated.
If we have come to perceive
Thanksgiving as a celebration of
dinner, or of turkeys, rather than
a celebration of sustainability,
and we no longer feel indebted u>
the things that result in our food,
then the holiday is no more than
a consensus that we'll all eat the
same thing for dinner on a par
ticular day.
Tm glad I was able tobe among j
those who could feast this year, j
• • V
their only free act being choosing
or refusing that mate. And yet, it is
as I feared: I am becoming ad
justed and accustomed to the idea
that I so abhor.
And so I go along with life, feel
ing hope beneath the surface of my
being. I can feel it when I think of
human beings in the twentieth cen
tury, and the changing image of
women. Then comes a nebulous,
vague feeling when I consider the
prolonged adolescence of our spe
cies: rites of birth, sex roles and
marriage which are primitive and
barbaric seem streamlined into
modern times. I almost think the
unreasoning, ignorance, innocence
and purity was best. Oh, one day
maybe I will see the other side of
the grotesque joke or tragedy, and
then laugh, at what life is.