EL)[TORrnThomas FlemingrnMANAGING EDITORrnTheodore PappasrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, ]r.rnEDITORIAL ASSISTANTrnMichael WashburnrnART DIRECTORrnAnna Mycek-WodeckirnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnHarold O.j. Brown, Katherine Dalton,rnSamuel Francis, George Garrett,rnE. Christian Kopff, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnBill Kauffman, ]acob Neusner,rnJohn Shelton Reed, Momcilo SelicrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLeann DobbsrnPUBLISHERrnAllan C. CarlsonrnPUBLICATION DIRECTORrnGuy C. ReffettrnPRODUCTION SECRETARYrnAnita CandyrnCIRCULATION MANAGERrnRochelle FrankrnA publication of The Rockford Institute.rnEditorial and Advertising Offices:rn934 North Main Street. Rockford, IL 61103.rnEditorial Phone: (815)964-^054.rnAdvertising Phone: (815) 964-5811.rnSubscription Department: P.O. Box 800,rnMount Morris, IL 61054. Call 1-800-877-5459.rnFor information on advertising in Chronicles,rnplease call Rochelle Frank at (815) 964-5811.rnU.S..^. Neusstand Distribution b}’ Eastern NewsrnDistributors, Inc., 1130 Cleveland Road,rnSandusky, OH 44870.rnCopyright © 1995 by The Rockford Institute.rnAll rights reserved.rnChronicles (ISSN 0887-5731) is publishedrnmonthly for $39.00 per year by The RockfordrnInstitute, 934 North Main Street, Rockford,rnIL 61103-7061. Second-class postage paidrnat Rockford, IL and additional mailing offices.rnPOSTMASTER: Send address changes tornChronicles, P.O. Box 800, Mount Morris,rnIL 61054.rnThe views expressed in Chronicles are thernauthors’ alone and do not necessanly reflectrnthe views of The Rockford Institute or of itsrndirectors. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot bernrctumed unless accompanied by a self-addressedrnstamped envelope.rnChroniclesrnVol, 19, No. 5 May 1995rnPrinted in the United Slates of .’^nu-riearnPOLEMICS & EXCHANGESrn’What Do Women Want?’rnSo Chronicles, like Freud, is asking thernbig question in its May issue: “WhatrnDo Women Want?” Appropriating thernGood Doctor’s question, Chronicles isrnalso replicating his breathtakinglv stupidrnapproach to answering it.rnFreud talked at length to his femalernpatients, ignored salient parts of theirrnanswers (when he listened at all), andrntriumphantly dumped his own desires,rnfears, and obsessions all through his casernstudies. Not surprisingly, all that hernlearned was a lot about himself. Chronicles’rncurrent issue offers a series of menrnpontificating about women. Granted, itrnis yet another opportunity for you boysrnto get some much-needed self-knowledge.rnBut why drag us into this exercisernin narcissism? Save some time andrnspace and cut out the middle [wo]man.rnIf, on the other hand, by somernchance, contrary to centuries of prevailingrnpractice, you actually want to stoprntalking about yourselves long enough tornconsider, however briefly, what the otherrnhalf of the human race wants, you mightrnjust try a real revolutionary tactic. Askrnwomen the question. Just for once, listenrnto what women have to say.rnNote the plurals. For starters, we wantrnthe question “What Do Women Want?”rnpermanently recycled into compost. It’srnmisstated and therefore misleading.rnBecause “Women” is not a monolithicrncategory; no one person can speak forrnwomen. Lesbian women, for example,rnmay not want exactly what heterosexualrnwomen want, and individual lesbiansrnmay not want the same things that otherrnlesbians want. Drag queens like MargaretrnThatcher and Christina Hoff Sommers,rnvictims of spousal abuse or thernglass ceiling, secretaries, astronauts, subsistencernfarmers, doctors, lawyers, Indianrnchiefs (oh yes there is: Wilma Mankillerrnis currently Chief of the Cherokeerntribe)—^women around the world in officesrnand nurseries, on kibbutzim andrnconstruction projects—they probablyrndon’t all want the same things.rnTo find out what women want, then,rnyou can’t just ask a spare woman or two.rnParticularly not one of those femalernhousepets that the conservative movementrnkeeps around for window dressingrnto prove that it represents somebodyrnother than angry white men. You needrnto ask a lot of women, from variousrnplaces, with differing viewpoints andrnexperiences. And even then you’ll havernonly the beginning of an answer. But atrnleast you’ll know just a little bit aboutrnsomething other than yourself.rnIn answer to the question, then, onernthing women want is to be treated as thernindividuals that we are. We’d also like tornbe respected enough so that we wouldrnbe allowed—nay, even encouraged—tornspeak for ourselves. Some genuinely interestedrnlisteners, too, would be a realrntreat, although we wouldn’t think of askingrnfor so much. Nor do we really needrnto. Because you see, the conversation isrngoing on anyway, across the country,rnaround the world, whether you boys decidernto participate in it or chose to continuernignoring it. Women are talking torneach other, evolving our own approachesrnand our own answers to the great issuesrnof our time. It would do you good to listen.rnAt best, working together, we mightrnjust save the planet. At worst, you’d getrna break from your own endless monologues.rnBut back to the wish list. Above all,rnwhat I want—and what most of thernwomen I know want—is peace in ourrntime and the rights to life, liberty, andrnthe pursuit of happiness equal to thosernof white males. We want to be free torndo anything for which we meet thernstandard qualifications, whether it’srnchildcare or combat. One woman acquaintancernof mine can tear the Bostonrnphone book in half. In a war I’d muchrnrather she waded ashore under fire thanrnmost of the men I know; our nationrnwould be safer. Granted, this womanrnisn’t typical, but even so, why should herrnsex consign her to the kitchen?rnConservatives direct an unendingrnstream of recklessly incendiary rhetoricrnagainst women’s rights to control theirrnown bodies, and then arc shocked, justrnshocked and amazed, that those whomrnthey incite firebomb women’s clinicsrnand murder doctors and staff. Conservativesrnattack “Welfare Mothers,” asrnif reproduced by parthenogenesis. Conservativesrnplan whole magazine issuesrnaround their answers to our questions.rnAnd then conservatives wonder aboutrn4/CHRONICLESrnrnrn