Women Victorious
Your article on the U.S. women’s soccer team and its World Cup final victory rekindled the emotion I felt when my family and I watched the actual game (“Girls Rule!” Society, July 19). It has been many years since a sporting event made me feel as proud of my country’s athletes as I did during that game. The team exhibited sportsmanship, class and determination to win throughout the tournament, and it was wonderful to see these ladies rewarded with a victory. In this era of athletes’ megabuck contracts and endorsements, it was refreshing that they made the team’s objective of being the best their own priority. Your article only enhanced my appreciation of the team members’ individual contributions. As my three daughters now remind me, Girls Rule! Andrew N. Yatzus Newark, Del.
Girls rule? The last time I checked, our world-championship team consisted of amazing women. Jon Banks Westwood, Calif.
As the father of two girls, one of whom has played soccer for 10 years, I can tell you that future generations will benefit if millions of little girls look at your incredible cover photo of Brandi Chastain and think, “I’d rather be Brandi than Barbie.” J. Harbison Charlotte, N.C.
When I saw your photo of the four girls with painted faces at a U.S. Women’s World Cup match, I cried. At first I thought it was from joy that our women had done so well. Then I realized it was something else, something I saw in those girls’ eyes–drive, pride, no thoughts of insecurity and a future that may never know glass ceilings. Valerie Lacy Rochester, N.Y.
I was surprised to read your statistic that more households watched the U.S. women’s soccer team beat Brazil on July 4 than watched game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup finals. We Texans were under the impression that our Dallas Stars brought home the Stanley Cup after game 6 against the Buffalo Sabres. Cindy Hansen Arlington, Texas
Editor’s note: You were under the right impression, as were all the other hockey fans, including a large number from Dallas and Buffalo, who wrote to us pointing out that there was no game 7. Two-minute penalty to NEWSWEEK for tripping… up.
I have never seen the value of team sports for women expressed more clearly and eloquently than in Mariah Burton Nelson’s article, “Learning What ‘Team’ Really Means” (Society, July 19). In 1963 I graduated from a public coed high school that did not permit girls to compete with other schools in athletics. There were girls in debate competitions and in band competitions, but no athletes. “Not ladylike” or some such was the reason. Since then–in college, law school and law practice–it has seemed to me that I and other women have missed something by not being involved in real athletic competition on teams. I cannot imagine how qualities like determination, cooperation and joy could be termed “unladylike.” Thank you, Title IX, and let us hope that the bad old days never return. Susan E. Amerson
Saying No to Hate
Thank you for calling attention to the growing scourge of hate-promoting Web sites on the Internet (“Spinning a Web of Hate,” National Affairs, July 19). Your revelation of the tactics used by some of these sites to target children is beyond disturbing–it is frightening and infuriating. I’m sure it makes perfect sense, from the viewpoint of those who sponsor such sites, to try to recruit fertile young minds before they can be “perverted” by “evil” ideas such as racial harmony and religious tolerance. But from my viewpoint, and from that of what I hope is the majority of Americans, it makes perfect sense to ban such organizations from targeting our children, just as we have done to the tobacco companies. Darryl Brock Sylvania, Ohio
The reference to “hate groups’ protection under the First Amendment” in your incisive but unsettling article prompts me to write you. Freedom of expression as guaranteed by that amendment is obviously essential to our society, for no nation could long remain a democracy if that freedom were to be abrogated. Words, however, even though they have the power to protect our democracy, have as much, sometimes more, power to do evil as they have to do good. It will take considerably more than additional laws to have any appreciable effect on the incidence of hate crimes, considering the fact that these crimes are engendered by words whose utterance is sanctioned by our Bill of Rights. To solve this problem we must find some way to reconcile that which is irreconcilable: the necessity of a democracy, if it is to remain a democracy, to accord all its citizens–including demagogues–the right to freedom of expression versus the responsibility of all democracies to safeguard the persons and property of all their citizens. Irving Hamilton Filler
As a telecommunications company that provides a gateway to the Internet for many of our customers, we, too, are concerned about the growing spread of hate sites on the Web. While we offer customers the option of filtering software to keep cyberhate off the screen, we’re also working to meet this threat head-on. We’re teaming up with a number of minority and civil-rights groups to launch and maintain Web sites, home pages, bulletin boards and chat lines dedicated to racial and ethnic tolerance and understanding. Cyberhate cannot be filtered, censored or mandated out of existence, but it can be effectively countered if we work together to supplant the online voices of prejudice with those of tolerance. Ivan Seidenberg Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bell Atlantic Corp. New York, N.Y.
Burgeoning ‘Burbs
Regarding your article on suburban sprawl, it’s hard to comprehend Julie Haley’s comments about crowding in the suburbs (“Sprawling, Sprawling… ,” National Affairs, July 19). She moves to the suburbs–then complains when others follow her. One way to end long commutes and cluttering up the countryside might be to stay in the city and make it a better place to live. In the long run, doesn’t this make more sense than more highways? Maybe tax breaks and aid to schools and infrastructure needs in the cities could save the cities as well as the vanishing forests. Maureen Murphy Des Moines, Iowa
Booking the Future
Is it irony or a good sign that one of the homes in the Museum of Modern Art’s show of house designs representing the new millennium (“Burning Down the House,” Arts & Entertainment, July 19) would have a 10,000-book library? Maybe this is proof that print media will continue to hold a place in society. Jim Spignardo Fayetteville, N.Y.
A Brave New World?
Thank you for George Will’s column on our perceptions of masculinity (“The Mask of Masculinity,” The Last Word, July 19). The problem with identifying admirable qualities with a single gender is that, by definition, it excludes the other gender from having those admirable qualities. If it is masculine to be brave, women must, therefore, be cowards. If it is womanly to nurture children, men are, necessarily, lesser parents. Of course, who could object to such allocation of virtue if it were inherent? But aren’t these virtues actually cultivated by society? Don’t we identify men with bravery because the role of the brave soldier has historically been thrust upon men? Aren’t women the more “natural” parent because they have traditionally been required to take on this role? Perhaps in the face of danger, the average man is braver than the average woman, and even without baby-doll and baby-sitting training, the average woman makes a better parent than the average man. But isn’t it intriguing to think who we would be if each person were allowed equal opportunity to develop his or her best personal traits? Megge Van Valkenburg Portland, Ore.
George Will’s article sparked a discussion among my male friends and myself about whether it is better to be a man or a woman. Most chose their own sex. I was tempted to also choose “man” when they cited their dominance in the political world and their higher positions and salaries in the business world. But I chose “woman” because of the issues men don’t talk about–that they can’t cry or be sensitive or flamboyant, since that would be telling society they aren’t manly. Maybe there would be less violence among young men if we recognized that they, too, should be allowed to express their emotions. I’m glad men’s studies are surfacing in colleges, along with already- established women’s studies. Men and women have much to learn about themselves and each other, but at least we’re starting to pay attention to the issues of both sexes. Allison Landino Syracuse, N.Y.
Pampering History
Your July 12 article on the fragility of digitally stored data (“History: We’re Losing It,” Science & Technology) prompted me to reflect on the life span of my own artifacts, which I’ve created in two media. My Web pages are about as ethereal as an artistic work can be. On the contrary, shards of my pottery are likely to outlast, by generations, almost every other object around my home. That said, the impending disintegration of history poses a problem that was easily solved when my wife suggested we simply inscribe our documents of historical importance on disposable diapers and confine them to landfills where the anaerobic environment will keep them stable for years. Michael McVey Tucson, Ariz.
Correction
Our July 19 story “Learning What ‘Team’ Really Means” (Society) incorrectly reported a 12 percent increase in attendance for the Women’s National Basketball Association from last year to this year. In fact, as of July 8, attendance was down by 2.6 percent compared with the same period last year.
