JHt H:/v\ll-11:::,!

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I 120 LIBERTY ST.
NFW. YORK, N. Y. 10006
344 -7750
V.ti.GDTAL CtRGASN AS A ~!riSS HYSTSRI C.n.L SURVIV,J:, RESPONSE

I surr ose H O .:lll h~ve put a si( o tho srccchos TJlO pr GJ::'.r e,: t-..:fcr o l a st nif ht. In
tho f.J.co of .ihr t in Kine t s c'.e.:.th , rm e must tell the truth :!S pl ain o. s r no c.:m.

I W.J.S :lsk::h.~ by the ~ ec'. ic .J.l Crr.uni tt ce f or h'ur.lan Riphts t r sr;l..'o.k on Sex. Jilric ht)
I r edly >.,rill.

Tho cppr e ssi'"n of i-.''·mcn ~men is the s c-urc c r f all the c oYrUJ: t value s thrcughcut
the worlc:. Between men anc: Hrmen ,,·e br a;-: acrut c'. ~minnti c n, surr .:m~:cr J inequ:2li ty,
c r nquest, tri ckery, mq:~l ,...,it J.ti rn. 1-'!en h:1ve r,..b~c ' lVCmen cf their live s ..

A human bcim:: is n ~t h:-rn fr rm the vrrmr·; it must cr eate i ts olf. It must be

free , s e:lf-rene r :2tiv c. h human r·einr must f eel th:::.t it c.:m r:r cH in .:1 v.•t:'rlc
wher e injustice , inequity , ha trccl, s a:.:ism ::tr e nc·t ~ir ,:)ct..:c a t it. Nc:: pcrs C'n
can p:r cM i ntc a life within the s e c rnc:iticns ; it i-s cnrur h of ~miro.cle t r
survive as c. f unctic ninr 0r c.:mism.

Net\ l c:;t t s k .. lk :J.b r ut functirn. t-fn'lcn have be an :--.ur<'.cr ec: r·y their sc -callcc:
funct i r n C'rcnn,~-t>e::.rinr t.:X:!.c t l y as the ~l ack p<::rp .... e wor e mur-.!ere..: by their
functi cn of cd r r. The trt:.th is th:.:.t chil<- 1: ...;::-.rinr isn 1t the functi r.n cf wrmen.
The functi r·n of chil<~ -bv:!rin;- is thL: functi'"n of ~ 0pr r c ssinc wrmen.

It is the f unc ti r n of men t r 0r~ r e ss. It is the functicn Gf men t 0 expl oit.
It is the runct:z. ~;n of me n t r lie , 3n.-: t r betr.:!y ' anc t c hunili.J.te, t r- crus h,
t 0 i mrre , <m. ~ t he fin:2l insul -:r: i t is the funct i C'n of men t c t ell 1,•rmcn th.J.t
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m.:1n Is ini oult J. ~' s :J. r~ l{l m3.n 1 s ftmct i ~nJ

P m tellinG it t (' y r u as str :::.i f.ht ns I ca n. Marriace .:!n,: th,J f~ily .:1re ::ts
C'"'rrupt instituti <ns as sl.:~vcry ever HJ.s. They rr.ust b.J abrlishec~ .:\S sl.:~very
1-tns. 131; c:efinitir·n they nc ce s sJ.rily cprr e ss .:m::! expl r it their subj ect r:r r urs.
If wrmcn Ker e free, free t 0 r.r ~ : ~ S fC"f l e , f r ee tr !Je S'3lf-crc.J.tiv e , free t r
r c \<The r e they like , fr ee tr t e 1-!hcr e they ~ ik e , free t r chr es c the ir li vos ,
ther e HruL: be nc such instituti,..ns .::s rr,.:~rri ::tr-e or f.:!mily. II' slave s h::1c: hal~
thes e freG·:'.r-ms , th-.Jr c Hr ulc~n •t h.:~ve l:>een sl.:!v<3ry.

Until D. N.A. rr sr methinr simila r crmes thrcurh, H<ID·3n .:1r e the rnly srurco "f
n€\v orr'!nisms. M.::n c ~n.!f'lt c r ntinuc t ,. . f r rce 1..Jr mcn tr prr-·.~uce chil r'.r en. The
S'"'CiGty .::ts a wh·<:i.e can ·· leci.-~c wh.:.t it w.-mt s t r c.~ 0 :t"!::lr ut its :,irth r:..:.t e , ::me: then
the: wr·men c-:.n be: ~skvr: t r c r.ntri~ute their S)"'cci .'ll C.:lf'.J.Gitius. But if wrmen
r'rn't w:-. nt t r , th::t 's th:.:; ~·r ...:.:: ks. If :: vrr m.:m •:. cc i· ~C ~ t ( hel p rut, she h::ts
o.bs ,...l utel y nr r e spc·nsilJili ty f '"'r th2 ch il ~~ . Tho chi;I. ...~. · is nrt h..::r s, it ~clrnc s
t r· s c ciety. It is · s r cicty eve n n r'1? , r y r .::ther ::1en, th.:'.~ · ~cc L~c s ,,•h,:;thcr ~r
n r t wrmen hr1v c c hi1.c. r en ; chil ·-~r crl:::rc th:J whr l c s ,..cie ty' s resr: c:nsit ili ty.
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I'm n0t going to fall into the male-supremacy trap tonight of

"who ' s going to take care of the children" 1 and the "working-
mother-delinqw::nt-child" blues. La s t n ight's ev ents rc:m·i nded me
tha t there 's no more ·ti me for injustic e, euphemi stically known as
"social justice". It 1 s irrel evant to the emancipation of women
what happens when women fr ee themselYes from the ?-.nstitutions.
that mai ntain them in their oppressed state. It wasn ' t the
r esponsibility of the sl av es to think u p, develop, experiment,
and prove superi or a new economic system fo r the South .before
.they were emancipat ed, and j.t' s not our job to figuJ?e out. what
happens to the kiddies before women free themselves. And women
will free th e~selv cs . I' m j ust her e t o tell you men about it so
you c~~ expose your sadistic hostility t owar ds your wives and
mothers a little mo r e, a little sooner, so t hey 'll ·r evolt quicker,
I don't see why wo~en should lose any more of t heir lives than
t hey have already.
I'm assUming as I write this t hat I'll pe r eading it to l~b e~l.
men. You're a r eal prize b~~ch. You quiver with horr or over
Yietnan b ecause you identify your hide with the boy sent over
there. You pontificate , but uos tly just shake your h ead, ov er
black pe·o:oJ_e becau~e you know if they C{et too uppity, you, outnu.mb~
them ni.n e to one, and vou know that t hey know it. Tha t ·t· ~ an extra
kick. BUt do you ·get uptieht abou~ women! Ther e a r e thooe of
you. who try t o J.a;y: a wonan t o put down ne r prot ests o (I expe ct
nervou s J.au.ghter here • .) Then the r e are those who pat her on her
ass and s a y, "Gee , b~by, ·it's too bad you're i n f erior but that's
your functi on ·.and I think t hat's gr.ea t." What 1 s gr eat? She 1 s
gr eat ? Of cou.rse thQt 1 s not what you mean . You mean it's grea·t
that it• o her function to 'be inferior •. But she can 't face that
so she t wists it t o"mean t hat you think t hat she 's great. ·And
b ecause s.h e ' s the cheapest- maid going and. sleeps in your b ed ,
you l et it go--oo.r e Ol' l e G~~· V/o all know how unc omfo rtabl e it is
t o be aro~~d di sgruntled r.:~aids nowadays , and as for hos.tile se~ ,
what other k ind ia there?
Oh ·yes, sex . _Yotm. kind . The kind you wanted me t o titilla te you
with b y speaking her e t onight. Wn~ t could be more anusing than
a Feminist talking ato~t s ex? . Obviously , i f Yeoinism has a~y .
l ogic i n it at all , it must b ~ working fo r a sexless s ociety.
nut sex you wan t ? Sex you're go ing t o ge t.
Vaginal orgss~ ~s an excellent illustration of t he way men o ,pres~
.and explo it women- It's iFOnic tha t you insist men and women
r espond the same in t he one place no one can deny men and women
a r e different-in t :!J.eir genita l s . · 'rhis difference is the basis ..
f or the wh~ l e dis tinction between men ·and women and the gr ound
for the . ine1uities t hat a r e heaped on women by men . But men have
no shame. That's wha t power does f or you--like Johnson ·raping
Vietnam . And Johnson has t he gall .to say t he Yi e·tnamese··want u.s

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to be there, to keep the free world safe for dec.ocracy. He means,-
as your enlightened pocket books now know, that we're there to
oaint~in the oppression of the Vietnam e~ to keep the world, by .
object l esson, safe t o exploit for the United States. And as we
see the little life left in the country being burned out of it, -
J ohnson had the gall to tell us the Vietnamese were loving it.
TFy that argument with wo men, baby, and you 'll be hone free.
A ma.n ' s penis and a woman's vagina are obviousiy different. Mnle
-orgaf3m i$ analogous. to eli t 0ral orgasm. Where , then, does vaginal
orgasm come fron? People sny it's learnec. And by God yourd
better learn it, lady, especially if you're wlth a liberal man;
you'd better learn to shuffle, nieger, because if you don't you
won• t get the job. And you want to eat don't you? Why __should
~be learn vaginal orgaso? Beaau,.se that's what. men...-\vant. How
abOlJ,t a facia;J.. tic? ~t rs the difference?
And love. !s l ong as we .' re on sacred cows, let's fini sh t hem .
What is love but the pay-off for the consent to oppression? What
is l ove but need? What is l ove but fear? In a just society,
would we need l ove?
In a free so cie ty, you cannot have the family-, marri age, sex, or
love. You wiJJ ha-v-e your Vietn:~.m ~, and mo r e, yo-u. will have your ·
murdered Martin King ' s , a:qd more , you will haye yoi).r Revolution
unless your wivcp Ulld c.o"t_hers :free ·themselves, because tha·tt s
where the found~tions of ' op,regsion and exploitation are laid•
You are going to have to have your power wrenched away from you
right where you live, and yo~•re not going to like it. And that's
t ough shit.

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To. the women in the audience, ~ say: think about these things
wit~ the man you l ove ~nd went the nost. Scratch his love, and
·you ' l.l find ;y·Jur f e8.r. You' 11 be afraid you i.l l die, and the
v;or1~n will di·e , but your life will be born, a nd you'll begin t o

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be free .

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~ the oen in the a~d~ence, I say: nove on over, baby, or wetll .
· · move on over ~ou--•pa~s al de R~od pigger~ is daide !!

Ti-G?aoe Atkinson
Philadelphia
Ap_r il 5, l96U

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