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Volume 29 - Issue 4

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Summer 1998

World order

THE EQUALITY OF WOMEN AND MEN:

. 150 YEARS AND STILL COUNTING 1 EDITORIAL

SCIENCE IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN:

PRESENT BARRIERS, FUTURE PROMISE

RHEA HOWHRD HARMSEN

AFFIRMING THE POWER OF POETRY

AN ANTHOLOGY 0F POETRY _S‘ELl,-'CTED BY HERBERT WOODWARD MARTIN

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World Mar

VOLUME 29. NUMBER 4

WORLD ORDER IS INTENDED TO STIMULATE, INSPIRE. AND SERVE THINKING PEOPLE IN

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Editorial Board: FIRUZ KAZEMZADEH ROBERT H. STOCKMAN

BETTY J. FISHER JAMES D. STOKES IN 1145 ISSUE HOWARD GAREV

CW'SWHI" 1" Furry: 2 The Equality of. Women and Mun: HERBERT WOODWARD MART." ISO Yours and Still Counting WORLD ORDER is published qwmly hy EII/mn'u/

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Science in the Hands of Women: l’rcscnl Barriers. Future Promise

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[Page 1]The Equality of Women and Men: 150 Years and Still Counting

THE summer of 1998 marks the 150th anniversary of two mile‘ stones in the struggle for the equality of women and menanmversaries observed all too quietIy in many parts of this country and around the world In 1848, at the Conference of Badasht in Persia, admittedly one of the most backward countries in the world at the time, Tzihirih, a mother, a poet, and a fearless follower and expoundet of the Bxib's new religion. shocked many of her fellow believers by removing her veil in a public gathering of Bábt’s. Her act symbolized the Bábx’ Faiths break with Islam. the advent of a new religious dispensation, and a new era in which women not only are permitted but admonished to advance side by side with men. In the Same year, half a world away, at a gathering of some three hundred women and men in Seneca Falls, New York, those assembled issued a ringing Declaration of Sentiment. modeled on the U.S. Declaration of Independence. It called for full rights for women, including the vote. Like flags raised in the modern world, these two seemingly disconnected events in two countriesflone "advanced," one “backward”struck two notes that still reverberate today: a declaration of equal rights for women, including sufh’age, and the complete emancipation of women in a broad and deeper sense.

Now that 150 years have elapsed, what progress has been made? Seventy-two years went by before the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S, Consritution in 1920 gave women the right to Vote. Some firstountries preceded the United States in granting that right, and

ed. Although great strides have been made in some parts 5 in which

world c others follow of the world during the past ISO years, there are still eountrie women are nor permitted to vote for those who govern them. The larger matter of the complete emancipation of women remains an issue. In many countries of the sa—caIIed Third World the veil is both literal and figurative. Women, sometimes as a part of Iong-held Customs and sometimes as a result of a fundamentalist backlash, are forced to envelop themselves in head—to—toe garb when they go out in public. The literal veil all too frequently marks ether stucturee as weII-sttictures involving schooling and educanon, Job oppcrtunmes, selection of mates, 3 voice in their reproductive life, parental and

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2 WORLD ORDER: SUMMER 1998

property rights, travel, protection from physical abuse In Other countries where the literal veil is not an issue, still women are often at the mercy of the male culture, as can be seen where female genital mutilation is a norm, ofien supported by both men and women.

In many other countries the literal veil has been cast 03:. but psychological veils still persist. One of many examples that could be cited is the woman who is making a name for herself as a pitcher in one of the minor baseball leagues. The issue is not that she is a talented athlete, honing her skills and pursuing her dreams. The issue is that she strikes men out, regularly and with conspicuous finesse. The men do not mind being struck out by another man‘ But by a woman! That breaches all the rules accepted by the majority of men If men play against men and lose, that is part of the game. If men play against women and lose, or are even challenged. that is considered to be humiliating. The woman is perceived as having gained an advantage, which, by definition, means that the man has been placed at a disadvantage. The bulwark of the brotherhood has been breached. In effect, the woman has dared to take off the psychological veil and literally and figuratively claim a level playing field. The opposing teams definitely do not like the female pitcher, and the pitcher's own team is not exactly hospitable to an obviously hard—working and very good teammate.

But the psychological veils go far beyond the sports playing field. As Twp Wing: Of 4 Bird, a statement on the equality of women and men by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, points out, they haunt, and cripple, girls and women virtually from cradle to grave in the home, in schools and universities. in the work place, in the political arena, and in international relations. In many places throughout the world women are not permitted to come to the table of discourse at all. In others women are seated at the table‘ but the norm of female/male interactions is generally not set by women—or even infused with input from women. While both men and women are human beings, two languages are generally spoken, and one language is usually considered inferior to the othetl

On the 150th anniversary of the Badasht Conference and the Seneca Falls ‘Convention, it is Clear that much remains to be done to {Ensureequahtyz While in 1998 many women have the right to vote. LZZEEIYS Of POllty it IS clear from photographs of almost any governing

Y 0“ the local, régional, and national levels that women are not

egually represented in the decision-making process. In the larger issue 0 . . . . . . ensuring equality in all aspects of life, again it is clear that women

and men still have much work ah d f h . Viewer “de the female p ea 0 t em. When a male inter she replied that she did no Simple exchange says 3 gr

itcher if she considered herself a feminist, t; she considered herself a ball player. That eat deal about how much men shape the

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ll 11- EQUALI'I'Y ()I2 WOMEN AND MIN 3

discourse and how far we have to go before we attain a true partnership between women and men She is a fi'malr pitcher in a traditionally ‘mzzle sport. But to stay in the game, she, like )ackje Robinson, who in 1947 broke baseball's color line. has to tone down the obvious. The unspoken message is that to be a female pitcher and a spokesperson for women’s rights would be too much. One cannot help asking “Why?”

Bahá’u’lláh has written that the sole purpose of His revelation “is that the ear of the entire creation may. through the living waters of divine utterance, be purged from lying tales and become attuned (D the holy, the glorious and exalted Word. . t One of the “lying tales” involves long‘held perceptions about the relative value of women and men. Bahá’u’lláh explains that He has “broken the back of vain imaginings," has “lifted the distinctions from between His servants and handmaidens,” and has “conferred upon all a station and rank on the same plane.” Another lying tale involves the source of equality, progress, and peace. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says that, “until women and men recognize and realize equality, social and political progress . . will not be possible,” nor can the oneness of humanity be established, or the “happiness and felicity of mankind" become a reality.

Yet another lying tale involves the notion that either sex can achieve equality by itself. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has Clearly stated that “When men own the equality of women there will be no need for them to struggle For their rights!‘1 One hundred and fifty years after Badasht and Seneca Falls. women and men still have much work to do in establishing a partnership that will, finally, bring peace to the home, the schools, the workplace, the political arena, and international relations. Now is the time for women and men, together, to embrace more widely and to apply more deeply the principles that will ensure a fundamental change in the nature of human discourse and assure the partnership that will unlock the potential latent in all of us—men and women.

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WORLD ORDER: SUMMER 1998

InterChange LETTERS FROM AND TO ’I‘HF F1)['1'()R

THE lead article in this issue of WORLD Order is an eloquent testimonial to the greatness of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Dr. Rhea Howard Hatmsen’s article “Science in the Hands of Women: Present Barriers, Future Promise” is the most recent in a challenging series of fifteen articles and editorials, which began with our Winter 1993~94 issue, on the place of women in the modern world.

Dr. Harmsen’s essay is based on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s frequent statements about the complementarity of male and Female qualities, in which He acknowledges that both of the sexes have certain characteristics of temperament that seem intrinsic to their respective natures but decries the fact that social pressures have tended to exaggerate the identification of those characteristics exclusively with one of the sexes, while discouraging their manifesmtion in members of the opposite sex. Contrary to that historical pattern, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá argues that certain traits commonly labeled as “female” should be recognized in the temperament of males and that thc identification of certain traits with males has tended to discourage women from entering “male” occupations for which many are by nature perfectly suited. Dr. Hatmsen’s exploration of ‘Abdu’l—Bahd's observations extends far beyond the difficulties that women face in trying to ente'r certain professions, ultimately illustrating the deleterious effects that such

stereotyping has had on world peace and on showing how its removal could contributt to the very prescrvutiun of the pldnct. Her bold study should be widely read for the vision it gives of what can become possible {or society when pcoplc begin to think in :1 new, unfettered way.

Rounding out this issue is an .mthoiogy of poctry—the fifth in a series cditcd and introduced by Rnbcrt Hayden in 19,71 and 1975 and continued by William Smflbrd and Herbert Woodward Martin in 1983.1nd 198788, respectively. Although all the posts in the current offering are women. the introduction notes that “this is nm an anthology of poems by women writers." Rather. “it is an anthology of poems by human bcings who happen to be womcn who happen to write" The poems reflect the same diversity of .ion and approach as did those in the earlier anthologies.

All of the poets in the anthology have interesting backgrounds. as one can see from the Authors 8: Artius column starting on page 48. But two of them bcar special mention. Anna M, Stevenson received .1 Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California. Berkeley. in 1930. She has taught art on both the high school and college levels and published an anthology ( T/w Edge af [ht W/or/d) through the University of California, Berkeley, Press, as well other poems and paintings in various publications. At ninetythrce, though limited by near blindncxs. she

[Page 5]ix still interested in the theory of art, and she is still submitting poems to Wont 1w ORDtR.

Hayden chose jonn Imig Taylor‘s “Desert Spring" for his first WORM) ORDER poetry anthology in 1971, calling her “another of the growing number of poets writing on thhé'l' themes." During the next quarter of a century she became one of WORLD ()Rm-LR’S most {.titht‘ul and prolific contributors. Now we have learned that she passed away on 10 June 1998 at the age of eighty—foun Born in 1914 in Shcboygnm Wisconsin, the youngest of {our daughters, Taylor graduated from Northwestern University and pursued graduate work at Yale University, She worked in publishing and advertising most of her lifeiat the University uf New Mexico Press, Stanford University Press, 51mm! Magazine, the Monterey Public Library, the Los Angeles [imminen and the San Francisco Examiner. \V'hat we did not know was that she had become a Bnhzi‘t’ in 1967 in Palm Springs, California, after learning about the Bahá’í’ 1::11t11 while living in the Chicago area. She \ms fiftydhrcc years 01d. For the next thirty years she honed her talents to produce a body of poetry that merged her poetic and artistic

lN'I'ERCl'iANGE

sensitivities with the beliefs of her Faith. We are lucky to have known her and to still have in our files a number of her poems that wi11 be published in subsequent issues.

'11) The Editor Alter my article “Language as justice in the New World Order," published in the Spring 1998 issue of, Warld Order went to press, I discovered in William S. Hatchcr's and]. Douglas Martin’s Wye 8/1/14”! Faith: 77/: Emerging Global Religion (San Francisco: Harper, 1985) a point similar to one 1 make on page 16 in the subsection called “Preservation of Ethnic Languages": “The twovsmge process in the adoption of: universal language is itself a manifextation ofiustice, , . t [It] , . . will, at least initially, stimulate the development of local languages." HEIChEl’ and Martin, on page 96 of their book. note: “The concept of unity in diversity muSt be applied to differences of language. . . . Since the pressures for the assimilation of minority linguistic groups come from the natural nggmndizement of majority language groups, the existence ofa universal auxiliary language would help to preserve minority languages. . . JEtIitu-iy S. GKUBER Cambridge, Massachusetts

5

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[Page 7]Science in the Hands of \Women: Present Barriers, Future Promise

BY RHEA HOWARD HARMSEN

Introduction AN ANALYSIS of the subject of women in science could be accomplished in several ways. It could be about the science that women make‘ or about the women who have made science. or about what science makes of women, It could be approached From a technical perspective, in a historical framework, or perhaps even as a statistical review. Though each of these approaches is explored below, For many women the subject of womm in m'mce is very personal because it involves the struggle of women to become educated in science, to practice science in spite of many odds, and to help set or change the priorities of sciences Women scientists have begun to reject the myth of science as impartial or impersonal, as it has been defined over centuries. and to propose, instead, that it is especially in their personal approach to science that women will make their greatest Contribution to global prosperity and peace. Therefore, the things that have sometimes been Considered the chief deterrents to their practice of science (their sensitivity, their language, their childbearing and child rearing, their anger and Compassion) may be their greatest strengths.

Cepyright © [998 by Rhea Howard Hnrmxen, <rharmsen@ghplus.infi net> This essay is based_ on a paper presented Al [in Wings of the Eagle Conference On Gender Equality. Louisville, Kentucky, 15 May 1996. I would like to thank Dr. Eric Hatmsen and Mr. Richard Harmscn for their Critiques, Dr. Betty]. Fisher for herskillful editorial nssismncc, and numerous Friends

for their valuable input.

An examination of women in science is at the same time painful and exciting, but its purpose is not so much to prescribe a formula for world transformation at the hands of women scientists as to discover the attitude of mind that will permit an actualization of women’s potential as women and men work together to create peace and prosperity through science

The writings of the Bahá’í Faith provide a conceptual framework that encourages the involvement of women in the scientific endeavor and delineates the unique qualities that women can bring to the sciences. Through examining the lives of early women scientists whose contributions revolutionized their field one can glimpse those unique qualities in action.

The Bahá’í writings also provide a standard for understanding the psychological barriers encountered by women who wish to enter male—dominated sciences and for validating the struggle most central to women’s lives——that of balancing career and parental responsibilities. Finally, they provide the moral authority for demanding the changes that must take place in the scientific community if humanity is to benefit from women’s con tributions.

Future Promise: The Connection between Women, Science, and Peace THE Bahá’í writings are not only historically unique as a religious doctrine in expliCItly promoting the equality of women and men but are also explicit on the subject of women

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8 WORLD ORDER: SUMMER 1998

in science. Morever, they make an unequivocal connection between the participation of women in all arenas of society and the attainment of world peace: The emancipation of women, the achievement of full equality between the sexes, is one of the most important, though less acknowledged prerequisites of peace. . . . Only as women are welcomed into full partnership in all fields of human endeavor will the moral and psychological Climate be created in Which international peace can emerge.l According to Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the Bethe“ Faith, peace is not attainable unless unity is established, and unity is only attainable through justice.Z For, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’. His son and appointed interpreter of His writings, explains, “Without equality this will be impossible because all differences and distinction are conducive to discord and strife.”5

Economic justice implies the elimination of extreme poverty and the equitable distri 1‘ The Universal House of Justice. 77» Prrmlixr Of

Warla'Pmm To the Peoples of the \Vorld (Wlll’nctw. l|l.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1985) 26~27l

2. Bahá’u’lláh says that “The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established" (Glmnmgsfrmn 1/1: Writing; ufBabd'u'll‘i/J, trans. Shoghi Effendi. lst ps ed, [Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1985] 286). He also says that ”The light of men is Justice" and that “The purpose of justice is the appearance of unitv aniong men” (Eblezx Of Bahá’u’lláh’lj rwm/e/l after :lir Kztdh-i-Aqdax, comp. Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, transi Habib Tahenadeh et LIL. lst psi ed, [Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. 1988] 66—67).

3. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Thermul ation n ‘Uniurrmll’ ' 711]}?r Deliutred by Hbdu 'l-Bahrigdurin: Hi5 Visit mmf/jt (Iv/Imtlila' State: and Canada in 1912, Camp. Howard

3C ’ v, . . Trustfitgtézfidfigd. (Wilmette, 111.: Bahái Publishing 4. ‘Abdu'l—Bahá, I’ramul azion 375, 28 5. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgatian so. 3 bution of wealth and resources. For this to take place social and economic development on an unprecedented scale must be fostered. It is in the connection between development and peace (peat: being defined as the unity arising from equality and social and ear nomic justice) that women scientists can bring to bear their unique influence.

‘Abdu'l—Bahá expounded on numerous occasions His father's principle of the equality of women and men. In a talk ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave in Sacramento. California, in 1912. He connected women to global prosperity. saying that, “Until womankind reaches the same degree as nun, until she enjoys the same arena of activity. extraordinary attainment for humanity will not be realized; humanity cannot wing its way to heights of real attainment." He went on [0 say that “woman must receive the same education as man and all inequality bL' adjusted." \X/hile enjoining both women and men (L) chose occupations of service to humanity, in a talk in Boston, Massachusetts. He specifically encouraged women to devote their “energies and abilities toward the industrial and agricultural sciences" and seek to assist humankind “in that which is most needl‘ul."4

If one wonders why ~Abdu’l-Bahá put such emphasis on women's involvement in science, His views on science itself are illumiv nating. “Science." He says. “is the very foundation of all individual and national development. Without this basis of investigation, development is impossible." He further testifies to the permanence of this power once it is obtained by an individual or country. stating that “All blessings ate divine in origin, but none can be compared with this power of intellectual investigation and research. . i . All other blessings are temporary. . . . this is a kingship and dominion which none may usurp or destroy.” It follows that He wanted women. as well as men, to be empowered to bring about social and economic development and that He believed that social progress,

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rncluding world peace itself, was dependent upon the full participation of women in the serentific and social arenas.

Women and Development ADDRESSING the relationship between women and development, the Universal House of Jusrice, the supreme governing and legislative body of the Bahá’í Faith, has written that “it is through educated mothers that the benefits of knowledge can be most effectively and rapidly diffused throughout society.“ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá' asserts that There can be no improvement unless the girls are brought up in schools and centres of learning, unless they are taught the sciences and other branches of knowledge, and unless they acquire the manifold arts‘ as necessary, and ate divinely trained. For the day will come when these girls will become mothers. Mothers are the first educators of children, who establish virtues in the child’s inner nature. They encourage the child to acquire perfections and goodly manners, warn him against unbecoming qualities, and encourage him to show forth resolve, firmness, and endurance under hardship, and to advance on the highroad to progress."

6. The Universal House oFJuStice. l’mmire of erld Prue: 27; ‘Abdu'lABaha', in Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House, Women: Erlmm fiam the Writing: ofBa/M' 'u 'IMIJ, ‘Abdu 'l-Baha’, S/wg/Ji [:flbrdi and the Universal Home of jum'a. comp. Research Department of the Universal House of justice (Thornhill. Ontario: Bahá’í Canada Publications, 1986) no. 41,

7. United Nations. 1980, quoted in Joni Seaget and Ann Olson. Women in the \Varld: An Im(rnan'arml Alla: (New York: Simon. Touchstone Books, 1986) IO].

8. Seaget and Olson. W/omm in the W477le

9, Joni Sager. T/yr Stat! of Wine" in the erdAI/ax (London: Penguin. 1997) 121‘

10‘ Margaret Snyder. quoted in Seager 3

Women in III: World]

nd Olson,

SCIENCE IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN 9

Yet a brief look at the underdevelopment of women in the world reveals their plight. According to 1980 United Nations figures, women constitute one-half of the world’s population and do two-thirds of the work but earn one—tenth of the income and own only one one-hundredth of the property; two-thirds of women are illiterate.7 In VVamm in the W/orldrAn International/ltlas, published in 1986, geographers Joni Seaget and Ann Olson affirm that, compared to their male counterparts, “women have less power, less autonomy, more work, less money, and more responsibility. Women everywhere have a smaller share of the pie; if the pie is very small (as in poor countries), women’s share is smaller still.”E More recent assessmentsfor example, one published in 1997—have shown, in fact, that “the global gulf between the rich and poor has widened. . . . the poorest 20 percent of the world’s population has seen their share of global income decline from 2.3 percent to 1.4 percent, while the richest 20 percent rose from 70 percent to 85 percent. Women constitute the biggest single group of the poor.”

Margaret Snyder, founding director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), notes that women “are the providers of food, fuel, water, and often the whole family income——the sustainers and developers of their families, communities and countries. . . . the fate of women is a critical determinant of the fate of whole societies.“u

An article in the Food and Agriculture Organimtion Review provides a description of the daily life of rural women in India that mirrors the lives of many peasant women throughout the world and makes concrete Snyder’s observation:

Landless peasant women in India account

for 70 percent of the female peasant popu lation. They work more than 14 hours a

day. In addition to work on the farm more

than half their time is devoted to their children and to household chores such as

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10 WORLD ORDER: SUMMER 1998

fetching water and gathering firewood. In some areas women farmhands work an average of 310 days a year and are overworked during peak periods, as during sowing, weeding, and harvesting. Overwork increases risk of miscarriages, reduces breast feeding time, and affects the mortality rate in children under five years of age. It is estimated that rural women in India work about 43 per cent more hours than their male counterparts. For women, mechanization has neither reduced the number of working hours nor made household chores any easier. And they are still paid less than the men.“ In Africa women produce up to 80 percent of the continent’s food and in Western nations perform 30 percent of agricultural work.12 Because many of the development policies implemented in the 19703 and 19805 failed to involve women in their planning or to be sensitive to their needs, they resulted in greater disparity. According to one FAQ expert, “it is important to consult peasant women and to involve them in the development plans, for without their involvement we can only worsen their situation.”13 The Prosperity of Human/eind, a document released by the Bahá’í International Community (a nongovernmental organimtion accred

411. CERES: lecFAOsziew, 21:4 (julr-Aug. 1988): 12 . ~12. Women and Population, uRescnumes: News Archives,” Apr.—Dec. 1996, http://wwwtfao,org/ WA]CENT/FAOINFO/SUSTDEV/WPdirect/ WPnar496,htm#anchor2. 12413. CERES: TheFAOReview, 21.4 (Jul.-Aug. 1988) 14. Bahá’í International Community, afHuman/einn’ (Wilmette, Il|.: Bahá’í Pub 1995) 2.

15. :Abdu’l-Bahá, in Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effeggi, and the Universal House of Justice, Women n0. . ‘

The I’rwpm‘ry lishing Trust.

ited to the United Nations) on the subject of development, states that “It is unrealistic to imagine that the vision of the next stage in the advancement of civilization can be formulated without a searching reexamination of the attitudes and assumptions that currently underlie approaches to social and eco‘ nomic development." Among the issues that must be reexamined “is the roles assigned in it to the various protagonists.“H Therefore, the issue of women succeeding as scientists, the educated women who are a privileged elite, goes beyond their individual right to succeed. There is an intrinsic relationship between women scientists and peasant women in the third world. The success and proper orientation of the former is the key to the liberation of the latter‘ It is critical to the very survival of the human race, to the development of the world, to the freedom from poverty and misery of millions. It is an issue of power, the power to change the condition of humankind, and it is part and parcel of a shift in values that must take place in society eventually leading to harmony and peace. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá affirms that The world in the past has been ruled by force, and man has dominated over woman by reason of his more forceful and aggressive qualities both of body and mind. But the balance is already shifting—force is losing its weight and mental alertness, intuition, and the spiritual qualities of love and service, in which woman is strongy are gaining ascendancy. Hence the new age will be an age less masculine, and more permeated with the feminine ideals—or, to speak more exactly, will be an age in which the masculine and feminine elements of civilization will be more evenly balanced.‘5

Science Permeared with Feminine Ideals BUT what 1': special about women, and in what way must they be focused to help catalyze change? ‘Abdu’l-Bahá affirmed that women

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have certain qualities in which they are strong, qualities they can bring to various human arenas that will, in fact, transform them to such a degree that the resulting climate will be conducive to harmony and peace. Among these are intuition and receptiveness, mental alertness, “abundance of mercy and sympathy,“ concern for “the needy and suffering,” and “moral courage" greater than that of men.16 Rather than suggesting that women emulate men ‘Abdu’l-Bahá exhorts them to “Strive to show in the human world“ that they “are most capable and efficient, that their hearts are more tender and susceptible than the hearts of men, that they are more philanthropic and responsive toward the needy and suffering, that they are inflexibly opposed to war and lovers of peace.”'7 It is the author’s belief that the qualities ‘Abdu’l-Bahá suggested are highly developed in women as a group are universal qualities of human character. Women's relative strength in these traits at the present time results from the divergent emphasis in the evolution of the sexes. The shift required in civilization, therefore, is for the positive female qualities to be given more prominence and acceptance in various arenas of human endeavor. By applying such qualities to science, women can encourage science to focus more sharply on the social and economic development of humankind, thereby Fulfilling its most noble purpose.

But what would science look like if its primary goal were to serve unity and justice? Have women as yet demonstrated the ability

16, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’. Pan} 721113;: Addresm Given by ‘A/zdu 'l-Ba/m' in I9lll 12th ed,(l.ondon: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1995) 50.6; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, in Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Shoghi Effendi. and the Universal IHouse of Justice, Wumm, nos 25: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Pam 7511/25 59.81 ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’, l’rpmu/gzllian 284: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Hbdu 'I—Balm’ in Landon: A(Idrexm and Note: of Commtmiiarz: (London: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. 1981) 103, 17. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, l‘mmulgmiun 284.

SCIENCE [N THE HANDS OF WOMEN 11

to be the catalysts for change in that direction? Can one look to history For the first glimmerings of the application of those unique female qualities when women began to enter previously male-dominated fields of science? And if one encounters role models that exemplify ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s assertion that women could bring a unique dimension to these fields, can they be taken as role models by both men and women seeking to conduct a more enlightened practice of science (one in which the male and female aspects of civilization are more evenly balanced)?

When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said that women must uespecially devote” their “energies and abilities toward the industrial and agricultural sciences,” He suggested a focus for women’s influence in science. A review of the agricultural sciences in any reputable university Catalogue will show them to include a broad range of biological and natural sciences, including botany, agronomy, genetics and breeding, horticulture, soil science, entomology, plant pathology, animal science, zoology, microbiology, public health, Food processing, and so On. The industrial sciences encompass all the engineering fields, chemistry, and any and all forms of technology associated with industry.

A cursory survey of the contributions women have made in some of these fields reveals women scientists who have, indeed, exemplified qualities in which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says women excel. When entering previously male—dominated fields they have evinced ground-breaking influence not only by their accomplishments but also by methods and motivations that differed from those of their male colleagues.

Practicality and “That Which I: Mast Needul.” A focus on and concern for what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says is “most needful” is richly illustrated by pioneer entomologist Eleanor Ormerod, who was born in 1828 into the English upper class. When she died in 1901, f the most highly honored

she was one o

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12 WORLD ORDER: SUMMER 1998

scientists of her clay.m Her greatest accomplishment was to bring the study of insects out of academic halls and into the fields Ormerod invented efficient, inexpensive methods for eradicating injurious insects and for the first time in history brought a systematic approach to saving crops and livestock from their ravages. Her pamphlets and annual reports on pest control, which she produced at her OWn expense, were the first published guides to farmers on the subject. She worked anonymously for decades, but in 1877, when she began publishing her AnnualReport of Obxerwm'am Of Injuriou: Inserts, it became immediately popular, and agriculturists throughout the world corresponded with her. Her research was meticulous and scholarly (she built her own meteorological observation station), but her reports also offered common—sense remedies using easily available ingredients. Her widely published temedy for maggots plaguing livestock is credited with saving half the cows in England in the late 18005. She was also responsible for devising the remedy when the Mediterranean

18. Ethlie Ann Vare and Greg Ptacekt “Eleanor Otmerod," Mother: of Invention, From the Bra to the Bomb: Forgotten Women and T/yeir Unfizrgmabl: Mm: (New York: Morrow. 1988) 175»77.

19. Quated in Vatc and Ptacek, “Eleanor Ormemd." Mother: aflrmmtion 177.

L ii) Jostlper. "ASlcience Education: The Pipeline ls ea 11 omen i t " ‘ (19935409711. he Way Along. Santa, 260

2‘1. Lael Parrot, “Women and the Culture of Engineenng: Society Could Benefit from More Female Env gmeers,” Rtmurte (Jan. 1998): 6—8.

2 giu’l-Baha, Prumulgan'an 284.

. t :ter’: New W ' ‘ ‘ ’ Neufeldt (New York: Warotilcillzggymvi ¢d~ Vluom

24. See Virginia Morell, “Called ‘Trimates ' Thtee Bold Wumen Shaped Their Field," Science, 26011993? fiO—ZS, and Nini Bloch, “Mothers of Invention: What

e Women Doing to Science,” Earlhwatrh (Oct./Nov,

caterpillar threatened widespread destruction of the stored flour inventory in the United States in 1889. She was not just an entomologist but also an ecologist. When she retired, the London Time: wrote that "she revolutionized the subjeCt of agricultural entomology, as it was known twenty—five years ago."H By suggesting that women scientists focus on that which is “most needful" to humanity, ‘Abdu’l—Bahzi may have been tapping into a natural propensity of that sex, as some current analysts are starting to observe. In an article on education in engineering, Joe Alper, a writer For Science. summarizes several researchers’ observations: Males are interested in engineering problems no matter what, but women respond more energetically when these problems are put in the context of helping people or the environment. It’s not that women aren’t interested in engineering. . . . it's a question of context: ‘Women aren’t so interested in engineering as a technical matter. but as a practical matter.'”20 Lael Parrot, a writer For Rtmurte magazine, recommends a strategy for attracting women into engineering: “make science relevant. Girls should be taught that science and technology can change the quality of people's lives and alter social structures."1 Empathy. When ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ asserted that women‘s “hearts are more tender and susceptible than the hearts of men." He may have been referring to women's capacity for empathy}: W/ebxter} New WorldDirtionmy defines empathy as “the ability to share in anothet's emotions, thoughts. or feelings.”3 History attributes the first use of empathy as a scientific research tool in the field of primate]ogy [0 jane Goodall and Diane Fossey, W110 are considered to have revolutionized this previously male—dominated field by their “female approach" to the study of chimpanzees and gorillas.H In 1960 Goodall's patience and persistence in habituating the animals to her presence

[Page 13]

and her perceptiveness in observation led to ground—bteaking discoveries. Among other things, she found that chimpanzees were omnivorous (not herbivores as previously thought) and that they made tools from twigs and used them to extract termites from their nests. The latter discovery prompted a redefinition of the long—held belief that humans were the only toolmakers.

Contrasting the previous research methods to Goodall’s approach, researchers now agree that “the payof? came from the women’s capacity to empathize with their subjects, seeing them as individuals, whose life histoties influenced the structure of the group.” Instead of numbering the chimpanzees, Goodall “named the animals and used words like ‘individual,’ ‘emotion,’ and ‘personality.‘"25

Leaders in the field at the time considered Goodall's approach unscientific and sentimental, ostracizing her and insinuating that what she was doing was not appropriate science. Goodall persisted in this female approach to science against the discouragement of the male scientific culture. Now scientists admit that “empathy is very important in ptimatology. It helps you to ask questions and to predict what your animals are going to do."26

1995). 16—22. For a more detailed description of Jane Goodall: discoveries, sec Jane Goodall. T/Jmug/l 4 Wm (10w. My Thirty Yam with 1/): Chimpanzee: Of Gnmbr (Boston’: Houghtorl. 1990). For a more complete treatment of Diane Fossey's work. see Farley Mowat, Warrant m the Mim- Tb: Story othmr Faxsry and the Mountain (iori/Lu Of Afrim (New York: Warner, 1987) 380.

25. Motel]. “Called ‘Trimates,"’ Srimre. 260 (1993):

422.

26. Morel]. “Called ‘Trimates,’" Science, 260 (1993): 423.

27. Morell, “Called ‘Trimates,m Sritna, 260 (1993): 423

28. Cited in Morell, “Called ‘Trimates,” Srimtt, 260 (1993): 425.

SCIENCE IN THE HANDS or WOMEN 13

Empathy has now become part of the scientific method in primatologieal research.

"Respomive toward the Needy and Sufiring.” In Diane Fossey’s efforts one sees an illustration of the qualities of “mercy and sympathy” and “concern for the needy and the suffering” that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ extolled in women and that would help scientists focus not only on the knowledge to be gained through scientific investigation but also on the needs surrounding the object under study.

When Fossey began studying gorillas in 1966 she also used the empathetic approach; for her the individuality of the apes was paramount. Because so little was known about gorillas, her dissertation became the baseline for understanding the species. According to Science writer Virginia Mottell, “Fossey saw things primatologists had never viewed: Female gorillas transferring between groups; males killing infants to bring females into heat; gorillas eating their owu dung to tecycle nutrients.”7

But Fossey became so deeply engrossed with the animals she was studying that she crossed the line from dispassionate observer and began to question the usefulness of het research in light of the fact that gorillas were so endangered (at the time they numbered only 250). Her heartbreaking and often gruesome encounters with poaching led her to dedicate herself aggressively to conservation work and to protecting the gorillas ftom poachers. Her anger at their condition fueled her international campaign, until she was murdered in 1983. She is credited with having made the world aware of the plight of the gorillas.

Primatologist George Shaller commented on the impact of the path-breaking work of Goodall and Fossey, saying that these primatologists “taught science that the great apes ate true individuals. . . . They have given us an empathy with our closest relatives, and that is the only thing that will save these animals in the end.”28 The “empathy" that

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was used as a tool of scientific research seems to have become transformed here into a “mercy" and “concern for the suffering” that triggered a successful conservation movement.

According to Morel], Fossey’s [story] raises the issue of what values scientists heed. Many studies have shown that a key difference between men and women is that men often place a high value on theoretical valuesfiknowledge for its own sake!while women tend to evaluate knowledge according to its usefulness. In Fossey’s case, the two types of values were intertwined from the beginnjng—since her scientific interest in the gorillas was triggered by a passion for wildlife and a desire to make a difference in the world.”

Greater Moral Courage in Moment: of Crisis, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says moral courage is yet another quality in which women excel: “The woman has greater moral courage than the man; she has also special gifts which enable her to govern in moments of danger and crisis.”30 Rachel Carson, an ecologist and the mother of the modern environmental movement, was known for her great moral courage. She is credited with having sounded the alarm in 1962 when the widespread use of chemical pesticides in agriculture threatened the ecological chain." A highly successful

29. Cited in Morell, “Called ‘Trimates.'" Stitnre. 260 (1993): 424

30. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Hbdu’l—Ba/M in London 103,

31. See Paul Brooks. “Rachel Carson," NumbleAmeriam Wmm: The Modern Period, edi Barbara Sicherman et all (Cambridge: Harvard UP, Belknap Press, 1980) 138:11. ForRa TEOIC complete description of Carson's wot , see as el Ca ' ' '

Houghton) 1962)‘ rson, Silent Spring (Boston:

W33!" ?;goks, “Rachel Carson," Notable American

33. Brooks, “Rachel Carson,’

Wm“ 140. ' Notable American

marine biologist and writer, she spent her career with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

When a friend called her to witness the wholesale killing of birds and harmless insects that had taken place in her private bird sanctuary as a result of the state’s spraying with DDT (under its mosquito control program), Carson responded by publishing Silent Spring Because she realized there were no government agencies at the time dedicated to the preservation of the natural environment, Carson felt the issue called for a changed political philosophy. She gathered evidence from scientists in America and Europe on unot only the dangers of DDT but also other chemicals with which modern man was poisoning earth, air and water on a worldwide scale. She was questioning not only the indiscriminate use of poisons but also the basic irresponsibility of an industrialized, technical society toward the natural world.”J2 Silent Spring was violently attacked by the agricultural chemical industry. which viewed Carson's assertions as a public-relations problem. They spent enormous sums of money to ridicule both the author and her book. Crippled by arthritis and suffering from bone cancer as she completed the book, Carson, nevertheless. defended her premise and, until her death in 1964, played an important role in the initial steps toward legislative action to limit the use of pesticides.

A unique set of factors contributed to Carson‘s insight: she Challenged the notion that science belongs in a “separate compartment of its own. apart from everyday life." She “was not ashamed of her emotional response to the forces of nature“ and “felt a spiritual closeness to the individual creatures about whom she wrote."B Her moral courage may have, indeed, awakened humankind in a moment of danger and crisis, steering it away from environmental destruction and

toward a path of greater ecological responsibility.

[Page 15]Intuition and Reteptivenerx. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states that “In some respects woman is superior to man. She is more tender—hearted, more receptive, her intuition is more intense.”54 When asked to define the faculty of intuition, He said that

the second sort of knowledge, which is the

knowledge of being, is intuitive; it is like

the cognizance and consciousness that man has of himself.

For example, the mind and the spirit of man are cognizant of the conditions and states of the members and component parts of the body, and are aware of all the physical sensations; in the same way, they are aware of their power, of their feelings, and of their spiritual conditions. This is the knowledge of being which man realizes and perceives, for the spirit surrounds the body and is aware of its sensations and powers. This knowledge is not the outcome of effort and study. It is an existing thing; it is an absolute gift.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá continues to develop the theme of intuition by speaking of the interrelatedness of all things:

The most noble being on the earth is man.

He embraces the animal, vegetable and

mineral kingdoms—that is to say, these

conditions are contained in him to such an extent that he is the possessor of these

Conditions and states; he is aware of their

mysteries and of the secrets of their exist ence.” In this statement one sees that it is not anathema to use intuition in the process of science, which is the delving into the realities

34. ‘Abdu'LBa . Parix Ftlks 50.6.

35. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Same Answered Quatiam, comp. and trans. Laura Clifford Barney, lst ps edi (Wilmette, lll.: Bahá’í Publishing Trusr. 1984) 157, 158.

36. Sec Evelyn Fox Keller. A Feelingfor 1/7: Organum: Th: Life and W771? af Bdrbdm MRC/mtock (New York: Freeman, 1983).

fl

SCIENCE IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN 15

of things, for if the conditions of these kingdoms are contained within human beings, the unraveling of their “mysteries and the secrets of their existence” is the same as understanding ourselves. Part of the scientific method, then, is to tap into this connected“655.

The use of intuition in science is perhaps most controversially illustrated by Barbara McClintock, Nobel laureate and discoverer of gene transposition. Through meticulous manipulation and observation of the inheritance of pigment patterns in Indian corn, she made what has come to be recognized as the most revolutionary genetic discovery since Mendel’s in 1865.36 In 1951 she published the theory of gene transposition, postulating that genes do not always behave in an orderly fashion in heredity but, triggered by developmental events, sometimes actually jump around on a chromosome, or from one chromosome to another. Her theory united the disciplines of cell genetics and developmental biology, paving the way for the modem sciences of molecular genetics and genetic engineering.

After MeClintock’s discovery of transposition, she was ostracized by the scientific community and considered eccentric, perhaps because the discovery was so revolutionary and because at the time there were few geneticists in the world capable of understanding her work. It took the scientific community thirty years to arrive slowly, through numerous other lines of evidence, at an understanding of MeClintoek’s 1951 discovery. The theory of gene transposition is now accepted, and, though MCClintOCk worked with plants, her discovery has made it possible to study antibiotic-resistant hactetia, to seek a cute for African sleeping sickness, and to help understand the mechanism of cancer. .

Evelyn Fox Keller, McClintock’s biogra her, has written about the reasons for the dual themes of success and matginality chat ______

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16 WORLD ORDER: SUMMER 1998

acterizing her career.37 McClintock saw transposable elements as the key to developmental regulation. Her contemporaries were not able to absorb her discovery because she was a philosophical and methodological deviant. Her concept of nature, for example, was that “anything you can think of you will find, . . . organisms . , . do everything we can think of, they do it better, more efficiently, mote marvelously.” This meant that one had to “listen to the material,” to respect individual differences, not as aberrations, but as possible clues to the greater picture. Instead of trying to fit knowledge into a central dogma, discarding all exceptions as irrelevant, she pursued the single exception with the greatest respect. Her work on transposition began, in fact, from the observation of an aberrant pattern of pigmentation on a few kernels of a single corn plant. “The important thing is to develop the capacity to see one kernel [of maize] that is different and make it understandable,” she wrote. Her major criticism of contemporary research was what she saw as inadequate humility, the scientist wanting to impose an answer on the material; “if you’d only just let the material tell you,” she cautioned.38

McClintock’s approach, now dubbed “a feeling for the organism,” is illustrated in her description of chromosomes she was trying to identify through microscopic observation:

37. Evelyn Fox Keller, "A World of Difference." Rg‘ltction: an Gender and Scimr: (New Haven: Yale UP, 1985) 158—76.

38. Keller, “World of Difference." Rt 20' Gmder and Sriemt 162. fl "7’” ‘7"

39. Keller, “World of Difference." Gender and Science 165.

40. Keller, “World of Difference " quertia

. m on Gender and Seizure 164; ‘Abdu'LBahá, Selenium frnm the Writings of Hbdu’l—Babd, comp. Re ment of the Universal House of Justic

Reflem'a m on

search Departe, trans. Com mittee at the Bahá’í World Centre and Ma ' h ' ' G (Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, 1997) 27. ”“3 all

“I found that the more I worked with them, [he bigger and bigger [the chromosomes got], and when l was really working with them I wasn’t outside, I was down there. I was pan of the system. . . . And you forget yourself."9

McClintock's language shows her love for her object, a love that allows for intimacy without annihilation ofdifferencc. This, Keller asserts, describes a Form of thought that informs her work. It is “a vocabulary of affection, of kinship, ofempathy. . . . McClintock can risk the suspension of boundaries between subject and object without jeopardy to science precisely because, [0 her. science is net premised on that division. . . . [this] is the wellspring of her powers as a scientist." uLove revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe," ‘Abdu’l-Bahá asserts.“U

Furthermore, McClintock saw the anomalous com kernels not as evidence of disorder or lawlessness but as part of a larger system of order, one that cannot be reduced to a single law. It was part of the connectedness of all things. Her interest was not so mud! in knowing the mechanism and structure of genes but in understanding the function and organization. the relationship to the organism as a whole. The traditional division between genetics and developmental biology was one that McClintock could not acceptV her foresight perhaps ptesaging the develop‘ ment of the currently all—powerful science of molecular biology. But what was heretical in McClintock‘s thinking was that she saw in transposition a mechanism enabling genetic structures to respond to the needs of the organism. In 1953, two years after McClintock presented her findings, biochemical scientists James Watson and Francis Crick had elucidated the structure of DNA. This mechanism of inheritance became the central dogma. one that postulated a one—directional How of genetic information from DNA to RNA [0 protein. The claim was made that the secret of life had been unraveled. This hieraIChical

[Page 17]structure of genetic organization, similar to organizational charts of corporate strucrures, became a textbook illustration, McClintock’s views, which added another layer 0F complexity by suggesting that nature responded more fluidly to the needs of the organismt did not fit into that scheme. Hence she was marginalized until science slowly sorted through and incorporated that additional piece of the puzzle decades later.

One of the many lessons of McClintock's story lies in the relevance of gender not just to the questions scientists ask but in the answers with which they content themselves. Therefore, the influx of large numbers of women into the sciences must have the effect not just of adding another component to the creative vision now represented in science but of incorporating a Fundamentally different view of nature and perhaps a scientific mind more inclusive of subjectivity. Although this could hardly be articulated by most women scientists. it is a fundamental component of their right to be scientists. To accept anything less would have the same demoralizing effect as being invited to sit at the men's table but having [0 laugh at misogynist jokes.

Yet, if one acknowledges that the contribution of women is vital, one must examine whether women are actually succeeding in

41. 1—111(' 1X (tfthe Education Amendmentaof1972v 30 U. i C. Sutinn 1681. in Nuinnal Cualition for \V'omen and (hrls in Edutatitm, "Title [X at 7.5. Report Card on Gender Equity," http://www.;t;1uw.otg/ lOOO/sumtnatyhttul'mnclmm49199. 42, Education Development Center 1X Before .md After." http://www.cdc.org/ \V'nmensEquit_v/tlllc‘Htilcy.html.I 43, Education Development (:6! Card on Title 1X at 2i" http \XbmenEquity/titlc‘fiutmhtml. 44. Nailonll Spiritual Assen the United States. 71001171115: of Wlmrm and [Uni (Wilmette, 111,:

acts on Title

net, Inc. “Report

//www.€dc.org/

tbl)‘ of the Bahá’ís of II Bird: 7711’ Equa/il}! Of Bahá’í Publishing

Trim. 1997’) 2.

' SCIliNClT, IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN 17

entering the sciences in sufficient numbers to exact change. Time alone does not appear to have been enough to ensure this greater influx. In 1972 an education amendment, Title IX, Was enacted by Congress, stating that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”1 On the twenty-fifth anniversary of Title IX, reports acknowledge the positive effect Of the legislation on the advancement of women in many fields. In sports, medicine, and law, the numbers of women have steadily increasecl.‘u But reports acknowledge that “Women remain underrepresented among students and faculty in the sciences, technology and engineering."43 Even legislation removing educational barriers does not appear to have created the necessary climate and incentive for women to succeed in the scientific arenat This suggests that die barriers are so deeply ingrained in the academic and corporate systems that they make progress quite difficult. As the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States has noted in a statement on the equality of women and men, “The gains for women tesr uneasily On unchanged, often unexamined, inherited assumptions.”“

Present Barriers to Entering MaIe-Dominated Sciences

WOMEN entering the Sciences must overcome many gender—related barriers that superimpose themselves on the normal battery of challenges attendant on such a pursuit. These barriers are like burdens placed on the back of a camel. The question becomes, “Which straw will break the camel's back?" That is, at what stage of the process will girls, young women, or older women lose interest or leave science, due not to lack of ability or performance but to nebulous depressive influences

that eventually accrue to foster complete

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Table 1 * Proportion of Full-Time Graduate Students by Sex Male Female Ratio

Mathematics 10,000 4,000 222 Computer Sciences 12,000 3,000 3:] Physical Sciences 22,000 7,000 3:2 Biological Sciences 23,000 17,000 Engineering 54,000 8 ,000 7.1

‘Data from the National Science Foundation, “Women in Science: Data Points," Si'mu'r. 355 (1993): |3,6.

discouragement? As some writers have noted, it behooves any parent to be vigilant, lest such forces divert what in a five—year-old girl was a keen and natural interest in science into other channels less suited to the true potentiality of that individual and less satisfactory to society as a whole.”

The state of the gender gap in the sciences (in the United States) was reported in a 1992 issue of Science magazine. Table 1 summarizes the proportion of full—time graduate students by sex and shows that in most fields of science there are still far fewer full—time female graduate students than there are males, with the biological sciences showing the least

45. See Alper, “Science Education: The Pipeline ls Leaking Women All the Way Along," Science, 260 (1993): 409, and Pam Penfold, “Wanted: Women Scia entists," Summit (Spring 1991): 21—23.

46. Data from the National Science Foundation, “:Voémen in Science: Data Points,” Science, 255 (1992): 1 7 .

47 Data from the National Research Council. 3:06men in Science: Data Points,” Sciem‘t, 255 (1992):

48. Data from the National Science Foundation. ‘l‘gggnen in Science: Data Points," Scimrt, 255 (1992):

49. Ivan Amato, “Profile of a Field: ChemistryWomen Have Extra Hoops to Jum Th yh " 5 ' 255 (1992): 1372—73. P mug , “9W0

difference (two in five). while in engineering the gender gap is greatest (one in eight).“’

Table 2 shows that women earn less than men at every stage of their scientific careers and that the disparity increases at the highest levels of experience.” While the disparity of pay for men and women with approximately two years experience is $7,000, this disparity can increase to $16,000 at thirty—five years of experience, with women's salary increases virtually leveling off after about twenty—five years of experience.

Table 3, which reports the underemployment rates (the proportion not working or working in part-time positions)t shows that the rates are higher for women in every scientific field except computer science.“F These data may reflect both positive and negative trends for women. If the figures reflect only higher unemployment of women scientists. they are negative. but to the extent that the figures reflect a choice and availability to women of part-time positions in the sciences (which increase their opportunity to remain involved in their careers during child—bearing years), they could reflect a positive trend.

Table 4, showing the numbers of women faculty in chemistry departments in universities throughout the United States, is repreSCntaert’ of many other science disciplines.“7 Typically, departments having thirty to fifty male professors will have few or no female

[Page 19]fl

SHINCI» IN ’l‘Hl‘. HANDS 0!: wan 19

Table 2 Salary Disparities Between Women and Men Scientists” Years of experience Average Sqlary

Women Men Gender Gap f2 $32,000 $39,000 $7,000 3:9 $39,000 $45,000 $6,000 hfl‘) $46,000 $55,000 $9,000 234.9 $53,000 $62,000 $9,000 53—39 $53,000 $69,000 $16,000

'DJLI from rhc National Rexclrch Council. “W’omen in Science: Data Points." Sfiffil‘i, 255 (1992): 1376.

Table 5

Undcremplnymcnt Rates of Women and Men in (he Sciences‘

Science Women Men Physical Scicntists 3.8% 1.7% Mathematical Scientists 7.2% 2.0% Compurcr specialists 2.2% 2.2% Environmental Scientists 11.5% 5.0% Life Scientists 9.6% 3.3% l’xychologixts 7.0% 5.0% Social SCiL'nl’iSKS 11.2% 5.3%

'DJILI {mm Ihc Nanmml Science Foundation. “Women in Science: Dam Points," Stigma, 255 (1992): 1376.

Table 4 . * The Numbers of Women Faculty in US. University Chemistry Departments

Tenure Non-Tenure University Total Female Track Track LTIah 53 5 (1) 3 South Carolina 26 2 0 4 Virginia Polytech. I. 43 4 4 0 \V'isconsin-ledison 44 2 2 0 San Diego 5mm 43 2 0 2 Northwestern 30 1 l 0 Georgia 32

l d r —- 3V6 X ra OOPS f0 um 0 u ‘ ' . 1992): l! J "I’ H] of 1 Field‘ Chemist v Women H E I H j p hr ugh. Yam” ( V' A I [0. m c . . . ‘ 255

13—1775.

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faculty. In many cases even the few women faculty do not have tenured status.

The academic experience, therefore, for a young woman entering a male—dominated science is characterized by two general psychological barriers: (1) her relative minority status among the student population, where she may be one of every eight students in engineering, to one of every two and a half students in a biological sciences program; and (2) the virtual lack of female faculty to act as role models and mentors. Added to these factors may be attitudes and prejudices encountered from individual faculty and colleagues, which contribute to making the environment femaIe-friendly or female-unfriendly.

As women progress further up the ladder of human attainment—that is, the scientific job market or graduate studies—the impact of male domination is likely to be more strongly felt. As the numbers of women decrease, the increased interaction with a predominantly male power structure in which the acceptable mode of communication is masculine contributes to an environment increasingly unfriendly to women. An example drawn from my own graduate school experience is that while earning three degrees at two major universities I never had a female science professor. I had many good professors who were willing to train women. But the fact that most newly hired faculty were young, white, and male. reinforced the womenunfriendly environment. As a female, I began unconsciously to internalize a message that women may be allowed to pursue their graduate studies but that they were not good enough to be professors

Addressing the environment in the culture of engineering, writer Lael Parrott says that Women who pursue engineering are mar

. 5”0. Parmt, “Women and the Culture of Engineering, Rtsource (Jan 1998): 6.

7ginalized by a professional culture that, due to the predominance of men in the workplace, continues to be fundamentally masculine." The result is that, in the male—dominated scientific culture “a male style of interaction prevails. Women Fail to understand the unwritten rules of conduct and as a result, fail to effectively promote their strengths.“0 The difference in language and communication patterns between men and women can be a contributing source of stress. Only one style, the male, may seem acceptable. In research meetings and classes, I learned to take great care when speaking, not to seem out of place in the male-dominated environment. An exchange with one of my professors that took place during my Masters defense is instructive. When I attempted to verbalize the interconnectedness of several plant hormones in affecting plant anatomy by saying. “I have a feeling that such and such is occurring inside this plant because . . . ," one of my professors interrupted me to ask, uW/hat do you mean ‘I have 21 Feeling? There is no room for feelings in science, only facts!" The hormone balance theory I was attempting to verbalize was more subjective and complex than a single hormone cause—and-effect relationship but seemed intuitively appropriate to the case and no less plausible (to my mind) an explanation of the observed phenomenon. University of Pittsburgh professor Constance Carroll, in an essay about black women in higher education, talks about communication differences between women and men and the intense feeling of isolation minority and women faculty experience: I never come in contact with another Black woman professor or administrator in my day-to-day activities. This seems to be similar for most of the Black women in similar positions. There is no one with whom to share experiences and gain support, no one with whom to identify, no one on whom a Black woman can model herself. It takes a great deal of psychologi

[Page 21]cal strength just to get through a day, the

endless lunches and meetings in which

one is always “dil’t‘erent.n The feeling is

much like the exhaustion a Foreigner speak ing an alien tongue feels at the end of the

day.‘1

Scientist Daniel Koshland. in an editorial in Srimi‘r, cites several reasons For the poor representation of women faculty in the sciences: [l’lL' “oId-boy" prejudice preventing them from getting into the p05 ions, and a high rate of attrition during the period between graduate school and tenure, this being an interval of intense and unequal competitive pressure for woman At no stage in the educational process is there an indication that the attrition is caused by luck of ncademie performance. He cited. instead, lack of role models as a source of insecurity and :1 decisivc Factor in the Failure to develop the sclf-confidence essential for a research investigator.‘I

The “old-hoy" syndrome. according to St'irtll‘t writer Ann Gibbons. includes many facmrs. such as men's feeling more comfortable working with men: entrenched attitudes that women are not as good at science or are less committed to research due to family

5L (:UDSLHILC M. Ctirroll. '"l'hrce‘x a (:mwd: The Dilemma of the Blade \Vunmn in Higher Edtieatiun." in All the \men: An- \Wme. Al! Ilu~ H/ai'lnr Ara Winn, But 5mm Of [,9 fl]! Hm": [3/11 ' W’omm} Sludii's, Cd. Gloria T. Scott et .il, (New York: Fenlinin Press at the City U of. New York. 1951) ll‘n-JX.

52. Daniel Kushhml. "\thun in Science.“ Srlmaa 13‘? “938): HTK

‘93. Ann (iibhnnx. “Key lsme: Tenure-Dncs the ()[d-Bov Network Keep \anen from Leaping Over rhn cnit-ml Career Hurdle?" .S'i'inn'r. :55 (1992): 1.586.

54. Gibbons. “Key Issue: Tenure," Srienrt, 255 11992): 1386. , ,7

5? Herbert} Freudenbcrger and Gill North. Wumnu Burnout: How [u Spa; 11, Hwy m Rzzvmr It, How (a 1‘”va ,IlNcw York: Penguin. Viking. 1986).

fi

S(JlENCF IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN 21

responsibilities; and women’s not faring well because they are isolated and lack alliances with older colleagues.”

Gibbons points out that because the criteria for tenure are flexible, this is an area where men can easily discriminate against women. In 1989 women held only 8 percent of the full professorships in science and engineering, a number that does not appear to change, despite the growing Pool of fe_ male Ph.D.-level scientists. One researcher commented that

if we’re not going to disassemble the

barriers, and if we’re not going to help

assure the sustained participation and performance of- women in science, then you really have to question whether increasing these numbers of women in doctoral education is going to make any difference to the enterprise of science.“

Another aspect of the psychological battles women face may be the cultural patterns of women themselves. The graduate school experience can be an overwhelming one for both men and women. In many cases the system breeds workaholism and can lead to burnout. In Women} Burnout, psychology authors Herbert J. Freudenberger and Gail North make the case that women may be even more susceptible to workaholic burnout if they have perfectionist tendencies.55

The perfectionist has an unrealistically high standard to meet and will sacrifice important responsibilities to meet that standard. The cost she pays may be too high for her and may lead to gradual disenchantment with her work and a deadening of the real person inside. Furthermore, the perfectionist’s sense of identity and self—worth is tied [0 how she measures up to that standard. She is constantly on parole. Her successes she Views as coincidences, but her mistakes she tends to take as confirmation of incompetence, proof that there’s a fraud lurking underneath.

Another personal episode illustrates the heavy toll of expectations on those who ate

. [Page 22]

22 WORLD ORDER: SUMMER 1998

pioneers. A few days before my preliminary examination I became obsessed with the question of how many African—Americans had been awarded Ph.D.s in plant breeding and genetics at my university. When I learned that I was probably going to be the first (according to the recollection of an elderly professor), I panicked. Suddenly, the whole weight of the race was on my shoulders. I remember entering that exam room, with five white male professors sitting around a long narrow table staring at me, thinking that, if I failed it would be doubly disastrous, because I was a woman and because I was

black.

Case Histories of Some High Achievers ‘ABDU’L-BAHA talks about the depressive impact of being surrounded by a subliminal message that one is inferior: “the assumption of superiority by man will continue to be depressing to the ambition of woman, as if her attainment to equality was creationally impossible; woman’s aspiration toward advancement will be checked by it, and she will gradually become hopeless."5“ Even the achievers, women who have done great things in science, have had to contend with this invisible depressor. The contrasting stories of two women scientism—those of Rosalind Franklin, a contributor to the discovery of the structure of DNA, and Barbara McClintock, the discoverer of gene transposition, illustrate how messages about inferiority affect persons differently

56. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’, l’romulgtm'an 76.

57. Vare and Ptacek, “Rosalind Franklin," Mather: Of Inumtian, 214—16 See also Aaron Klug, “Rosalind Franklin and the Discovery of the Structure of DNA." in James Di Watson, The Dauhle Helix: A [’ermrml Arcomzt uf the Dircovtry of the Structure of DNA, ed. Gunther S. Stent (New York: Norton‘ 1980) 153v60.

58. See Keller, A Feelingfor the Organism,

77Raxalind Franklin, The story of Rosalind Franklin is sad and ttagic.‘W Some {661 that to this day she has not received the recognition she deserved for being a codiscovcrer Of the structure of DNA. Rosalind Franklin was born into a prominent Jewish banking family in London and in 1941 disaPPOian her parents by becoming a chemist. She Was awarded several scholarships to work in a number of laboratories under men who resented the presence of a woman. In the early 19505, while she conducted breakthrough research in X—ray crystallography and the molecular structure of DNA. James Watson and Francis Crick were trying to elucidate the structure of the molecule through biochemical analysis. Franklin’s supervisor, Maurice Wilkins, turned over her findings to Watson and Crick without her permission. With it they were able to discern the mistakes in their model and use her findings as major supportive evidence For their work. In 1953 Franklin became so frustrated with the treatment she was receiving that she lefi her position for another research station but. because of proprietary rights, she was forbidden to talk about or continue her previous work with DNA. She went on to work on the structure of viruses, however. and contributed significantly to the understanding of genetics. She was always a loner. and since official recognition was both too little and too late, when she died of cancer in 1958, at age thirty-seven, she was a bitter and frustrated woman. In 1962 Watson, Crick. and Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize for the discoverv of the structure of DNA. '

Barbara MtC/imorh. Barbara McClintock's story in some ways appears to be very much in contrast to Franklin's—not in the discrimination of the male establishment but in the psychological portrait of the protagonist.‘3 In 1922 McClintock received her bachelor's degree from Cornell University in botany because the plant-breeding departmem would not admit women. In 1927, after receiving

[Page 23]her dOCEOFML’ with L! brilliant breakthrough in (ytogenctits. McClintock had 0an two options: [0 hcuome .1 teaching :1

‘ stunt or to (21k: a faculty position at Ll women‘s college [positions that. All that time. were ulsu primarily teaching appointments). Though most at. her colleagues acknowledged hcr genius. \mmcn were barred in [llL‘ 19505 from holding tcnurcd professorship». Bccuusc McClintock was primarily intcrcstctl in continuing hcr rcscarch. ~\hc pursucd neither of thuse optimist lIISIk‘Jd. xhc ulutuincd numerous shottvtcrm ll-Ilmvshipx m unahlc her to do research in various lnlmmtorics around the country: 'l‘hix ctcatul .l precarious and unsmblc siuutinn fur her. In 1941. \vhilc her mch (ullcagucs wctc salt‘ly on the tenure [LIL‘k .u pri‘fligiullx tinivcrsitics. she found hcncll' virtually uncmployetl. ’I'hrough :1 male colleaguck intun‘cntinn, shy obtained :1 position .it lllc (:Ulkl Spring Harbor botanical lilcility. whcrc ihc (Lirncgic Iiountlution gave her .1 small lab in which sht- worked quietly lbr the Ilt'xt forty yczlrs. It \\'.L\‘ not until she was in her t-iglnics that shc was accorded recognition. Sintc I‘M] hllk‘ has received numcrnus awards fur hut LlI\L'0VL'rICS. including tht‘ 1983 Nulwl I‘ri/t- in medicine, Although M((ilinmck \V.l\ conscious of ‘ sht- JppL‘an ncvcr

her uncqudl nppnrtuniti (0 have \ut’tumhctl tn dCIVIlIIJIIHg frustration and hillcrncsx. tlcspitc hcr hard times. But L'vcn though she ncvcr appeared to hold :1 grudge. nnc who \[llLlICS her life is susceptihlc Of dt-vclnping one on her hclmll. Although one undcrxtands that xgicntil‘ix: revo

S" lcnnllw .\'.igurk.|. "I'rnlxlcm m St'icnc lno

Fm» Womcn." .Ummz llrnl/z/(Manh I(L 1mm: “t.

"ll .\I.Ir\ Bath RIthi, "\V'li} \‘(lmicn Arc Distant‘ Sticntm (Mar. 3. 'I‘ht- I’ipc‘ Srinii‘l'.

Aged Hum Humming \xlt‘llllflx' > I‘l‘mlz I", .unl {\lpcn "Sucnu‘ I'LlllkiIIIUnI ' lII'IC Is leaking \X'umcn '\II the \\".|\' Almig, 3.00 l 1993? 40”

(1] ’,-\l\«lu‘|-IItih.I. I‘mmlt/gdlm/z "b. 15"».

fl

SCIENCE IN ’I’I‘IF. HANDS OF WOMEN 23

lutionaries are often outcasts, her situation was compounded by gender inequality. Given the significance of her work to genetics and medicine, one sees that prejudice can be costly to the collective well-being of humankind and retards the solution of important problems that plague it.

In examining the effect of a male—dominated culture on women scientists, one sees that the collective influence can be quite strong. Rosalind Franklin became depressed by it (perhaps hopeless) while Barbara McClintock persevered. It is important to remember, however, that such influences act not only on outstanding individuals but on every girl. Surveys show the impact of negative expectations on girls’ performance in math and science. Although girls’ math and science performance is similar to that of boys during early school years, girls’ performance drops markedly from puberty through high school as they become more acculturated to society’s gender expectations.” Lack of adequate preparation in math and science in high school are strong predictors of whether

women will choose or succeed in science in ()0

college

In the same passage in which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá talks about the depressive influence of male superiority on women’s ambitions and progress, He also suggests a solution: “we must declare that her [woman’s] capacity is equal, even greater than man’s. This will inspire her with hope and ambition, and her susceptibilities for advancement will continually increase.” In other words, all must recognize that potential precedes actuality and take this as an article of faith. To combat feelings of inferiority ‘Abdu’l-Bahá urged women and men to recognize unequivocally that the relative backwaxdness of women (historically) stems from two simple causes: “opportunity and education”61 This demystifies the question of why women have not contributetl to civilization the same quantity of discoveries,

arts> and sciences as men. No creational

________[Page 24]

24 WORLD ORDER: SUMMER 1998

in eriority prevented her—only lack of education, opportunity, and encouragement. Emphasizing this point relieves women of the burden of emotional self—doubt that contributes to the current psychological bartiers in entering the sciences.

Along with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s assertion that lack of “opportunity and education” have contributed to women’s backwardness, He advocated that the same curriculum of education, including the sciences and arts, be adopted for boys and girls to promote “unity of the sexes.” Furthermore, He enjoins women to prove by their accomplishments in the arts and sciences that their abilities and powers have “merely been latent.”"2

Difficulty in Balancing Scientific Careers and Famin Responsibilities

A PARTICULARLY difficult double standard surrounds the subject of women in science. In effect, the male-dominated culture requires that women who are serious about science prove it by abdicating the option of motherhood in favor of serious science. This is an especially onerous double standard, as science does not require men to give up Fatherhood to be good scientists. I know an assistant professor who hid her pregnancy until the fifth month, wearing tight and uncomfortable clothing, until the day after her tenute hearing, It was her third pregnancy in five years (one of which had resulted in a miscarriage), and, despite her solid work record, she feared knowledge of the pregnancy would compromise her chances of winning tenure. By far the most profound psychological battle women face in the quest to become

62. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Promulgation. 175, 283.

63. Parrot, ”Women and the Culture of Engineering," Resource (Jan. 1998): Z

64. Elizabeth Culotha. “Work and Family: Still :\ Two-Way Stretch, Srimte, 260 (1993): 401.

65. Koshland, “Women in Sci " S ' (1988): 1473- enee, um“, 239

scientiSts is the question of how to balance scientific careers and family responsibilities. The current structure of the scientific labor market and academic environment is so inhospitable t0 the biological and psychological responsibilities of motherhood that it provides a severe deterrent to women's progress in these arenas According to Rrwurr: writer Lael Parrot. “recent surveys confirm that professional women still maintain the bulk of child—rearing responsibilities in the home.""‘

Stiem'e writer Elizabeth Culotha notes that for corporate women scientists and engineers having children is one of the pivotal issues that separate men's and women’s career experiences: “In the culture of industrial research, the trouble frequently starts with pregnancy.

. many [women] felt they Faced a no-win situation: Have a baby before promotionand possibly lose the promotion—ot have the baby afterward and manage a newborn plus heavier job responsibilities’f”a Hiding a pregnancy for seven and a half months, she reports. was one woman's way of dealing with an upcoming promotion.

Koshland, in an editorial in Srimm notes that. for many women, childbearing coincides with a ticking tenure clock, creating overwhelming pressure. with no allowance made by the system for the fact that women not only bear the children but are also the primary organizers of their upbringing He cites this obstacle, confronted before tenure, as sufficient to discourage a significant number of talented women scientiSts.“

Bernadine Heuly. the direcmt of the National Institutes of Health in 199)., writes that

the punishments come (0 women who . . .

have their children while in their 205‘ at

least among women in science. . . . A

study of 460 National Science Founda‘

tion Postdoctoral Fellows showed that women who had their Children during their postdoctoral years did not attain as high academic and leadership positions as other

[Page 25]women and men. . . . women in science eventually hit either the “mommy track” or a “glass ceiling?“

Many of the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá involve the education of children and a mother’s responsibilities, addressing simultaneously the exalted position of motherhood and the seriousness of the responsibility: “The mother is the first teacher of the child. For children, at the beginning of life are fresh and tender as a young twig, and can be trained in any fashion you desire. ‘ . . it is she who establisheth the character and conduct of the child." In another passage He says that “to train the character of humankind is one of the weightiest commandments of God, and the influence of such training is the same as that which the sun exerteth over tree and fruit.” Elsewhere He states that “This is a great and important affair and a high and exalted position, and it is not allowable to slacken therein at all."“‘

Hence it is clear why it is so difficult for women to take the responsibility of child rearing lightly. Educating their children well

66. Bernadine chly. “Women in Science: From Panes to Ceilings." .S'rirm'r, 255 (1993): 13334

61 ‘Abdu'l-Bahj. in "Bahá’í Ethicntiun," T/Jl’ Campibtian of Compilations: Preparer] I1}; {Ive Unh/(rm/ House of Iwn'rz 1963—1990. volt 1 (Australia: Bnhé'l PuhiicaA tions Australia. 19‘)” nos. 63‘). $90. 641,

68. Fat an expanded treatment on the impaCt of current corporate and legal structures on motherhood and equality‘ sec Martha IeJch Sehweitz. OF Webs and Izddcrs: Gender Equality in Bahá’í Law. erd Ordflt 17:} (Fail 1995): 21~39.

69. Marci: Barinaga, "Profile of a Field: Neuroscience—Thc Pipeline Is Leaking.“ Sz'irm'z, 255 (1992?: 1366—67: Ann Gibbons. “Key Issue: Two Career Science Marriage," St'irm‘t. 255 (1992]: 1380—814

70. The Universal House of Justice, letter dated 9 Aug. 1934, in Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu'l—Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House of Justice, Wbmm, no.'74; (or a more in—depth Hcflnu’ni of the complementarit): and flexibility of parental roles, see Constance M. Chen, “The New Family: The Role of the Father. The Role of the Mother," WMdordn. 23:1 (Fall [996): 3948.

SCIENCE IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN 25

is For many women the central issue of their lives. This takes effort, study, reflection, and an enormous commitment of time. Many women do not lightly entrust this task to surrogates, to anyone other than themselves. Many young women scientists who ate Bahá’í’s have taken these injunctions so seriously that they quit their professions during early child-rearing years. Where there is a choice, monetarily, they have chosen to stay home and raise their children themselves. But because the sciences often do not value retaining the input of these women on any basis other than full time, their careers suffer severelyf‘“ They are forced to watch their professional gains slowly erode by the enforced isolation from their professions, which is a result of not being able to “keep one’s hand in,” even in a minimal capacity.

One of the factors contributing to the choice many women scientists make about staying home and rearing their children is that often “With every professional [married] woman comes a professional mant . . . It is extremely rare to have a house husband.” In contrast, another writer asserts, “behind almost every successful, senior professional man is an extremely helpful wife who does

not necessarily have her own full—time posi tion.”69

According to the Universal House of justice, even though the primary responsibility for early child development is assigned to mothers (while primary responsibility for btead—winning is assigned to fathers), these roles are not absolute and can be adjusted (or even reversed) to suit individual family needs?” This would, theoretically, make it possible for families with women scientists to distribute these responsibilities in a manner that enables women to maintain involvement in their scientific careers, assuming the eStablishment provides such opportunities (that is, flextime, paIt-time appointments, and so on). Advocates suggest that “both men and women would benefit from implementing family

_____ [Page 26]

26 WORLD ORDER: SUMMER 1998

policies that recognize the need to share child—rearing.”7'

Nevertheless, the reality is that it is women who undergo nine months of pregnancy and who breast—feed the child. Moreover, the natural first orientation of the infant is toward its mother. These realities strongly contribute to the fact that it is more often women who take a hiatus from their career. Compounding these considerations is the fact that multiple pregnancies increase the number of stops and starts even for women who have relatively short child—related interruptions to a scientific career.

The current academic and corporate scientific environments provide little opportunity for arrangements that are conducive to balanced, family-oriented career development.72 Many experts agree that this setiously contributes to the fact that the percentage of women working in the sciences is not rising significantly, despite the higher numbers of women educated in the sciences.75 The overwhelming stress of reconciling child—related concerns and the unbending scientific work environment has led to the phenomenon known as the “leaking pipeline,” wherein women are being lost to the sciences due to a structure that refuses to allow for the intrinsic needs of women participants. For example, in the field of neuroscience, which has one of the highest numbers of women, 45 percent of those entering graduate programs are women, 38 percent of

71. Parrot, “Women and the Culture of Engineering,” Scimrl, 260 (1993): 6—8.

72‘ See Amato, “Profile of a Field: ChemistryWomen Have Extra Hoops to Jump Through." Sciem‘z, 255 (1992): 137243, and Betsey Morris. “Is Your Family Wrecking Your Career (and Vice Versa)?" Fortune, 135.5 (1997): 70‘90.

73. Parrot, “Women and the Culture of Engineering,” Scienre, 260 (1993): 6—8.

74. Batinaga, “Profile of a Field: Neuroscience ghe Pipeline Is Leaking,” Science, 255 (1992): 13667.

7f,

the doctorates are awarded to women. and 33 percent of the post-docroral candidates are women. But only 27 percent of the jobs go to women (and only one—third of these are tenure-ttack jobs). “When women are completing postdocs and deciding whether to take another pOStdoc, apply for n (enute-track job, or settle for a non-tenute-track position,” writer Marcia Barinaga reports one neutoscientist as saying, mThat's the time when your self-confidence faces the biggest challenge, . . . that challenge is compounded by the fact that combining the tenure track with family life is not for the fainbof—heart. . . A second one noted, uThe women who have made it and are trying to do it all are leading crazy lives, . . . that’s scary [for young women] to look at."—“

The painful fact is that if the choice is made to take a hiatus from a scientific career. the consequences can be enormous. The loss of self-confidence arising From isolation. the loss of preparedness in rapidly advancing sciences, the stigma associated with the hiatus, and the barriers to reentry may result in a permanent leave of absence and a redirecting of career aspirations. That is to say, women will often search out options more compatible with their total persona.

The maxim that “the life of a woman is different from the life of a man,“ though simple, has much relevance here. One begins to see, for example, that asking women scientists to attain tenure in five years, while simultaneously undergoing one or two pregnancies, is unworkable and unjust. \Vomen cannot be expected merely to fit into the established professional world of men and still discharge family responsibilities. This becomes excruciatingly demanding on women, and it is, in fact, jun another form of oppression, not emancipation. Burnout is often the price one pays for trying to live up to a standard that is not commensurate with one's real self, a standard that others have created For one. Therefore, it is imperative for

[Page 27]women to seek out their own standard, their own pace, their own alternatives to career development and balancing the requirements of mothcthond. They must not let the male establishment. even one that believes itself enlightened, do this for themt But this is only a first step in resolving this difficult issue. and it is the only mu- m'er which women have even partial control.

‘Abdu'I-Bahzi's statements on the education of. children are not meant to oppress women further, (0 keep them barefoot, pregnant. and in the kitchen. Rather. they assert that “‘0an scientists have two major ways in which to attack the issue ohvorld progress and peace: to aid in the development of the world through their protL-ssions and to help train the character of humankind through the edumtiun of their children. a role He compares m the influence of the sun in the greening of; the planet. 'lhken together with His statements on the ncetl flit women to rise t0 the highest degree in all Arenas of endeavnr. they make it imperative that changes he made in the nmlc—duminnted system of science to allow women to Fulfill these double roles. However, it is nut that women must be Scientists and mothers too: but they must have the right to do 50, il‘ they so wish This right is intrinsic to their identity as women; and the s stem of. science must accommodate this right just .is it must all other human rights.

Conclusion

154 Rrflrrtimix m1 (imdrr mill St'imre, physmlst Evelyn Fox Keller, who is a prob: sor 0F sctence,

fl‘. Keller. Rr/Ia'lmu! ml (/r‘m/er' 111111 .51 Mm? 7.

'6, Su- Ruth Blcit-r. alt. I-krm': ‘I rl/a/vrwvtr/m [tr Arum? [New ‘t'utk: l’crgtlnlun, 1980): Ruth Bleler: 54‘!Mt? mid (inu/(r, A (fmu/m' ({[BM/IKVAIHII In 7/trarm’ ml u"omm (xm wt; l’crngniL 1034); Keller, R: a-—_ Mom on (imdtr am/ .M'temr. .tml Blueh. "Bltithers of lnventlun. \¥'th Are \V'umt-n Doing (0 SHCHCL’El'll'lluln'll ((M/Nm, 1mm: 16/22.

SCIENCE IN THE HANDS OF WOMEN 27

technology, and society at the Massachusetts lnstitute of Technology, makes the case that, contrary to general belief, the priorities of science and, therefore, the questions investigated by scientists, have not been determined completely impartially. They reflect, rather, the subset of the population historically practicing science—that is, primarily white males. Furthermore, she asserts that there is a deeply rooted popular mythology that casts objectivity, reason, and mind as male, and subjectivity feeling, and nature as female. In this diviston of emotional and intellectual labor women have been the guarantors and protectors of the personal, the emotional, the particular, whereas science—the province par excellence of the impersonal, the rational, and the generalf has been the preserve of men.

The consequence of such a division is not simply the exclusion of women from the practice of science. That exclusion itself is a symptom of a wider and deeper rift between feminine and masculine, subjective and objective, indeed between love

and power———a tending of the human fab ric. . . .75

According to Bahá’í’ principles, as in all other arenas (political, social, economic), the driving impetus behind the current scientific system must be changed to reflect a “feminization” of humanity’s thinking. A significant body of literature has been published during the past decade focusing on feminist

approaches to science, reflecting on the im pact of gender on science and questioning the assumptions underlying science, that, if

portends an approach76

it continues to grow, ing scientific revolution. h A statement made by the Bahá’í International Community in 777: Prosperity of Human/eiml makes clear the imperfative neces sity for such a scientific revolution: A central challenge, therefore—and an

enormous one——is the expansion of sCien __

[Page 28]

28 WORLD ORDER: SUMMER 1993

tific and technological activity. . . . Development strategy . . . must take as a major goal the task of making it possible for all of the earth’s inhabitants to approach on an equal basis the processes of science and technology which are their common birthright.77 But even beyond the matter of women’s equal access is that of reorienting science's values. According to social critic Lewis Mumford: Nothing less than a profound re—otientation of our vaunted technological “way of life” will save this planet from becoming a lifeless desert. . . . For its effective salvation mankind Will need to undergo something like a spontaneous religious conversion; one that will replace the mechanical world picture with an organic manifestation of life, the precedence it now gives to its machines and computers. . . .73 What is needed to effect change is a difieram kind of orientation, the kind of orientation ‘Abdu’l-Bahá invoked. Is it possible that the interplay of the qualities in which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says women currently excel (empathy, intuition, philanthropy, concern for the “needy and suffering,” and a focus on that which is most needful to humanity) and their relative freedom from a need to preserve the status quo or [0 measure their own self-worth by those standards, would engender in women, at this time, the greater “moral courage” needed to effect a reorientation of science’s priorities? A relative newcomer, with a “fresh perspective,” so to speak? Yes, but only if that newcomer knows what science is about and honors its own gifts, rather than

77. Bahá’í International Community, The [’rmpyrity ofHuman/eind 14—15.

78. Lewis Mumford, Th: Pentdgnn af Power: The Myth aft/Jt Machine (New York: Harcourt, 1970) 413‘

79. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, I’romulgation 134.

losing them. And only if that scientific community [0 which those gifts are offered embraces them and seeks to transform itself. Anything less will produce a delay in the needed transformation.

It is clear. however, from the current condition of the world that compassion and a concern for the needs of the suffering are paramount when developing new scientific priorities and devising new technologies.

If peace is urgent. and the contribution of women to science is a critical ingredient in establishing peace, an acceleration in women’s practice of science is also urgent. Rather than the predominantly male scientific community’s continuing to structure work in such a way that most women are excluded from pursuing careers, humanity in general and the scientific community in particular must facilitate an increase in the number of women in scientific endeavors, The barriers to women‘s participation must be broken down quickly and thoroughly. Because men are the dominant force in the world of science. it must be done primarily by men. For equality to happen, men must take ownership of the principle. If the scientific arena can transform itself to welcome women's participation as quickly as women develop themselves to fulfill their role. a synergy could ensue that would produce unprecedented change at unprecedented rates. The mind can hardly conceive of the possibilities for transformation in the material fortunes of humankind.

“It is well established in history,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’ asserts, “that where woman has not participated in human affairs the outcomes have never attained a state of completion and perfectioanq Here is an intimation that science without the benefit of women participants provides an incomplete picture. This is amply illustrated in the arena of primatelogical studies. where, before empathy was made a legitimate part of scientific inquiry, little insight had been obtained. It is also illustrated in the case of genetic research where

[Page 29]

the intuitive approach. “(he fueling, for (11:.. ,1

orgamsm, led to a breakth rough that caused

a shift in the central paradigm. But, mom of

all, by this statement ‘Abdu’l-Bahá CRCaICS a

SCIENCE IN 'I'HE HANDS OF WOMEN 29

dynamic vision of what lies in store for humankind when women come to participate fully in human aFfairs: “completion and perfection.“

[Page 30]

[Page 31]31

Affirming the Power of Poetry

IT (3N .OlIEn appear characteristic of this age that we seem more inclined to I'Clcct than affirm, [0 polarize than unify, to separate than integrate. Ironically, that pattern has been particularly striking in the humanities during the past thirty years. where new approaches to the making and study of literature and other arts have proliferated, along with attendant controversies about the value of that cfl'brL Nowhere has that trend been more dramatic and productive than in the area known as Women’s Studies.

Supporters cite the indisputable achievements: the recovery of writers and works previously lost to history: new insights into literature of all kinds; and the flourishing of women writers with especially powerful voices. Opponents of that approach cite its perceived deleterious effects on the idea of a common culture. In the September 1998 issue of Harper} magazine, for example, a distinguished female author laments “the unstoppable ideological emphasis on ‘writing by women,‘ ‘women writers,’ and similar terminology" that she feels “has sundcrcd contemporary American writing irrevocably, so that we now have [hL' prospect of two permanent Classes: (women writers’ and ‘wtiters,’ the latter being exclusively malei"

It is with an awareness of such contemporary minefields that the editors offer this anthology. but with this distinction: this is not an anthology of poems by women writers; it is an anthology of poems by human beings who happen to be women who happen to write. Indeed, we wotlld argue that, in fact, the anthology illustrates one of the best loved of Bahá’í princtples—the Value of unity in diversity, in that each of these writers is, 0bV10usly,Ian individual. most of whom probably do not even know each other and certainly were not thinking about each other when writing their poems. Each votce herein is uni ue. _

And vct. lily virtue of living as women in the world, all of the authorshm this anthology inhabit a common neighborhood 0i: shared experience. T 1:15 one can dL‘Icct a pattern of themes and issues, a particular eloquence on certain

t . . . . . 'rl

topics, an atliiiirahlc level of senstbility. From? that Perspeitilje, 1t 3:253:11:

be argued [lmt it is not the authors who are being privxlege . ut,'m h , ead, listen to, and share in VOICES t at are

readers. who are being invited to r

i ‘ '4 universal in their appeal. unique but also potentially , #THE EDITORS

[Page 32]

VUORID ORDER: SUMMER 1998

An Unveiling

House inside an house, room hidden in a room, domain of women in a Persian home.

Going abroad the woman still would walk

inside that room, in flowing garb

shapeiess and dark, her very eyes cnveiled

in sheerest black that deadencd sight and sound. How was it spun, this ail—enfolding web,

and how maintained, its viscous filaments becoming cable—strong? Who was “protecred” by it, and did any ask?

Haydar-Ali of Iṣfahán testcd the house

where he had grown to manhood.

Home and Family fell away

and one by one his friends. He left them all, even his books, except the four he chose

for close companionship in a strange townhis cave of solitude. Calligraphy and other arts eamcd him his time for search. Those Chosen books? —two poets, the Qu‘rén, and one heretical and dangerous to which he gave his heart.

the Book of Certitude.

He became teacher and writer and traveler,

often a Fugitive, sometimes imprisoned.

He sidestepped death, took torture made new friends‘ His way led on [0 way.

Then from the Caliph’s Prisoner in ‘Akká

this word: “A faithful servant of the Cause

asks leave to be your wife‘

Go to Tehran and marry her."

A green oasis there before him,

“We set up in Tehran a modest home," he writes, and he adds praise for her its quiet centeri

[Page 33]POETRY AN‘J'HOLOGY 33

Quicr until the trouble in the north a harder (own where homes were pillaged, burned, the ficlds dcsrroycd. Beaten, abused,

the victims made it In Tehran. He sent them word: “Come to us prudently, at night, no more than five at once. to see what can be done”

But hdlf a hundred Came, somehow evading guards, laughing and sobbing. filled the little house, chantcd and praised, declared for martyrdom

if (hm must be, Four hours passed

and since he kncw he could not feed them all

he sadly 5cm them out.

Shc was bcforc him now with fiery rears "W'by (/I’L/Iyuu pm zlzrm out, these homeless ones?

I had made ready bread and meat and Cheese!

How will wc- unswcr when God asks of us,

WWII)! didyou let t/Ie‘m goWAll of us are hungry now!"

"I was :lbashcd," he writes. How had she known; how contrived (here in her curtained world? What wcrc hcr reservoirs, her hidden springs? Was now [he vci] forever rent between

their scpamtc dwellings?

He Writes on: "It was agreed the friends should all come back, six at a time, one group each evening, discreet, with care, shun: with us fully. every night a feast," ——Anna Stevenson

Assembly of (h: Bahi'l’s of the Unixcd Sums

‘ ngnnghx m 1mm 1“ \‘hr Vaumml sp.nml

[Page 34]

3 4

\VORH) ORDER: SUMMER 1998

maxnie’s questions

summer 1996

don’t tell me it wasn’t much of a church, she said

forty years my morher heed her forty acres of pain just across that county line drawn by hate

but sundays she’d take sancruary

polish those pews With her callouscd caress

wring her hands when she’d as soon have wrung someone‘s neck and let divine alchemy

transform her [ears [0 ecstasy

decades of her pennies poured into the plate to build and termite-proof something they couldn’t take

she married here,

baptized and hounded us through Bible school ’til we squeezed out the other end

finally understanding why

this was her refuge her heart’s home

they knew it they burned it

now, when her day comes, where will we sing my mother to her glory?

[Page 35]l’OI-l'l'RV AN'I'H( now 35

II

wlmt klnd of men burn Your house, Lord?

why can‘t they turn that fire to their own hearts, hum away the veils that keep them so blind against their brothers?

if they don't do it For themselves soon, someone else may do it for them.

111

i don‘t like what I’m hearing i pray God take me before the fuse runs short

no, i haven‘t given up, not quite yet

not Iiku some Folks I know

who'd count their days dog-lucky

ii (hcv never saw a white face again.

i figure thcrcs good in y all somewhere

but I do ask the Lordhow long will this go on?

we‘ve had centuries of it aren't You weary of this yet?

i anL ._.Susan McLaIen

\ upmghi n‘ mus in Susan \ICLarcn

[Page 36]——’_

36 WORLD ORDER: SUMMER 1998

The Clothesline Project

I could not sit still after what I saw. That trip to D.C. in the spring, the Cherry Blossom Festival,

and the Clothesline Project displayed on the green.

The air was warm and dry, the sun shone on the faces of the tourists. That mile of green which stretches from the Lincoln Memorial

‘. thru the Washington Monument

‘ all the way m the Capitol was littered with pilgrims,

‘ masses of infinite diversity

‘ rubbing shoulders,

happy to be there, carefree.

‘ On that green were rows of T—shirts displayed on clotheslines. And on each shirt 3 story; pictures, a poem, an expletive . . . Haunting by virtue of its ugliness, \ its truth, and its violence. ‘ Each was the story of a woman abused. ‘ a child violated, ‘ a human temple desecrated.

‘ T—shirts now branded in my memory.

‘ Color—coded for each crime;

‘ pink and red for rape Victims,

‘ yellow and beige for the battered and assaulted, v‘ green/blue for abused molested children,

“ and white in memoriam Of the silent women

‘ dead by the hand of a husband or boyfriend.

[Page 37]

PO E'I‘RY ANTHOLOGY

A II-shirr with stick-figure woman and children saylng, "Your chiIdrcn's life begins

when you walk away,"

while unorhcr said: “Don‘t ask Why

shc‘ Stayed. ask why he battered."

“No more," said one bruised woman’s blue shirt. “Never again," said a red shirt rape victim. Arabic characters I could not decipher

on a White shirt.

with a graphic depiction

of fcnmle genital mutilation,

that obscene cultural ritual

performed to ensure 2| girl's Chastity

A flower garden and smiling sun

on a yellow shirt.

crooning to a lost inner child:

“Come out into the sunshine.”

A gun, a badge, a man's face On a shirt that said, “Upstanding citizen. pillar of the community, police ofliccr, dad, destroyer of my soul, rapist. Why did ynu do it daddy, I was only nine years old.”

A 3 by 5 typed card, pinned on a shirt,

said. “I was raised by white supremacist parents who made me witness the murder and torture

of their victims. sexually abused me,

and sold me into prostitution at the age of twelve.

I have survived."

I did not know it was possible

to survive against such oddsI

37

[Page 38].58

\VORI l) ()RDER:

SUMMER 1998

On the way back home,

describing to my husband

the gripping awareness,

the flood of emotion that engulfed me;

he nodded as he drove the car, silent.

I felt crass for breaking the spell

of a perfect Washington weekend,

for dwelling on the unpleasant.

I told a friend back home

about all that pain and testimony.

She said “Wow . . ." over the phone,

uneasy silence followed‘

Not the subject of polite conversation, I thought. The mind recoils

at the grotesqueness of the unmentionable.

The safe don’t care to know of the graphic horrors, to hear of the pain of the violated.

They are two worlds apart, two compartments of a fragmented social order.

But because I wandered through

those T—shirt corridors

I Still hear them.

Their strangled cries echoing into eternity. Their myriad whispers clamoring for expression. Their shrieks and angry shouts rising,

a ghostly cyclone threatening

[0 engulf and sweep away

everything in its path,

till all the deeds done in the dark of night should come to light in the blazing sun. Cracks in a dried up riverbcd.

How powerful they are, these united voices of the powerless,

waving side by side on the clothesline, ranked like a battalion,

poised to repel the assailant.

[Page 39]

POETRY AN'IHOHXIV 3‘)

huh Vllshin .1 battle fought in darkness, .1 Mb .1Llling with loneliness.

.1 xhild crying out in the wilderness

in [110 111111111051 heart of crcaIion.

Bur now .1 [mmmcm 10 survival,

In lllctriunlph of the human soul.

N1)“ .1 11111111111 clmin.

pulling the “1-1ng 0F [11: ages

off 1111' lux k5 of thy downtrodden.

11.1111 .1 tiny hailsmnc. that will bear

11pm) (I1c windmvpanc of our consciousness, inlrudc in (11c paths of our notice,

111;: like .1 wild on our sleeve

(ill “1- lnnk .11 111cm . . . and see them plain.

——Rhea Harmsen

111,...141,‘ . WA 1.. um». Ime.”

Bonfire

I burned KIIC hook 1hc story was my hfe muh page dmwn tight.

Aficr the fire I suu'chcd the ash {or (he indcsrrucnblc.

”Joan Imig Taylor

mm In m.- \lmnnal >plrium] .-\<§cmbl}'

1....N1u ‘ _ , ' L nucd \ulc:

1: 1h: Ihinh r" m:

[Page 40]WORLD ORDER: SUMMER 1998

Spiritual Migration

it is time, even here, here where i thought to dwell

forever and ever

even on this plane, the leaves of spirit change, the season for departures arrives

it is time, even here, to strike the many—colored tent, abandon the remnants of the cherished fire

time for mending for the journey the cft-broke wings of this nomad, homeless soul

Oh God! hungry for things holy, the king left his palace

with no backward glance.

excuse this poor dervish

who grieves for his bowl.

—-Diane Hufl:

[Page 41]l‘OIi'I’RYANIIIDIUGV 41

Vahid 1

'\ rul clm lull, spotted and curled (0 reveal mil pink of underbelly. hm bccomc one \xuh llu- mvk. Algae soft and persuasive msw .1\\'.1_\' in {orm while thv river yields

1m (1w limc [wing m‘cr misud, delicate stern. (’Imd‘n dmnu u) rhc heat. but somewhere Uluk nm hr down lhc .lmbcr course of river .l n-d (.lilcd hawk delights

in his umL \litlwring prim. —l\r13rl:1ina B. Tanny

\ Hn?‘ \ \“H “u \VHLmH B Imm

Symphonies

[’n-pmlcmm hut rm} (hat I, “hm ”mu lczu'ncd an instrument ID .11] my nincty years,

unxlmkahly, still SL’l my heart

m pl‘l} snmc needed part

m .l mu orchcstm,

Ho'und Lumplmny that shouts,

"I lmr mu/ chr me/ 4

hcwmd .1 qmwring 0t perZHC Chowe, umxniucd lhcmu, ‘ . 1F {UH LIIOrdS of the symphony ltSC I

[UH ‘IIL‘ [ give mv soul [0 play.

Hm‘nnd mu. ——Anna Stevenson 01’ Kim Bahá’í wrw‘ m m» \_mmu] <pmuut \wembly

[Page 42]

42

WORLD ORDER: SUMMER 1998

To My Bahá’í’ Sister

Sister, it hurts me to see you cut your bare

and blistered feet on this road of chorus

I watch you bleed, yet you go on dancing

to some private harmony, smiling,

unwitting queen of a cruel pageant,

you wear the bandage of faith like a regal silk gown and carry injustice and misery in your arms

like a bouquet.

Desperately I weave armor for you with the

frail thread of my prayers, still the arrows find you and Still your eyes shine, and still you sing

like a nightingale in the King’s garden

to the music of torment and pain.

Sister, on the day which shall have no night

the angels will dance to the bittersweet lovcsong of your suffering. I am walking in your light, trying to Warm you with your own reflection.

—Veronica A. Shoffstall

Copuighr (0 199K by me Nanunal 5pm.“! Amcmblv of m: Balni'h or rlrc Unircd 5mm

[Page 43]

i

POETRY AN'I l IOLOGY 43

Educating Humanity

'I'hc \mu'r bums {m‘th from

[hr sprinkler

rmnhcx Inward [hc xky

it msmxlcx dnwn upon Ihc earth

I[\ Lllnhk)“. (Vt. llghI \prL‘Jd) mmmuu, qucmhing

[ht ncuds ol‘ .1“ urganixms

I‘h‘)\C &|(’\L'\1 ['L'CCi‘K'

An Jlmmhnu‘, INC

mulliplicx rapidly whilc mil furthcl ‘I\\.l'\' ruuiu-s Ihc spmy

Nu lam ditf'uscd And Ihliuw. —M. j. Simpson

1 m n. m, \J-‘md \pumml '\\meV of mu HJJm'is

‘v:' A M m

I Smell Roses

I smell roses

From time to time

whole bouquets beneath my nose I ask if anyone else smells them and they say no

the Holy Spirit

gardens my heart

turns over the soil

what turmoil

but then

I smell roses

——Florence D. Kindel

(:npvrl

[Page 44]

WOW 1) ORDER: SUMMER 1998

Windward

“There’s water to wash the body

and wind to cleanse the mind,"

I remember this as I fiuFFgrc'ap grandmother’s feathcrbed over the clothcslinc, seeing eidcrdown IHOKCS feathering the breeze; the old gmnlln‘m‘. so long crushed in the cedar Chest, breathes the Indian summer,

filling against the Coming Winter.

50 I try it: bend my head low.

swish up and down, side [1) sidc

to air the crazyquilt; I know

there‘s no such thing anyway :13

keeping your thoughts to yourself

because they all do disperse, for good

or evil, ethereal thistledown sown windward and ripe for regeneration.

As I stand, I breathe in,

filling the honeycomb with oxygen to osmose through the labyrinth wherc mind becomes muttu‘.

I would live such (hm my bruuhing 11111 may be of wind washed gmliuldc lur \\ muul xccdx of verity [0 be scattered l)\ angels

—Cynthia Shcperd juskwhich

Cupyngln <0 1mm l)\' 1111- VJnmml \[111111L1l \Mn.1»11 0' {he H.1lm'k ol‘ 1|1c 1‘mml mm

[Page 45]

i

POETRY ANJ'HOLUUY 4S

limlprints

In Iwmlml Hui .11 \HILIIIL [VVC sccn

lm‘wnmx (.J/ui .n mqmwwmh

()1 FM [HI “I \IthmnmL .md (11‘ Buddha.

lhu 11min (juu\.|dvx dmnh II] Rome \H 11:5 mulw ..t Ilu- u-n tL-rl uf‘ (jhrisr \in 4. w‘wsh nngmmd imu firmml marble, \h nu n m hum} HM: I'MMHHL \mm Hm; m mv Imuxc \\ HM .< [H.(ki Mu llml. Hull ruin lhc whole place!”

\Vltijé.l.\\\11l(ihl‘llil‘||1k"\h(7|t’}31d(c rihhfillti [mm Ilu {\Irilxk'll Irwmcnh of Rome

Mu; um uni Hniumtl} cxpmul Amund us 1:1“ A [>11IHLI |I.l|\kk’ mumm} xmrcd .n by schoolbovs

in wmr \IHMHIHH' llh‘1)gkld.

{In x J” Imnul shy \xlmlu placc, HmLHm wxh Im [hungln dun broks down castes,

\m! \1li‘u x ‘.\hull[l|k'.l\|1('kl lllc \VHK’I‘S of the law In [In J« \nVI ul lht‘ \umi,

\111llmmm‘1 \anlw HM fl‘ccd \Lu‘cs,

me mm H \\ hm .de Ilul quietly div as infants

( [whim m Ilwr ‘\I.I|~Lm_\1nLL

11h \Ill.!\]l< ‘1 nlnlx «vi \Icu‘a \mi Hn 1n“ \\UIt] “hid! lmric‘d

Hm unyn ul Iln .Ilkik'l‘H \x'm'ld

\m1 Mt 11m Lump ‘7', (hr Iilnklrics

of Baghdad.

I\« :m IHMIPIIHH .ngin \Hl \VIHINVH\MI]L'\1H nmlblcundsrone “1” mm ~ullnh .llrc: his’mry . apxcs at our mmds.

\HJ J

‘VIA fnh'u'! [ho wn

- I |\ nnm-d once more. mx' ux’ its dcstrucuon) ’s cxplosxons

Hm v hwh I'ldxn' 'v Jml I’uHmL \|\ 1:" 0F LN century h { Footprints

1mm I V:\~«>3\u1 M [In gnu \llxi!‘ln\n\l\\ll|1‘llk'“ \L‘[ 0 [H Julplu'l “c“.

fjulie Badiee

\‘H' } ,|\x \K

[Page 46]

WORLD ORDER: SUMMER 1998

Mary, my Sister

Martha missed it all I knew that as a child While she took care of others’ needs,

Burnished the wine Cups, baked the bread,

Mary simply sat there and drank deep of His presence, Martha missed it all.

Mary understood there are times

when you can suspend the rules.

And Martha may have been a bit house»proud, But women both, with shades of being,

God’s creation and blessed in the end.

I am more Martha’s sister

than Mary's,

find service a comfort, and almost a need, But love Mary

For the way she gets to the heart of things, In one easy breath.

—Diane Huff

[Page 47]fl

POETRY AN’I'HOI.OGY 47

Airborne

()I‘ Iau- hc's skeptical

Of my ncw-Ibund faith;

he says I must ht afraid

I'm going [0 die soon;

I my I am .lf‘ruid

I haven} Iiwd soon enough.

Suuncr . . I Iatcr I . . living . . . dying arr crummy.

.l ximcIuss wind in and out a window,

.111 cu: —Ii\'ing inhuIarion and exhalation; .md if‘ {rcsh inspiration be breathed

into (his ccnxclcss respiration

(hun this hruuh of air I'm riding

might hucomc an updraft under falcon wings, .1 talk paw pufl‘ filling a spinnaker,

.l mughing brcczc winding through

the huncysucklc of dreams,

.1 joyous aspiration flowing

{mm :1 singing reed;

I know enough of winging, wounded through tmnpcstuous blows

or of smoldering in the dOIdrums

[u know whcrc prcvaiIing Winds

do and don} blow.

Now that I'm breathless,

in high spirits on this kitewind

.md he wants so to wind me in oh! it. had just ICE the string

go skimming through loose fingers

In (hut wonderful aerial see»saw

with the wind in the palm of his hand

.md the kite breathing in and out easy righx now is when he’ll have faith

that he can easily taka- a deep breath

jump 09‘ and ride high. —Cynt_hia Sheperd Jaskwhich

\ 1 LIN 7 I‘V‘N In 1h: National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháns ”p. y; I

I 'IEK I mqu \urm

[Page 48]

[Page 49]Authors & Artists

JL'LIE BADIEE is a professor of art history and chair of the Department of Art and Art History at Western Maryland College and an affiliate professor in the School of Graduate Studies at Landegg Academy, Wienacht, Switzerland.

RHFA HOWARD HARMSEN, who writes and lectures on race and gender studies. earned her Ph.D. at the University of WisconsinMadison in plant breeding and plant genetics. She is currently completing a novel (T/Ie Harvm‘ of Reason) involving women in science, interracial marriage, and issues of chasrity, Her early poetry is collected in Language of the Spirit.

DIANE HUFF is an English and Spanish editor for CTB/Mchw«Hill. Her interests include community literacy projects, sustainable development, desktop publishing. and web design.

CYNTHIA SHEI’ERD JASKWHICH, a creative writing teacher, poet. journalist, and artist-in-residence, specializes in working with children and youth in South Carolina schools.

FLORENCE D. KINDEI , who holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, is an artist and an adjunct teacher at Kean College in New Jersey.

SUSAN McLAREM who teaches English and theater arts, is a translator For the Instttute

of the Philosophy of Law at the University of Zulia in Maracaibo, Venezuela.

VERONICA A. SHOI—‘FS'I‘ALI. is an editorial assistant for One Country, the newsletter published by the Bahá’í International Community. Her work has appeared in many books, including Cbit/een Soup far the Teenage Soul.

M. J. SIMPSON, a mother and a poet, home schools her four children‘

ANNA STEVENSON is a painter and writer and a frequent contributor to World Order:

MARLAINA Bt TANNY recently returned to New England after living for nine years in Barbados, where she tutored its National Dance Company, choreographed, and taught art in the schools. Her poems have appeared in literary journals in the US. and Barbados.

JOAN IMIG TAYLOR has been a frequent contributor to World Order since our first poetry anthology in the Spring 1971 issue. She passed away on 10 June 1998 at the age of eighty-four.

ART CREDITS: Cover design by John Solarz, cover photograph, Steve Garrigucs; p. 6, photograph, Stan Phillips; p. 29, photograph, Camille O’Reilly; p. 30. photograph, Stan Phillips; pt 48, photograph, Steve Garrigues.