Who's Laughing Now

Sir: As a subscriber to Women's Wear Daily I have been amused by the persistence of Mr. Fairchild to push the midi onto the American women [Sept. 14]. All year WWD has sung the praises of the Longuette and branded Xs over the knees of women, like Jackie O, who have been "caught short" in minis. Now WWD has the chutzpah to call their midi-clad favorites "fashion victims" because they "allow fashion to wear them rather than wearing the fashion that suits them." Is Women's Wear Daily laughing at its ability to turn women into trend-following sheep? You bet your BP.

(MRS.) CANDY WARSHAVER GLAZER Richmond

Sir: Gosh, all those folks at WWD sound as real and relevant as their product. Gee, how exciting and meaningful to wage "vendettas against designers" and fearlessly forecast skirt lengths. Wow, that kind of contribution to society must be ever so satisfying. Golly, when the world heals and we are free to abdicate our maturity, maybe we too can devote our second childhood to being cute, bitchy and frivolous.

ROBERT E. BURNS Glendale, N.Y.

Sir: The definitive balloting on Women's Lib will be conducted this fall. If the midi wins, back to Kinder, Kiiche, Kirche with the whole sorry lot of them!

MARVIN C. WACHS Lexington, Ky.

Sir: May that hateful dictator and the bleating industry which he leads around by the nose all lose their fur-lined shirts on this graceless, hideous, frumpish monstrosity! I, for one, refuse to start looking like my own grandmother at the whim of this tyrannical male chauvinist.

(MRS.) KATHY NEWMAN Milwaukee

Essence of Entertainment?

Sir: Elliott Gould--"Star for an Uptight Age" [Sept. 7]? No, not really. Elliott Gould is far more a "Star in an Uptight Age" who helps us to feel less uptight for hours by bringing back the true essence of entertainment and thereby according us pleasure in a world so often so serious and sad.

SHERYL J. NATHANS Philadelphia

Sir: Elliott Gould's complaints do run on. His parents are incompetent louses, the man who started him in show business is a Fagin, the bust-up of his marriage is all what's-her-name's fault, and all his directors are just jerks in the end. Only his young son seems to have been spared such compulsive poor-mouthing--so far. Gould's irresponsible childishness on and off the screen may give a vicarious thrill to many who share his petulant self-pity, but until he grows up, this moviegoer will continue to opt for the likes of Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson and Alan Arkin.

JOHN MOORE Washington, D.C.

Sir: You quote Gould's friend Bob Kaufman on Gould's changeable attitude (or gradual disenchantment) toward directors, ending with a disparaging comment about Mervyn Le Roy. I am sure Kaufman did not intend to be unkind or unfair, but it is hard to accept such disparagement of a man whose credits include I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, Random Harvest, Waterloo Bridge and the production of Wizard of Oz--and whose finest credit is that he is one of the gentlest, most civilized human beings around.

JEAN SEBERG Geneva, Switzerland

Concerning the Cuties

Sir: I want to thank you for your unbiased reporting of Women's Liberation [Aug. 31].

Our local papers and TV newscasters ridiculed the whole movement mercilessly, with an "Aren't they cute?" attitude. It's a pleasure to see TIME greet our efforts with respectful and objective news reporting.

GAHAN K. PHILLIPS Los Angeles

Sir: The "we-never-had-a-chance-because-we-were-poor-mistreated-women" philosophy that runs like a soggy rope through Kate Milieu's account of her life reminds me of the spoiled child's age-old lament, "I didn't ask to be born." Never was a woman, in my opinion, so imprisoned by prejudice and resentment.

(MRS.) DELORES BECKMAN Rimrock, Ariz.

Sir: Women's Lib, as explained in Gloria Steinem's essay, offers some excellent perspectives for improving the lot of both sexes.

But why must Liberation defeat its own feminist purpose by not letting us do what we do best: be feminine? I for one refuse to join the ranks until girls like Kate Millett keep their hair squeaky-clean and put their bras back on. I wear my Phi Beta Kappa key on a bracelet; what does Kate do with hers--scratch?

CLAUDINE WEED Madrid

Sir: Black women are "largely absent from the ranks of Women's Liberation" groups because we have no real reason to be a part of them. Due to our circumstances, namely the selling and trading of our men, we have been matriarchs in our families by necessity. Now that black men are coming into their own, we are enjoying just being women.

(MRS.) SHIRLEY A. EVES Milwaukee

Open Invitation

Sir: I am prompted to write this letter to right a wrong done to Pontiac Motor Division and our nearly 18,000 employees.

In your issue of Sept. 7 you display a photograph of our assembly plant with a two-line caption which states that our plant is a "noisy, dirty place to work."

First of all, if you will look at the picture, there is no visible dirt; as for the noise level, two men in the photograph seemingly are not shouting at each other but conversing in a normal way. Incidentally, that picture was taken one year ago by your photographer and therefore could not represent any current situation anyway.

We have a longstanding open invitation that is extended to any and all newsmen to visit our plants with only 30 minutes' notice.

F.J. MCDONALD

General Manager

Pontiac Motor Division

General Motors Corp.

Pontiac, Mich.

Don't Be Surprised

Sir: In your article concerning the spread of bombing by radicals across the U.S. [Sept. 7], you failed to note the reasons why liberal students are turning toward violence. Starting with small things, such as our pop festivals being closed down one after another, to the obvious: the continued Indochina war with no end in sight, the outrageous marijuana laws, the draft, hardhat violence, police harassment and on and on and on. If the Administration continues to ignore the plea of its young, don't bz surprised if America is nothing but smoke and ashes by the end of the decade!

LAIRD MACDOWELL Kensington. Md.

Sir: Radical bombings have all the elements of murder: criminal intent, premeditation, treachery, conspiracy and, usually, nocturnity and the use of motor vehicles. But radical bombers walk around arrogantly and defiantly and often enjoy the hero worship of some of their future victims.

CRISTY R. HERNANDEZ Columbus

Walls and All

Sir: As an engineer interested in the practicality of things both electrical and mechanical, I was intrigued by the inventions and adventures of Rufus Porter [Sept. 7].

My first acquaintance with Porter's work came, however, when I found that the Howe house in Westwood was to be demolished. My neighbor, Francis Holland, and I decided to perform a rescue operation and remove the murals--walls and all. The operation was a success. Incidentally, as far as is known, the Howe house contained the only murals by Porter that were both signed and dated. His son, Stephen Twombley Porter, evidently helped on this particular work, as his signature also appears.

BENJAMIN HILDEBRANT Westwood, Mass.

No Evidence

Sir: To prevent rumor through repetition being taken as fact, I want to specifically deny that the U.S. Government has any French police reports or any other reports for that matter indicating laxity in the enforcement of drug laws in France [Sept. 14]. Another variation of this story, which appeared in two Paris publications, suggests that we have evidence linking French political figures with the narcotics traffic. It is also without foundation.

The truth is that we do have a widespread and increasingly successful effort to choke off the drug traffic from Europe, and the government of President Pompidou is helping us in every way that it possibly can.

ARTHUR K. WATSON

U.S. Ambassador to France

Paris

Panther Explained

Sir: In TIME'S story about Angela Davis [Aug. 31], it is stated that Huey P. Newton "called for others to follow the 'courageous example' of the courthouse shootings" in Marin County, Calif.

Mr. Newton did indeed cite the "revolutionary courage" of Jonathan Jackson, the black youth who sought to focus public attention on the gross injustices of our penal system by attempting to free the two prisoners who sat in that California courtroom. But neither in public statements nor in private conversation has Huey P. Newton called upon others to follow the example of these shootings. The distinction is an important one in view of Mr. Newton's, and his party's, self-imposed ruling that weapons are to serve only in self-defense.

KAY BOYLE , Hollins College, Va.

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