"Sexism Is Alive"

Her topic was sexism in politics, and it was appropriate for the audience that had invited her to speak on the subject: the Women's Forum, a group of New York City's most influential women in business and politics. United Nations Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick claimed that "sexism is alive in the U.N in the U.S. Government... in American politics." As evidence she noted the reported comments of unnamed White House critics who had contended that she was "too temperamental to occupy a higher office." That, she argued, was a "classical sexist charge." She complained that she has been described as "schoolmarmish" and "confrontational," and that while former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was often referred to as "Dr. Kissinger," she is usually called "Mrs. Kirkpatrick," despite her Ph.D. in political science.

The Ambassador mentioned only one of her antagonists by name: "I am sure Alexander Haig thought he was going to wipe me out in the first nine months," she said of the former Secretary of State. "He didn't." Her audience applauded. She called foreign policy a "particularly male bastion" and claimed that "there are lots of resistances still to young women in our diplomatic service."

The subject was not a new one for Kirkpatrick, who told TIME editors at a meeting in Dallas during the Republican National Convention that she sympathized with Geraldine Ferraro in her pioneering role as the first woman vice-presidential candidate. While political opportunities for women are opening, she continued, "it is a very harsh game, and I do not think women want whatever it is at the end of that particular rainbow badly enough to pursue it."

However valid her complaint might be, the timing of Kirkpatrick's latest protest raised questions about her motive. She has revealed her desire to leave her U.N. post and to find a position closer to the power centers in Washington. But last month, President Reagan appeared to end her hopes with the assertion that he did not see any available foreign policy position in his Administration that would be "worthy of her."

Replying to Kirkpatrick's assertions, one of the Ambassador's White House critics suggested last week that it is her personality, not her gender, that is at fault. Some women, he added, "suffer because they are cantankerous." Clearly, the feuding and the possible sexism have not ended.