At the risk of criticizing one woman's leadership style in defense of another's, we want to respond to Karey Wutkowski's Oct. 28 column entitled, "Daum Puts Femininity to Good Use."
We strongly believe that women's voices should be heard, so we support Wutkowski's written expression of her opinion. However, while her message appears to compliment Daum on her strengths, these compliments are undercut when prefaced by an analysis of Daum's cuteness and giggles.
Some women are tired of having their looks -- good or bad -- commented upon when they are trying to get serious work done. Same goes for one's personality: drab or "bubbly," uninspiring or "flirtatious," or most ambiguously of all, "feminine" rather than "masculine." Comments like these are often received by women as either flattering or insulting but in either case distracting from the work focus.
Furthermore, Daum's attention to certain topics such as child care and campus safety cannot be characterized accurately as more emotion-based or less difficult than fiscal matters.
Anyone who has seriously tried to reduce levels of violence in our society or provide adequate and affordable child-care options knows the difficulty in addressing these problems.
And anyone who is trying to resolve the fiscal crisis in Raleigh at the present time is not unemotional about the gravity of the situation and alternatives proposed to solve these problems. Setting an agenda that focuses on all of these issues is a sign of a great leader. (Notice, we didn't say "woman leader.")
Could we think of Daum, one of only three Carolina women who have been elected to serve as student body president in Carolina's history, as Jen Daum, a fine leader, rather than someone who, "puts femininity to good use?"
Diane Kjervik
Director, Carolina Women's Center
Shelley Golden
Assistant Director, Carolina Women's Center
