Amerikai Magyar Szó, 1989. január-június (43. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)

1989-02-16 / 7. szám

Thursday, Feb. 16. 1989.

AMERIKAI MAGYAR SZO

11.

WOMEN IN SOCIETY

How do women live in Hungary? Where is their place in society? To answer these questions, we called on JULIA TURGONYI, a senior member of the Institute of Social Sciences. She confronted and dealt with problems of Hugarian women for ten years while working for the Women's Council.

What did working for the Women's Council mean to you?

The ten years I spent with the council were rich in experiences, but I realized that life and reality are not necessarily is accordance with the law. However much we insist on the opposite, women in Hungary are far from being equal to men. And the majority of our women do not even comprehend what they or their environment should do about it.

But surely there have been achievements.

Doubtless, our women have proven themselves capable of enormous effort. To begin with, in the period following World War II many of them - now in their fifties - found new horizons. They finished basic schooling, passed their secondary school

exams and even took university courses;

all this besides work. We succeeded in convincing a whole generation of females that the gate is open, not only to males. The Hungarian woman turned into a genuine human resource. Of course, the credit

is not solely ours or the council's. New social requirements paved the way for better conditions.

You mention social requirements, but

look at these job advertisements specifying male applicants.

Although a number of job categories have become feminized, many companies ere reluctant to take on the burden of employing women. This is not the companies' fault, but is the result of the social and ideological chaos which puts the burden and responsibility of rearing children almost solely on women.

Is there a "feminist question" in Hungary, and if the answer is yes, how are things looking?

The answer is yes. And things are hardly looking better than fifteen years ago.

Why is it then that we asserted at one time that equal rights had already been attained in Hungary?

Only, in the text of the Constitution.

But women's going out to vote does not mean they are equal in either private or public life. Society easily accepts the conditions as if they had long been established, saying that women are not capable of more, or s'.ating that emancipation has been introduced and no more is to be done. Even women accept without complaint the double burden. And if going out to work and then going home to work prove too much, they put the blame on themselves. Some people apparently would like to solve present moral and economic problems by going backwards. They say the main cause of our troubles in social and family life is the extensive social activity of women.

It also worries me when we talk of the emancipation of women alone. Nobody seems to realize that true emancipation should involve a change in the position of both sexes. It is impossible to reshape women's role if men's role remains unaltered, ,, ............. ...

What should be altered for instance?

Chiefly the role of the father. Although political documents refer to the legal status of both parents, the concrete requirements are addressed only to the mother.

Do you think there is scope for new benefits at present?

I dont't believe so, although it would be in the interest of society if skilled and educated women gave birth to their children with as few conflicts as possible. For instance, a mother who is a doctor by profession could resume her work after a few years' interruption, and continue healing people for, say, another thirty years. It is in the interest of society that her career not be broken. If this were officially secured, it would be another great step towards emancipation.

What aspect of the feminist question are you concerned with at the moment?

Together with an assistant of the Central Statistical Office and the Institute of

Demographic Science I am studying costs and time alloted to bringing up children. For the time being, our researches show that the Hungarian system of allowances might even be world-class. The trouble is that it is not. Where is the discrepancy? How much of the costs should be borne by society, and how much by the family?

What is the optimum time to be devoted to children? We seek answers to these questions now to define desired standards for future generations of Hungarians. ^ p

A THOUSAND YEARS OF HUNGARIAN MASTERPIECES

A nation is known by its artworks as a man is known by his deeds. "A Thousand Years of Hungarian Masterpieces", published by Corvina in 1987, provides a systematic survey of the Hungarian arts. The foreword by the writer Dezső Keresztury is followed by reproductions and photographs which provide a picture of the special realm and development that is so characteristic of Hungary and central East Europe. The ar- publication*• tists of the Carpathian v,váciu 32 andV"Petl5fiS u 2 Basin have been faithful to the geographical area in which they were born and lived, and to the origins and traditions of Hungarian culture, which their works reflect.

More than 500 masterpieces have been selected, covering the fine and applied arts from the 10th c to the present day. They tell us a lot about Hungarian history at the same time.

PLEASE GIVE THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND*

LETTER

In response to an Op-Ed article in the

N.Y.Times by Senator John Glenn, Editor Bernie Kransdorf submitted the following letter.

Dear Senator Glenn:

Your article in the Op-Ed page of the N.Y.Times (Jan. 24, 1989) indicates an

environmental crisis that belongs on the front page.

It is our opinion that your program to

handle the problems of nuclear waste is

not adequate. Forty years of accumulation cannot be handled while nuclear production continues. Why at this point in time do we need more nuclear weapons? "The Russians are coming" issue is no longer a factor. When it is admitted that we are endangering our own people, why do we continue?

We think nuclear arms production must cease and that we can ask the Russians

to do the same. Their problems are similar or even more severe if you factor in Chernobyl. An agreement along the lines of

the recently concluded disarmament pact with equal rules of verification is realistic and possible. Once this is done your 3 point program on cleaning the environment makes sense. Perhaps I can sum it up with this refrain taken from the T-shirt of an environmentalist. "The World Is Flat, Pigs Can Fly, Nuclear Power Is Safe."

Reagan gets a C-minus

The Center for Defense Information, the Committee for National Security and the Federation of American Scientists gave President Reagan low marks

for his unprecedented eight-year peacetime military buildup that cost more than $2.1 trillion. The CNS gave Reagan an overall report-card grade of C-minus, saying the INF arms control treaty raised his score from near failure. It gave “the lion’s share of the credit” for improvements to Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, “for his dramatic initiatives and concessions.”

Criticizing “the proliferation of costly weapons systems,” the CDI said military spending averaged $749 million per day, $31 million an hour and $520,000 per minute — $24,000 for each American household.

It said the MX and Trident II nuclear missiles, the Stealth bomber and Star Wars soaked up most of this, with total nuclear spending coming to $492 billion over the eight years, 23 percent of total military spending.

The FAS criticized Reagan for spending over $17 billon on Star Wars, noting that it was more in real dollars than was spent to build the first atomic bomb. “Yet, today we are no closer to a non-nuclear world than we were when Reagan gave his [SDI] speech.”

A group dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism and promoting Jewish culture has been founded in Budapest. The Federation for the Support of Jewish Culture in Hungary has some 600 supporters and its emergence follows the improvement in Hungary- Israel relations. A significant development in this regard was the visit to Israel by a senior Hungarian government official to discuss the restoration of synagogues in Hungary. The authorities have already promised up to $5 million for the restoration of Budapest's Great Synagogue and the World Zionist Organization is planning to send Hebrew teachers and counsellors to.ihe,Jew.ish community^ ....................................