Some who read "Claire, at Work," were concerned that Claire - by getting involved with Andy, and beginning to team up on work projects with the men in their office - might be losing her fire for women's rights. They asked for some assurance that she had stayed devoted.
Sometimes it's hard to get information on fictional people, but you may be happy with what I am able to report. Shortly after my piece was written, Claire got in touch with Jenny, the high school teacher who had started her on her path, and they teamed up to fight for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. After the initial approval by almost enough states, the process slowed way down. Jenny and Claire organized and led large marches (women and men) in the capitols of the states slow to ratify.
It's probably no surprise that Claire and Andy eventually got married. They found in each other what Jenny looked for, but apparently hadn't yet found: someone they could love and respect as a whole person, and who loved them back the same way.
They stayed with their original company for several more years. Although the company was relatively progressive, it became somewhat of an embarrassment to them to see Claire's name regularly mentioned in some march or sit-in. Andy was also starting to worry them as he became more and more active in what were often labeled as "save the Earth" groups. The couple eventually moved on to more receptive surroundings.
By the late 1980s, I had pretty much lost track of them. Jenny resurfaced then, with a clever essay published in several women's magazines. It was called "The Most Horrible Male Chauvinist Songs to Make the Top 40 in the 1940s and 1950s." Her selections:
"It's a Woman's World" - written by Sammy Cahn and Cyril Mockridge, and recorded by The Four Aces in 1954.
"Try a Little Tenderness" - written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connolly, and Harry M. Woods in 1932, and recorded by Bing Crosby (1933), Frank Sinatra (1946), and Otis Redding (1966).
Her comments:
"'Woman's World' (WW) sounds like it might be a nice tribute to us girls, but instead it is a blatant bait-and-switch, celebrating how nice it is for men to have doting women around them. A couple of reasons given for it being a WW: 'His kiss can make her glow, and that's what makes it so;' and 'His footsteps at the door just prove it more and more.' Finally, the last verse removes any lasting pretense: 'It's a woman's world, but only because it's his.'
"When one of my former students would find something particularly revolting, she would exclaim 'gag me with a spoon!' Bring on the spoon, girls.
"Now, about 'Try a Little Tenderness' (TALT). From start to finish, it paints a graphic portrait of women as morose, unhappy, always longing for things we can't have, and (of course) always needing a big, strong guy to show us a little love. It's hard to understand why any man would waste his time on such pathetic creatures, but the last verse of TALT reveals the true game plan: not for any selfless concern, but just another tit-for-tat in favor of the men. 'You won't regret it. Women don't forget it. Love is their who happiness. And it's all so easy - TALT!"
Jenny's recommendations: "All men responsible for writing or singing these song - and who are still among the living - should be boiled in oil, and their names forever stricken from The Book of Good Guys. The women who listened to these songs enough to place them on the Top 40 (men certainly weren't listening to such tripe!) should be locked up forever, and made to listen to Patti Page singing 'How Much is that Doggie in the Window?' 24 hours a day for eternity."
Too severe? I wonder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rJo9yJxd5M
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