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Show The Salt Lake Tribune NATION/WORLD Friday, May 26, 1995 AIS ontract With America Undies Rub Republicans the Wrong Way ByNita Lelyveld THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — It may be mfyand 100 percentcotton, but derwearbearing thetext of the “Contract With America apparent- = lyrubs the Republican National jommittee the wrong way. <= Two NewYorkartists who cre- ated silk-screened undies with House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s face on the front and all 10 points of the GOP’s agenda on the back have received a letter from the RNC threateninglegal action. An April 20 letter from Allison Fahrenkopf Brigati, the RNC associate counsel, cautions artists Marshall Reese and Nora Ligorano that the “contract” logo and text are protected by federal copyright and trademark. Theletter asks the artists to immediately stop using the text, adding that ‘continued unauthorized use . . . will force the Republican National Committee to take Baby Brides SALE PRICES EVERYDAY as “Are a Rural FURNITURE * India Secret GRADUATION GIFT < tion work is accompanied by a statement explaining the message intendedbyits creators. The combined impression is clearly humorous and obviously meant to parody the Contract With America,”the letter reads. “Such a limited use on whatis not a commercial product but rather an art work carrying the SANDY (NEW LOCATION) 7817 SO. HIGHLAND DR. “Ancient Custom Creates =Modern Cultural Clash Es . legal action.” The ACLU Arts Censorship Program and cooperating attorney Elizabeth McNamara, responding on behalf of theartists, sent the RNCa letter saying the briefs are ‘‘a classic example of political satire. Each limited-edi- strongpolitical speech message of its creators ... constitutes protected political expression.” Reese and Ligorano had 120 pairs silk-screened. They sent 10 pairs, run off as tests before the signed copies, to various politicians, including Gingrich, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, RKan., and President Clinton. The artists intend the underwearas a protest against the GOP leadership in Congress. 944-5534 By John Ward Anderson HOURS: ALL LOCATIONS 10-7:00 M-F SAT. 9-6:00, SUN. 11-5:00 THE WASHINGTON POST BALI, India — Sumitra Jogi =--cried at her wedding, but not for * the usual reasons. Dressed in a Tpink smock, the bride — an 11* month-old whostill is breast-feed~ ing — was married to a 6-year-old MUGHO PINES 41/2 price! 20%oFF boy in a secret, midnight ceremo- nyin this remote desertvillage. As Sumitra’s father smiled ap- provingly, the baby’s mother recited her daughter's vows while cradling the sleepy infant in her arms. Then the groom, bedecked in a red-and-gold turban,clasped Sumitra’s hand and, with her mother carryingher,led his bride 344 times around sacredfire, their first steps together as husband andwife. Governmentofficials and social activists estimate that hundreds andpossibly thousandsofsuchillegal child marriages were performedin India’s westernstate of Rajasthan on May 2, which, according to the Hindu religion, was a particularly favorable date for matrimony. Like many of those children, Sumitra was married in a joint ceremony;she and her 12and 16-year-old sisters were wed to three brothers, aged 6, 14 and 17, from a nearbyvillage. “In rural Rajasthan, all the girls are married by age 14,” said Ratankatyayani, an attorney and director of a social welfare group. “These are poor, illiterate families, and they don’t want to keep their girls past their first menstrual cycle.” ALL MAPLE SHADE TREES Including: ReelOASAE) FOALse MACon alah LAME All Sizes Norway, Redleaf, Red Sunset, REI (&r-€-1) n: America’s leading gear store for muscle-powered outdooractivities. Smatier Dowry: Families cite social and economicreasons. The youngerthe bride, the smaller the dowry demanded,they say. They also believe that marrying off a daughterearly in life reduces the chance that her honor will be spoiled before she can be paired with a suitable husband. Social activists who workin the urban areas of Rajasthan said that regardless of when girls are married they do not movein with their husband and in-laws until age 16 or 17. The marriage, they said, is essentially a binding social contract between two families, requiring that their children be matesfor life. But, they said, the girl doesnot join her husbanduntil after a second ceremony, which is usually held yearslater. There is intense disagreement among social workers about how to prevent child marriages and whether theyare a serious probJem or simply a misunderstood gultural phenomenon. Somesay child marriages have @ debilitating impact on young people, particularly girls, thrusting them into early motherhood and beginning a dang»rous downward health spiral for them and their babies. Even though many of the young couples don’t live togetheruntil age 16 or 17, they often are pulled out of school immediately after marriage andput to work full time, depriving them of any control they may have had over their lives. Others say such criticism is shortsighted. Instead of alienating uneducated, tribal people with condemnationof a centuriesold tradition, they prefer prothat attack underlying causesof child marriages: the low status of women, poverty andilliteracy, which is as high as 95 percent among women in rural Raja- sthan, The debate over child marriages doesn’t seem to concern the people of Bali “The marriages [of Sumitra’s sisters] were fixed three years ago,” said Lakshmi, grandmother of the three brides in this tiny village. After Sumitra was born, the parents of the two families agreed that since each had a third single child they would simply add another marriage to the ceremony. “When you doit together, into the same family, you save money,” the grandmothersaid. Sixty miles away in a small town outside Jaipur, about a dozen women who were jed as children said they had no regrets but did not think the practice should be continued in modern India = “We all got married in our mother's arms, said Sundar, 65, “It's not as thoi ar asked us if we wanted to Our parents just did have changed.” i married. Now times 4 Now in Orem GEAR UP FOR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND Camping * Hiking * Climbing * Cycling Paddling * Activewear * Footwear * Outerwear Also at our Salt Lake City store! ® Rew REI in Orem Quality Outdoor Gear and Clothing Since 1938 Orem: 322 West'1300 South, 222-9500 Sait Lake City: 3285 East 3300 South, 486-2100 4 |
