LETTERS

Peaced all

Last night I attended with an Arabic friend - the picket outside the US Consulate which was advertised in your ()pen listings last issue. It was a depressing experience.

There were several speakers. and altthough they were making sense. they all seemed to belong to different factions of the far left. and each one was subjected to heckling by the others.

There couldn‘t have been more than around 200 people there —- that‘s in a city with a population of nearly halfa million. lfthey can’t agree on what they want to say. how do they expect their targets to reach peaceful agreements? How can they demand that the rest of the city. far less the rest of the world. listen to them‘.’ What do they expect to achieve?

All I saw. apart from the disruption of constructive public speaking. was a complacent rabble mouthing meaningless chants about ‘kicking out the troops‘ and ‘fighting for Arab freedom‘ hardly the kind of language I expected to hear at a peace rally.

lfpolitical action like this is to be at all effective. it must be planned beforehand. and it must present some kind ofunited front. [didn‘t see any worried-looking US diplomats scurrying along Regent Terrace. Perhaps they were cowering. terrified. inside.

I‘d really like to know what the organisers of this demo were trying to do. and whether they think they succeeded.

Alan '1‘. Watson

Morrison Street

Edinburgh.

What. Ihejar left indulge infactional in- fighting and spurious sloganising .7 Surely not. I fanyone else who was on the demonstration and ltad a different view of things to M r Watson cares to write in (in English. please). we'll print their views next issue. That's how wishy-it'ashy we are.

Fedup

('atherine l’ellows‘ article on diets and dieting last issue was dangerously glib and simplistic about a subject which can be literally a matter of life and death and which is a constant source of misery for millions ofwomen. She fails to examine women‘s complex relationship with food. the question ofwho is setting these definitions of ‘overweight‘ and ‘correct‘ size. and the fact that dieting is a huge. multi-million pound business. of which selling books is but a small part.

Ms Fellows‘ advice on eating ("l'hink before you eat. why are you eating‘ etc) is all very well. but unfortunately it‘s not that simple. The reason so many women. whatever their size. are ‘slaves to food‘ as she puts it - whether slaves to eatingor to not eating is that it is

We know, we know. . given not to include any more correspondence from

. A solemn promise was

the Bennie family, and now here we are giving the

prize for the best letter to Lynn G., sister of the late lamented David M. So when did journalists ever tell the truth? The best letter next issue will win a Jose

Cuervo T-shirt. Maybe. Write to The List, Old Athenaeum Theatre, 179 Buchanan Street, Glasgow G1 ZJZ, or 14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 lTE.

MUIRA N'l! ‘(ll

extremely difficult for women simply to see food as a source of nourishment. health and pleasure. given the conditioning we experience and the emotionalmoral pressure surrounding the subject. If you eat that chocolate cake you‘re bad. ifyou resist you're good. you

get extra Brownie points if you make .

it for your husband 'children but don't have any yourself. Then you‘re urged to be ‘naughty‘ and have a ‘nicc' cream bun. The article also fails to take note of

some relevant facts and well-documented theories on the subject. 1 ) The vast majority of women who lose weight regain it. then start dieting again. which of course suits the industry just fine. 2) There is much evidence to suggest that repeated dieting is just as bad for you as a bit ofexcess fat. 3) Very low calorie diets like the Cambridge diet are considered dangerous to health by many medical experts. Also. there are those who suggest that keeping women constantly worried about their size. with the erosion ofself-esteem and self-confidence this causes. is a remarkably effective way of diverting our energies from other things like discrimination. low pay.

84 The List 25 January 7 February 1991

j and lack of childcare.

'l‘he dieting industry does well enough already out of making women's lives miserable and distorting their experience ofwhat should be a natural. healthy and

any help from The List. lsabel Fletcher Broughton Street Edinburgh.

No escape

Nick ‘reliable and eager‘ Black (see last issue's letters) really shouldn't have broadened his complaint to include ‘the pernicious Bennie clan‘. My big brother could wipe the

floor letters page with Messrs Black. Watts. Dubberetal.

Was David pushed or did he jump‘.’ My theory is that. having got to do book reviews for The List. which is a reasonably impressive achievement. he cut off his nose to spite his face by saying or writing something he shouldn't about someone who could have given him further patronage. (l.ike Auberon Waugh. ifyou put a blank piece ofpaper in front ofhirn he turns into a Nazi).

And Mr Black. we don‘t have a pet chinchilla. We own an attack-trained alsatian called Roy. Please don't

enjoyable part of life. It doesn't need

write in again. unless you want Roy to take you for a walk.

Football news: The Happy Hun were gubbed 6-1 in a blizzard. David was taken to the Royal Infirmary suffering from frost-bite.

Lynn G. Bennie Glencorsc Street Glasgow.

David decided, unprompted by anyone. to stop sending in letters to us. The gnashing of teetlt and the renting of garments was heard in our offices. but that was probably just R0 y paying a flyin g visit en route to Newcastle. perhaps. In the hope that he doesn '1 come back. we hereby award you the prize for the best letter this issue (1 Jose Cuervo tequila T-shirt.

Meatman Every time I watch The Word (Channel 4. Friday evenings. late). I am torn between the twin impulses to batter Terry Christian senseless with a large. blunt instrument and pork Amanda de Cadenet senseless with the volume turned down. Usually. I turn the television off and go to bed instead. Euripides P. McKechnie Montgomery Street Leith. You are a nasty little ragamuffin. aren 'I you I) A quick straw poll here at List Mansions brought three results: 1. some people would prefer to pork Terry Christian and batter Amanda de Cadenet instead; 2. more would pre er to batter them both; 3. and most would prefer to battersome pork. pour a sweet and sour sauce over the top and have it with egg fried rice rather than watch that godait'ful programme.

Joe Pubic

If you do publish a nude photo of Trevor Johnston. as was demanded by a fellow reader in last issue‘s letters page. two questions come to mind. Firstly. will we be able to understand it'.’ And. more importantly. will we get to see hisJoe Schmo‘.’

Nicola Spicer

Merchiston (‘rescent

Edinburgh.

Rude boy

Fuck David M. Bennie get a 'Ilshirt over here pronto.

Jim Kane

(ileneagles Drive

(iourock.

You win this issue 's special prize for intolerable incivility a kick up the arse.

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