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U.S. outlaws flag burning

How would you feel if someone torched. the Canadian flag, if someone immersed a big red and white maple leaf banner in kerosine and took a Bic lighter to it?

Well, back home in the USA some folks get pretty peeved just talking about burning the American flag. In fact, anyone who expresses their anger at U.S. policy by an act of* flag-burning will risk arrest under the new Flag Protection Act of 1989.

Why all the fuss over a simple flag, a mere symbol, you ask?

Because it peeves president George Bush.

The issue began when. a guy named Joey Johnson blazed. a flag in Texas, and _ was _ arrested subsequently. He took his case to the Supreme Court, which threw out the conviction by a narrow 5-4 vote. George Bush saw his cue, wrapped himself in the American flag and, just before Independence Day (timely enough), made an emotional plea to the American people for a constitutional amendment prohibiting burning or desecration of the U.S. flag.

Immediately George Bush became the American hero, fighting for a great American cause.

The people touched: home. He might as well have been delivering truckloads of

“ fresh apple pie to the millions who swallowed his patriotic imagery and fed on the sentimentality of his demand. :

loved him. He

“As president, I will uphold our precious right to. dissent. But burning the flag goes too far...Flag burning is wrong.”’

The Canadian mind doesn’t work like an American’s. To Canadians, a flag is a flag, period. Does the Canadian flag symbolize your

The Gem

BY J. GARTON SZEP Varsity Staff Writer

dreams? Does it represent your hopes, aspirations? Do you think of the flag as a prize of a Revolution? When you eye the flag do you believe you fought two World Wars to preserve it? Does it symbolize democracy? The Bill of Rights? Freedom?

To an American, the U.S. flag represents all of the above. When the flag is threatened, America feels threatened.

But, while the flag is a symbol of America’s various ‘‘freedoms’’, by protecting it you’re limiting one of the most important . freedoms:

Educational Supplement ; Women gettin’ off on their own

WARNING: This article may be considered offensive to some. Reader dis cretion is advised. Equal space is available for opposing viewpoints.

by Elena Lonero

Canadian University Press

Damned if you come, damned if you don’t.

The twitches and moans of a woman in orgasmic ecstasy are beautiful to behold. They’re even better to experience.

Yet, many women don’t or- gasm ever. And, many won’t _ talk about it. Sexual fulfillment, a fundamental human experience, is denied them.

In virtual isolation, women deal with their confusion, guilt and frustration. They are still being lied to, verbally, physically and socially. They are told they can’t orgasm. Or they have or- gasms in ways they don’t. Or their partner’s pleasure is more important than theirs’. Or they are dirty if they come.

Now, in our times of glori- ous “sexual freedom”, women are told what many already discov- ered alone. ’OK, so maybe you can come.’ But by the same to- ken, women are led to believe they are flawed if they don’t have orgasms regularly.

With all this talk, women are never told how they come. Or

that there’s more to sex than pen- etration. Or how to feel comfort- able and secure about their sexu- ality. Or not to blame themselves when they feel cheated. So, they fake it, or just feel like shit, while men fumble ignorantly with their bodies.

In some respects, lesbians and bisexual women have ‘an advan- tage: same sex partners are more likely to be m.ore sensitive, easier to talk to and more knowledgable about the female body. But, they still have to deal with a society that neglects and spits on female sexuality not to mention lesbian sexuality.

Masturbating is the most re- liable, easy, comfortable, conve- nient and safe way to come. It teaches you what’s going on down there. And, it’s loads of fun.

You may have discovered this source of unending pleasure by yourself. Chances are you didn’t know what it was you were do- ing. You didn’t call it mastur- bation. Didn’t know your class-

mates were a it too. And you probably felt guilty or ashamea,

or simply bad and couldn’t ex- plain why.

Or, you never have. And,

you’re not alone.

According to the 1953 ground-breaking Kin- sey report on human sexuality (although recent figures indicate an increase), only 20 per cent of American women masturbated regularly, and 38 per cent had never masturbated, 95 per cent of those never ever had an orgasm.

Recent estimates are that at least 13 million U.S. women never arouse themselves. This number is more than half the entire popu- lation of Canada. And, the actual number could be at least three times higher.

If one applies these stats to Canadian women, we find that the number of women who don’t masturbate equals the population of chilly Manitoba.

Society says, at best, mastur- bation is a poor substitute for the ’good old in an’ out’. Honey, this ain’t true. Sex by yourself is often less hassle and more enjoyable.

The hardest part is feeling un- comfortable, self-conscious, un- deserving, incapable and guilty. The actual physical process is simple (see sidebar).

While thousands of women are compelled to hold themselves back, all men masturbate. By all reports, there are few exceptions. And, everyone knows how they jerk off’. Think of how many me- dia images you’ve seen depicting a hand holding something terri- bly penis-like. How many clit-like images have you seen? Do you even know what a clitoris is, or how it works?

All orgasms depend at least in part on stimulation of the clit a small but powerful organ lo-

cated above the entrance to the vagina, just below where the lips

meet. Clits get real perky when caressed, sucked or pressed upon. Fucking (with a finger, penis, dildo, etc.) creates only indi- rect stimulation, though this can be enough for some women to orgasm. Other women can or- gasm from pressure in the vagina though most say it is a different, more diffused type of orgasm.

But, no researcher, no part- ner, no friend, no writer... no one has the right to dictate how, when or why we should orgasm. It’s up to us to determine for ourselves, on an individual basis,

rae weeding. There ia 0 aby ae

EET A ME

Thursday, March 29, 1990.

freedom of expression.

Many Americans revere the red, white and blue stripes of the American banner, calling it a ‘unique’? symbol, holding it as sacred as the soil of their own backyards. To others the stripes mean freedom—freedom to live, smell, walk and sing as you please, and, more importantly, freedom to disagree with those stripes.

By dredging up this issue, the president draws a sharp line down the country, exploiting the politics of traditional values to divert attention from more serious issues, like the deficit and abortion. He wraps himself up in the flag as he did in his visits to Flag City, USA and the flag factory during the 1988 campaign to illicit America’s sympathy and deflect scrutiny from himself and less popular issues.

Bush claims ‘‘respect’’ and protection of the flag transcend political parties: that he’s not playing partisan politics. Yet he takes the easy road, the path with the least resistance, shoving the Democrats into an uncomfortable position on the left. The. Democrats are now forced to defend the ‘‘flag- burners’? to honour the right to political protest—a right already guaranteed by the first amendment.

The unfortunate fact is that by ‘disabling the first amendment with a federal statute which prohibits flag burning or desecration, the U.S. has in effect said that government can use the flag for its political purposes but protesters are denied the same rights.

wrong way. And, besides, our dit- ferences make for great tea talk.

It’s pretty hard to mistake an

- orgasm. When you come, you'll

know it. They can range from the warm and sensuous to short and mild to overwhelmingly in- tense. Breathing and the heart- beat quicken. You may gasp or moan or hold your breath; arch your back, clench your fists (and

- teeth) or lie still.

Orgasms vary in intensity and sensation, depending on what you’re up to. Some women make up labels for the different ones they experience with fin- gers, tongues, vibrators, penises, streams of water or pillows. Waves, fireworks, diving, spin- ning and heat are recurring im- ages. The possibilities are truly endless.

One can enjoy a great romp in bed without coming. But, there is no reason why every womat cannot enjoy regular, fufilling and ecstatic orgasms - by themselves | or with a partner.