THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, September 19, 1995            TAG: 9509180197
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A10  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   40 lines

WOMEN ARE MEN'S EQUALS

I admire Shannon Faulkner for the courage she had to take on The Citadel, a powerful male institution.

I also appreciate why she would quit the institution. Would any of us want to be ridiculed continually for 2 1/2 years? To be looked on as the enemy by the male half of the American population? I think not.

As a women and a feminist, I deplore institutions such as The Citadel and VMI - institutions that receive my tax dollars but that I cannot attend. These institutions uphold the myth that women are the weaker sex both physically and mentally. They instill in their students the sexist belief that the women of this country have worked so hard to dispel.

I have had men tell me that when women have to register for the draft they have then earned the right to attend these institutions. I would gladly register for the draft, but the men in this country - particularly those holding political office - still are not convinced that women can serve in combat.

I know plenty of women in the military - enlisted, officers, ROTC and Naval Academy. Problems these women experience with sexual harassment, unwanted sexual advances and lewd comments are problems created by the men. It is the men who cannot handle working with the women. These women need to work twice as hard as men just to be considered as good at their job.

The men of this country need to realize that we are not the inferior sex. We support families, run businesses, hold political offices and work in the military just as well, if not better, than men. We are equals, deserve to be treated as equals and should be treated as equals.

HILARY M. WYNNE

Norfolk, Sept. 4, 1995 by CNB