Date: Fri 21-Feb-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

charter-sex-gender

Full Text:

Charter Puzzle: How To Render Gender

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

Ruby Johnson remembers when Zita McMahon was the town's chief executive

officer a few years back. She said she always found it inappropriate to refer

to Mrs McMahon as "first selectman" rather than "first selectwoman." However,

that is how the town charter has always said it should be.

Tuesday night, however, Mrs Johnson, a member of the Charter Revision

Commission, attempted to change status quo, proposing the first selectman's

title be changed to "director" and the Board of Selectmen be changed to "Board

of Directors." Her motion went down in flames.

"The men [on the commission] were totally unsympathetic," Mrs Johnson quipped.

"They wanted no part of any change."

Some members believe the term "first selectman" is a New England tradition and

should remain that way. They didn't like the term "supervisor" and felt

"mayor" should only be used in big cities, though Mrs Johnson said she grew up

in Texas where towns with 50 people had mayors.

The charter does have a gender reference on its final page that states, "Any

reference in this charter to the masculine gender shall be deemed to include

the feminine and any reference to the feminine gender shall be deemed to

include the masculine." But Mrs Johnson said that statement is no longer

sufficient, and a change is long overdue.

"Many organizations have made a switch and used a gender neutral term like

`chairperson,'" she said.

Mrs Johnson, who facetiously suggested the commission change the charter to

specify "selectwoman" rather than "selectman," said she may consider speaking

to some of the local women's clubs in an effort to get a proposed change on

ballot.

"We are what we are," she said. "Either we're born male or we're born female.

There are many women leaders in today's world."