story on national television shows andnis planning legal action, though it is notnyet clear where he will find the necessarynfunding. (The Women StudiesnDepartment will automatically be defendednin any lawsuit by the statenattorney general’s office, with access tonpublic funds.)nWas the way “Introduction tonWomen Studies” was taught last yearnunusual? Greg Adams, who took thencourse in the fall of 1986, says thatn”there was one different instructor, butnit was the same approach.” Both thenteaching methods, such as the use ofnthe TA’s for crowd control, and thenthemes covered, as in the masturbationnlecture, were the same in all significantnaspects. Indeed, Adams says that studentsnwho took the course “ten yearsnago say it was just the same then.”nIs the course “an aberration” withinnthe Women Studies Department?nSue Ellen Jacobs rejects this notionnand strongly defends the course as itnexists. The course, she says, is entirelynconsistent with other courses offerednby the department. She emphasizesnthat “it is still one of our most popularncourses” and insists that “we will notnchange the substance of it.” Both shenpersonally, and the department in general,nstand behind the course “absolutely.”nIs women’s studies at the Universitynof Washington different from women’snstudies nationwide? Michael Levin, anphilosophy professor at City College innNew York, has examined women’snstudies as a general phenomenon, attendingnthe classes, reading the textsnassigned, and talking with women’snstudies scholars. He reports on hisninquiries in Feminism and Freedomn(Transaction Books, 1987). Accordingnto Levin, the field is characterized bynits “wholly political character.” Threenof the texts most widely used innwomen’s studies courses focus on “lesbianism,nmasturbation, and rape,” onn”the author’s dissatisfaction with malenlovemaking,” and some even promotenthe “advocacy of incest.”n”Women’s studies course materials,”nLevin writes, “ignore customarynfeatures of instruction at the universitynlevel,” notably “the presentation ofnboth sides of disputed issues.” Evenn”the most objective texts balance twentynor thirty selections by feminists withnone or two short selections by crihcs.”n48/CHRONICLESnIn addition, “[w]omen’s studies instructorsnare notorious for penalizingnstudents critical of feminism.”nWe may well ask: who is PetenSchaub?nNicholas Davidson is author of ThenFailure of Feminism (PrometheusnBooks, 1988) and editor o/” GendernSanity, an anthology of critics ofnfeminism (forthcoming fromnUniversity Press of America).nSTAGEnThe Passion ofnPatsynby Jeffrey EssmannnThe lights come up on an old womannholding a candle. It is Auntie Rula.nRULAnDo you hear a child crying in thencellar? Yes, yes, it is you. Patsy! Backnagain to haunt your old Auntie Rula.nBut why are you crying, child? Or arenyou laughing? Crying, laughing —nwith you, they always sounded thensame. Ah yes, to you, to the world, shenis Nadia Mulvenya Porochnjik, thengreat Croat poetess. The name Nadianhas so many diminutives: Nadi, Nadji,nDadi, Didi, Dina, Dani, Nana,nDonna, Dodo. But me, I always callednher Patsy. And before she ever sang tonyou, she sang to goats.nShe turns and, through a slight adjustmentnof her shawl, becomes a girl ofn16, reciting a poem to a goat.nPATSYnWalking along the road of life,nI hadn’t journeyed very farnWhen someone pulled over,nhis name was Death.nI didn’t know he had a car.nShe looks to the goat, hopefully.nOh, you always say the same thingnabout my poems: Nya-a-a-a-a-a-h! Butnyou shan’t upset me today; it’s mynbirthday!nShe curtsies.nWhy, thank you. Mama is having anparty for me! Uncle Nathan’s going tonbe there, and Auntie Rula and cousinnnnIrena. Mama said I could even invitenmy own friends. I wanted to invite you.n”Oh, he’ll just stink up the house,”nMama said. Isn’t love supposed tonsmell?nShe turns again.nThe dining room table is coverednwith Grandma Porochnjik’s good lacentablecloth and on top of it are thencandles we use only on Croatian holidays.nThere’s a huge tureen of bloodnsausage and beets; there’s pickled onions,nand cabbage pudding and turnipsncarved to look like roses! I’m just aboutnto pick one when from behind me Inhear a voice:nImitating Uncle Nathan’s gravelly baritone:n”Now there’s a young lady I couldneat!” It’s Uncle Nathan! He’s wearingnhis new leg and wants to dance.nShe curtsies coquettishly and begins tondance — a waltz interposed with limpnhops.nWhile we’re dancing, Gregor, thengardener, comes in and asks if cousinnIrena would like to see his bush. Irenanlaughs and goes out with him — andnsuddenly I smell goats.nHer arms transform from holding andance partner to holding a box.nA present!nShe tears it open furiously.nA dress! A dress with a zipper!nShe spins with glee, but when she isnforward again we see that it is yearsnlater. She takes up a pen, dips it in anninkwell and begins to write.nOctober 30, 1912.1 never wore thatndress. Just as I opened the box Mamanbegan to hiccup and couldn’t stop. Wenthought it funny at first, but then itnwent on all night and by morning shenhad to be taken to the sanatorium atnZlatny.nShe bounces as if in a train.nAuntie Rula and Uncle Nathannhave invited me to come live withnthem in Zagreb.nShe disembarks and steps onto thenstreet.nI’m excited by the big city with itsnelectric lights and sausage stands.n