'It Takes a Woman' Signs Require a Sense of Humor

To the editors:

It's a shame that at this point in our society's progress women still feel compelled to cling to their historical victimization; the true failure of the women's movement has been its lack of solidarity.

Jennifer Cobelli's letter to the editors (April 22) illustrates this point: Cobelli out-of-hand denounces the production It Takes A Woman because of a few posters she finds "obviously contrary to the idea of women's liberation and female empowerment." What Cobelli fails to acknowledge--no doubt because she preemptively decided the show could have no value--was that 16 women performers worked for months to create an entertaining showcase of song and dance, the first show of its kind to be performed at Harvard. This achievement in itself is something I am not alone in considering to be a strong testament to the progress of "women's liberation and female empowerment."

Rather than attacking advertising slogans--obviously designed to grab attention and clearly satirical in a show of this type--women should show support for the first predominantly female piece of musical theater to be performed at this school. If Cobelli thinks she is standing up for the advancement of the women's movement by declaring that she "will certainly not be in attendance" at It Takes A Woman, I challenge her to remember this caveat: "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Have faith in your fellow women and fellow actors. And above all, try to have a sense of humor. RACHEL McGREGOR '00   April 27, 1998

The writer is the director of It Takes a Woman.