Solo At Cinema Just The Ticket For Some

Attend a movie by yourself? No problem for some women. Here is some of the reaction we received when we asked if women ever go to movies alone.

Tracy Johnson of Spokane: “Attending films solo is one way I care for my soul. In the beginning, I viewed it as a challenge to my confidence, but going alone is now second nature to me. A film transports me into another domain that is ultimately processed through one’s own perception of the images. Also, I can choose whichever film I want, sit wherever I like and I don’t have to be concerned with a companion making comments during significant parts of the film. I prefer to go unaccompanied and encourage all to experience it.”

Dorothy Carter of Spokane: “I’ve been going to movies by myself all my life. One can really get involved with the story when you don’t have to worry about another person enjoying the experience. Sometimes I hear women trying to defend their choice of movie to husbands who are bored to death. I saw the movie ‘The Red Shoes’ 27 times, mostly for the ballet sequences, which have never been equaled in film since. I don’t know any other person who would have enjoyed that as much as I did. P.S. Women who say ‘I would love to do (or see) that but I can’t go by myself’ make me want to upchuck.”

Get informed: In honor of the 75th anniversary of women getting the right to vote, how about getting yourself informed about the candidates? Soroptimist International of Spokane can help. On Wednesday the group will sponsor a candidates forum at Cavanaugh’s River Inn, beginning at 7 p.m. You can listen to, meet with and ask questions of candidates for Spokane City Council, County Commission and the School District 81 board. For information, call 328-4262.

Earn an honor: To celebrate Labor Day 1995, the Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor is launching a Working Women Count Honor Roll. To be part of the Honor Roll, businesses, unions, organizations and individuals must take steps to improve women’s lives in the workplace - by improving pay and benefits, building a familyfriendly workplace or valuing women’s work. For more information, call (800) 827-5335.

A gem: Reading through some women’s history books recently, we came across this great quote by Sojourner Truth, an AfricanAmerican preacher who fought against slavery and for women’s rights. At an 1851 women’s rights convention, she said: “That man over there says women need to be helped into carriages and lifted over ditches and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages or over puddles or gives me the best place and ain’t I a woman? I have borne 13 children and seen most of ‘em sold into slavery, and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me - and ain’t I a woman?”

, DataTimes MEMO: Common Ground is written on alternating weeks by Rebecca Nappi and Dan Webster. Write to them in care of The Spokesman-Review, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615. Or fax, (509) 459-5098.