CLOSING ARGUMENTS

Letters

Continental Drift

In sketching Vikram Seth ["A Suitable Sensation," June], Christopher Hitchens observes that, when speaking English, Seth ''intones it with a definite subcontinental inflection that is absent in Rushdie and Naipaul."

Onto which continent is Hitch hitching this "sub-"? Naipaul is from Trinidad.

MARIANNE WIGGINS New York, New York

On Bended Knee

Despite my membership in the so-called cultural elite and the Democratic Party, I was thoroughly nauseated by Margaret Carlson's piece on Hillary Clinton ["A Hundred Days of Hillary," June].

Never has so much syrup and sycophancy been slopped about in the name of journalism. Carlson sounds more like a White House press secretary than a White House correspondent. James Carville—the ragin' Cajun himself—was unable to refashion H.R.C.'s image, despite his valiant efforts. Leave it to Vanity Fair to do it for him.

Barbara Bush as the Terminator ["Barbara's Backlash," by Marjorie Williams, August 1992]? Hillary Rodham Clinton as Mother Teresa? Get real. Articles so blatantly slanted play right into the hands of Pat Buchanan and Rush Limbaugh. It is time for the press in this country to stop being a public-relations machine for the Democratic National Committee. Even when I agree with the biases I see, I am thoroughly horrified as an educator and citizen. The "Fourth Estate" should be keeping our leaders on their toes, not dancing the tango with them.

GEORGIA SORTOR LERANGIS New York, New York

Dark Sabbaths

Thank you for Leslie Bennetts's article on satanic ritual abuse, "Nightmares on Main Street" [June]. Her balanced and well-researched work is a welcome respite from the relentless media focus on "false memories."

Those of us who work with many survivors of sadistic abuse have our own definition of "false-memory syndrome' ': when the perpetrators of trauma have no memories of their actions. Giving credence to the False Memory Syndrome Foundation is like stating that cancer is not a problem, because we've chosen to focus on the "false positives" in cancerscreening tests.

Ms. Bennetts's responsiveness to survivors honors the life force that maintains the interpersonal work of healing.

GAIL CARR FELDMAN, Ph.D. Albuquerque, New Mexico

With the publication of "Nightmares on Main Street" the editors of Vanity Fair have lent the dignity of a serious magazine to the satanic-conspiracy theory.

If you do wish to compete with the talk shows, then you ought to consider all the other conspiracy-therapy fashions. You might start with the spacealien abduction specialists—their credentials are much more impressive. Contact John Mack, M.D., the Pulitzer Prizewinning professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and he will supply you with all sorts of material which will prove, among other things, that far more people have memories of being physically examined by space aliens than have memories of satanic abuse.

May I suggest that if you really wish to move any of these theories out of the talk shows you should apply the same standards of journalism as have been your tradition with other issues.

PAMELA FREYD, Ph.D., Executive Director False Memory Syndrome Foundation Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

LESLIE BENNETTS REPLIES: Although false-memory-syndrome activists like to equate ritual-abuse reports with U.F.O. abduction stories, the comparison is dishonest and misleading. Believing the self-proclaimed survivors of U.F.O. abductions requires that one believe in the existence of extraterrestrials who are regularly invading the earth and kidnapping its occupants. Believing the reports offered by ritual-abuse survivors requires only that one believe humankind is capable of rape, torture, infanticide, and cannibalism, all of which are amply documented throughout human history. Moreover, although Ms. Freyd implies otherwise, my article did not take a position on the ritualabuse controversy; it simply reported both sides. Apparently ALf. Freyd demands that one subscribe to her agenda in order to be deemed journalistically responsible.

Mackie Original

For the past 11 years I have been employed by Bob Mackie Originals and have had the pleasure of working closely with both Mr. Mackie and Mr. Aghayan. Never in those 11 years did I see Mr. Aghayan exhibit the kind of bullying, hysterical behavior attributed to him in your June article ["Trouble in the House of Mackie," by Nikki Finke].

The sources used for that article appeared to be poor choices for a magazine of your stature: a disgruntled and obviously vengeful ex-employee, an intern who was at the company for a very short period, and a former employee of the knitwear division who had little involvement in the couture.

Ms. Finke certainly has a great talent for taking things out of context and giving a sinister twist to the so-called facts she creates.

MARIA ZOBEL Vice President, Sales Bob Mackie Originals New York, New York

NIKKI FINKE REPLIES: Maria Zobel's criticism of my choice of sources for the story is curious indeed. I spoke to many, many more people than she has listed here—past and present employees—including herself.

Unfinished Business

I never write one of these letters, but I want to know who the hell are these people ["The Gay Nineties," by Luisita Lopez Torregrosa, May]? What do they have to do with my life as a GWM, 39, small-business owner?

I, like so many lesbians and gays, have fought and scraped my way into some niche in my community. None of these people did a blessed thing for me.

Being a white male I am also embarrassed and offended by fellow homosexuals who refer to our "struggle" in the same sentence as the civil-rights movement of the 60s. Get over yourselves! We can be invisible when need be or when it's to our advantage; black is always black. We have economic clout that Madison Avenue is fawning over; blacks in the 60s were poor and no one wanted their business. We vote; they weren't permitted to register. We are our own worst enemies, and if you are lesbian or gay you know exactly what I mean. Blacks could forge some sort of alliance. Finally, those six-figure-income businesspeople you featured make more in one year than Dr. King's estate was worth when he was murdered.

We are kidding ourselves if we think one president, one march on Washington, or one power broker is going to make a difference in the quality of our lives. I alone will make a difference in the quality of my life and can only hope that will spill over to the gay and straight people I come into contact with day to day.

CALVIN JACKSON Chicago, Illinois

Letters to the editor should be sent with the writer's name, address, and daytime phone number to: The Editor, Vanity Fair, 350 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10017. The letters chosen for publication may be edited for length and clarity.