WILSON, HEAR HER ROAR

DEAR STRANGER: While I agree with the general feminist sentiment Kathleen Wilson expresses in her recent article, "Where the Girls Are" [Dec 23], I am surprised at some of the sexist ideas she perpetuates. I feel that Ms. Wilson comes down unnecessarily hard on Lilith Fair and the women who hang in that crowd. Don't get me wrong -- I've never had any intention of attending that festival, and there are times when its aesthetic makes me cringe too, but I am still glad it exists. Ms. Wilson's whole premise for hating Lilith Fair seems to be based on the idea of women supporting women. What I think is wrong with these male-sponsored "best of" lists (and what Ms. Wilson seems to be saying) is that they create the idea that there's not enough room for all of us, and therefore a nauseating few get tokenized to represent all women. But in her scathing diatribe against women in music who wish to be surrounded by and supported by other women, Ms. Wilson perpetuates sexist ideas akin to those [found in] mainstream magazines.

Whether a female performer "needs" it or not, what is wrong with a female fan shouting out her support for that performer? We all want/need support, love, respect, and validation in our lives. Why should these traits be considered weak? Because they're often seen as traditionally feminine and not masculine? I don't believe honoring traditionally "male" traits while denouncing traditionally "female" traits solves sexism in the least. Ms. Wilson seems to only validate women who act like "one of the boys."

Allison Wolfe, Seattle

IT WAS A FRIGGIN' WHITE GUY!

EDITOR: As the person who originally co-developed the move (called "the stoppy start" or "the stupor stop") that Jason Williams so effectively used on Gary Payton, I would like to add my comments to Shields' and Stadler's ["Sex and the Sonics," Dec 23]. While I agree that Jason comes off as "white trash" on first appearance, in reality he falls more into the middle-class category, since his father is a somewhat well-connected West Virginia state trooper. Williams' father happened to have keys to the high school gym, giving Jason certain advantages over other athletes. Williams and Randy Moss are not from "the deepest South." They are from Belle, West Virginia, which is on the north side of the Appalachians -- about an hour from Ohio -- making it more culturally akin to the Midwest than the South.

Williams' moves and demeanor do appear, at first glance, to be derived from African American athletes. However, the truth is that Williams got many of his moves from his assistant coach at Marshall University, Greg White. I played with White at Marshall in the late '70s. He and I, both guards and both Caucasian, spent countless hours playing one-on-one and working on the craziest passes and moves we could think of. It was during one of those intense one-on-one games that someone got the idea of "going stupid limp" before attempting to blow by the other.

If one looks at films of Jason Williams in high school, one can see that he did not have the specific moves that he displayed after his freshman year tutelage under White. Greg White devoted his every waking moment to developing basketball tricks. His total commitment and willingness to be open and creative allowed him to develop his own original, idiosyncratic style -- a style that appears to have reached its fruition in Jason Williams.

Andy Colvin, Seattle

CHRIS: READ THIS

EDITORS: Would someone please tell Chris Ware that his Xmas comic ["Rusty Brown," Dec 23] is one of the funniest things I've ever read? Christ.

Arthur Aubry, Seattle

DID NOT, DID NOT, DID NOT

EDITORS: It is really hard to complain after seeing an article about Georgetown in print, but some of what Alexandra Holly-Gottlieb wrote in her story ["A Neighborhood Divided," Dec 16] was inaccurate. I'll give her the most common mistake, referring to the King County International Airport as "Boeing." Boeing is probably the airport's largest tenant, and the airport is often referred to as "Boeing Field." Nevertheless, what is happening in Georgetown is an expansion of King County International Airport. Our community, with the help of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Bullitt Foundation, has spent $55,000 to fight for clean air. Clean air is just ONE of the things I told Holly-Gottlieb was important for Georgetown before I found my photo above a statement saying I wanted to "focus on Boeing -- not sex offenders." Neighborhood planning was the other. Finally, despite desperate attempts by your reporter to get a story [about how] I was resigning over the sex offender [issue], the boring truth (I told her repeatedly) is that I had decided to resign months ago, to spend more time at home with my five-year-old son.

Karolyn Klohe Lerner, Co-Chair, Georgetown Crime Prevention & Community Council, Georgetown

ALEXANDRA HOLLY-GOTTLIEB RESPONDS: While Karolyn Lerner did stress that the public reason for her resignation was to spend time with her son, she also made it clear to me that her decision was, in part, based on a series of conflicts and "philosophical" differences with Tim O'Brian, her co-chair on the community council.

BRING IN THE OLD

TO ERIC FREDERICKSEN: Okay, shit-for-brains: Let's tear down all temples, pyramids, and wipe [out] all mausoleums filled with archaic art to make room for new concepts in "contemporary" and "modern" art ["Bread & Circuses," Dec 2]. And we can give Zhang Huan the award for cheap sensationalism and bullshit: Flim-Flam Artist of the Year.

A Voice from the Tombs