June 1970 Issue
Samantha Says…
Q:Dear Samantha,
Boy, do I have a conundrum for you.
I have been working at my job for about six months, and it has become intolerable. I was even prescribed Valium to curb the anxiety. Here’s the backstory:
I am single with no higher education, so my career options are pretty slim. I found this job through a friend, but now I’m regretting it. After months of dealing with an over-touchy, insufferable, married boss, he threatened my job if I wouldn’t sleep with him. To protect my job, I caved… and now I’m pregnant. If I could have legally gotten the Pill I would have, but as you know, it can only be prescribed to married women.
Needless to say, my boss used my pregnancy to legally fire me. As a single pregnant woman, I have no legal repercussions and am now unwed, pregnant, and penniless.
I have been silent long enough. How do I speak up, and what do I say?
Sincerely,
Pregnant Patty
A: Dear Pregnant Patty,
Congratulations on taking the first step toward speaking up. You wrote me! And now hundreds of other women will be reading your story, seeing firsthand what they may one day be up against. We, as unified women, must prepare.
How do we prepare? By changing the laws. Legally, you have no way to get back your job or force him to take responsibility for the baby. Even with the latest paternity test that compares blood types, 90 percent of cases are easily disputed, leaving it your word against his, and a man’s word always wins over ours. So when the system breaks you, you must break the system.
To any readers who want to take a stand to help Pregnant Patty, write to me and we’ll work together to right this wrong. There are plenty of ways to do that—by exposing the men who do this, suing the companies that endorse this, and pushing back against the courts that allow this. Join me in the fight for our rights, ladies!
Considering you’re pregnant, Patty, I would advise against taking Valium and steer clear of internal medicines that could harm the baby. Instead try acupuncture, an ancient Eastern practice that stimulates endorphin release and triggers the autonomic nervous system to lower stress without the side effects of prescription medicine.
Let today be the day your words gel into anger, your anger crystallizes into action, and your action solidifies into change.
Sincerely,
Samantha
Chapter 19
One thousand two hundred and fifteen. Sam had counted each and every letter in response to her fledgling column, and it amassed to 1,215 women who wanted to help Pregnant Patty, and who also wanted change. An impressive four digits, considering the magazine’s circulation numbers weren’t much more than that.
Mr. Getty had dumped the first mail sack on Sam’s desk a week after the June 1970 issue hit newsstands, the canvas bag brimming with letters upon letters from readers who wanted to share their stories or share their solutions.
“You’ve only written two columns and already you’re more popular than The Beatles,” Mr. Getty had proclaimed as he read the cover headline: Will The Beatles’ Breakup Last? After Paul McCartney left the band, it was all anyone could talk about… until now. Now Sam’s column was the talk of the town. Or at least the talk of the bullpen.
A second bag arrived days later, stuffed and overflowing with more letters. The third bag was dropped off by a courier at her home, left on her front porch, which Raul nearly tripped over as he stepped onto the concrete stoop.
“What’s all this about?” Raul asked the courier, staring down at the bag at his feet.
“According to a Mister…” the delivery man glanced down at his form, “Franklin Getty, who instructed I drop these off at this address, they are, and I quote, ‘madness that must be stopped.’”
