An Open Letter to the Editor of the East Providence Reporter
I was deeply disturbed by June’s issue of the East Providence Reporter and its decision to run Tim Fratelo’s letter to the editor. While I appreciate that his views do not necessarily reflect those of the publication and that the Letters to the Editor section is designed “to present all arguments from all points of view,” there is a difference between publishing a point of view and proliferating harmful, offensive rhetoric in a publication meant to “serve the community.” The Reporter has long served East Providence as a family-oriented publication, carrying articles on local library events, Little League, school sports, etc. Growing up my siblings and I reveled in seeing pictures of ourselves published in this publication, and having those pictures cut out and proudly displayed on our grandparents’ refrigerators. I like to imagine the joy young children still feel today as they see their community celebrating their accomplishments and encouraging their goodwill. I can’t imagine, therefore, what Payton and Sofia, the 10 year old girls featured on the cover of the June publication for their beautiful charitable work, must have felt. For, as they eagerly turned the pages to see the story of how their bake sale raised enough money to fill bags with toiletries for the RI Coalition against Domestic Violence, they would have had to pass Mr. Fratelo’s letter. This letter, ostensibly a commentary of the experience of riding the RIPTA, quickly devolved into a highly offensive rant, containing the parenthetical sentence “(I’m surprised more American women aren’t engaging in [sagging their pants], with their comical quest for equality.)” Imagine being 10 years old and not only aspiring to make a difference in your community, but putting that aspiration into practice, only to have the very publication covering your efforts at the same time giving voice to a man who thinks the idea that you are a human being whose worth is equal to a man’s is comical. Imagine baking cookies with your best friend, not for a sleepover or birthday party, but to raise money to bring toiletries to people in need, only to have the same publication covering that effort include a letter which dismisses the people you are trying to help as “infantile” and putting their humanity and personhood into question by adding scare quotes around the word men, as if humans who do not dress according to Mr. Fratelo’s standards are not, in fact, human.
As someone who has regularly commuted on the RIPTA, I can attest that it is not a perfect system, and open discussion about its flaws is certainly an important way that we can improve transportation for our city and our state. But that is not what Mr. Fratelo’s letter was about. His point of view was that there are groups of people who are not human, and that one of those groups is made up of women. To publish this letter is an offense to the ethos of East Providence and everything the East Providence Reporter claims to stand for. I can’t control how you, the Editor of the Reporter, respond to this letter. I, however, wish to apologize to Payton and Sophia, and to every other young woman mentioned in the June publication for her academic, athletic, or community success. I am sorry that your achievements were undermined by one divisive voice. And I want to assure you that you do matter. Your efforts do count. Your dreams for a better East Providence and a better world are worth pursuing. Your efforts for equality are not comical. They are powerful and important. And especially to Payton and Sophia, thanks for leading the way.
Beth Leonardo Silva
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timfratel01
My apologies for not responding sooner but I didn't know my opinion piece (On Riding Ripta) was published in the June 2018 issue of The Reporter until a few days ago. I was never informed The Reporter choose to accept it, which is why I submitted it again a few weeks ago . Be pleased to know they published it again for this past November issue.
Beth L. Silva was correct to label my opinion harmful and offensive. The purpose was to bring attention to the harmful and offensive behavior on our public buses and I hope to whoever reads my opinion that they are offended by what takes place on public transit.
I would guess the two girls on the cover of the June 2018 Reporter never read my opinion as Ms. Silva stated. I'm not insulting their intelligence, I'm sure their well read kids. But I think Ms. Silva would agree that if they read the reporter as she claims then their parents should be ashamed of themselves for leaving their children to sell cookies when they should be writing book reviews. Because of this injustice towards E.P. Youth, I look forward to starting a committee with Ms. Silva that publicly shames parents who undermine their child's intelligence. They should also have to ride RIPTA's 60 bus from Kennedy Plaza to Newport and back with no ear plugs.
Ms. Silva claims that I think women are unequal to men. This is partly true. They are unequal to men in those traditional endeavors (hunting,military,construction, etc.) that men were and are always naturally superior. Just like men are unequal and naturally inferior to women in those tasks (childcare,nursing,sewing etc.) women traditionally filled. Not to say there aren't a small percentage of men and women who could perform as good as their opposite in these jobs or even a smaller percentage that could go above and beyond. And of course I find American women's quest for equality comical. If you ever watched a female police office “butch up” by acting more assertive than most male officers than you understand.
Regarding the people I addressed in the opinion, I stay with the assertion that they are ignorant and infantile. Not that they lack knowledge or education (not in a formal sense),which they usually do, but that they are unaware of the problems they cause for other riders and the shame they bring on themselves. And doing this for an extended period of time does make them like infants, constantly needing prompting. The fact (as you stated) that they may reiceve help from people of goodwill should not dismiss their behavior.
Regarding my “standards of dress”, I believe most people would agree that exposing their underwear in public is disgraceful. They don't
Ms. Silva, your response to my opinion was overly sentimental and needlessly heroic. Like many feminists (men and women alike) you feel you need highly emotional rhetoric to get your point across.
“Less is More” William Zinsser, From his book “On Writing Well”
Wednesday, November 11, 2020 Report this