Militant feminists," "aggressive dykes," "ball-busting lesbian separatists." Do any of these "friendly" terms sound familar? If so, it may be time to start thinking about what they actually mean.

I was reminded of the need for this by the letter "Unjustified Attacks" in The Daily Collegian July 7. Deeming the Penn State chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) as "militant feminists" and all other politically active women on campus as their "auxiliary units," the letter completed this military allegory by presenting both an intelligence network and a propaganda machine conveniently rolled into one.

In other words, the Women's Studies Department, none other than a "thinly disguised Political Action Committee," comprises a "lurking" army of social misfits obeying their own particular brand of Communism (this known as Political Correctness).

The letter itself does not warrant any special attention. It's choice of words and imagery -- while ironic given its own very aggressive tone -- is hardly original. We have heard it again and again in its many different shades and applications, perhaps most notably throughout the Cold War, during which time the United States consolidated its self-proclaimed position as leader (albeit biggest producer and trader of arms) and spokesperson for the values of the "free" world.

But how appropriate is it to apply this military imagery to women?

After all, it is not women who have "manned" the armed forces throughout the history of the world's wars. It is not women who have produced and profited by the creation of a U.S. military industrial complex that dominates our economic, social and political structures.

It is not women who fill our prisons for violent crimes. It is not women who threaten men's safety when they walk the streets at night. And it is not women who batter the spouse they supposedly love in the privacy of their own homes, those supposed havens for "traditional family values."

Politically aware women are angry, it is true. They are angry that many of their sisters experience incest at the hands of their fathers and uncles. They are angry that domestic violence is the leading cause of injury for them between the ages of 15 and 44. They are angry that as adults, approximately one in three women experiences rape or other forms of sexual assault (FBI statistics).

They are angry that they are marginalized and made invisible by school and university curricula that do not include women's history, women's authors and gender inclusive language. They are angry that they are underrepresented in management positions, political appointments, courts and decision-making boards.

They are angry that in almost every occupation, they earn less than 70 percent of men; that traditional spheres of women's work are devalued and underpaid (did you know a qualified child-care worker in State College earns just $8,000, a counselor, even with a Master's degree, at the Women's Resource Center, a mere $14,000?)

But contrary to the accusations, women's anger is seldom converted into violence or anything else that could fairly and comparably be labeled as "militant." While the media delights in singling out extremes in feminism (just as it does in almost every other sphere), most feminists avoid the too simplistic path of labeling men as the enemy. Instead, they focus on raising awareness of how "mainstream" structures and systems embody "malestream" attitudes and ways of seeing.

Societal institutions -- legal, educational, medical, political, familial -- are patriarchal (that is, they legitimize male-centered perspectives and therefore male power). But both sexes unwittingly contribute to the maintenance of this imbalance, and both have a responsibility to try to work together in challenging and changing this.

Women's studies courses assist this process. They don't need to coerce or manipulate their students because, once uncovered, the facts speak loudly enough for themselves.

Rather, women's studies classes merely provide the opportunity and framework for critically evaluating our societal institutions and personal values, and present alternative "ways of seeing" that do not exclude or devalue either sex.