STEVE GARVEY

Increasingly, TV and newspapers are full of articles about women who are central to stories of horror, victimization and death. If one cares to look, there is a common thread. Women are not believed. It may be a 911 dispatcher who does not believe--or it may be a writer for a Sunday magazine. The result of this gender credibility gap is that women suffer and sometimes die.

I believe my point about women’s credibility is illustrated by the biased “Mr. Clean’s Mid-Life Crisis.” Boyer points out that the former Mrs. Garvey does not use the name Cyndy. He notes: “She began to refer to herself as Cynthia” (her given name). Yet Boyer completely ignores this by continually referring to her as “Cyndy.” I find his use of “Cyndy,” particularly in light of his acknowledgment of her choice, to be disrespectful, demeaning and insulting to her and to women. What’s the problem Mr. Boyer, don’t you believe Cynthia?

MARTHA B. CLARK, Pasadena