Lynn Spurlock

* So Karen Grigsby Bates (“Choices and Consequences,” Commentary, Oct. 4) thinks the best way to discourage unmarried girls from having sex is by dispensing a scarlet “A” to teen mother Lynn Spurlock, who had the temerity to apply for membership in the Rose Court. Bates’ column proves only that the sexist double standard of ostracizing unwed mothers is alive and well in 1998. What social punishment does Bates have in mind for the father of Spurlock’s child?

I have a different message for Spurlock: Stand tall and be proud. By refusing to accept second-class citizenship, you’ve given my two teenage daughters an excellent role model. You are already a princess in their eyes.

BONNIE K. SLOANE

Los Angeles