Calls Summit Issues Too Complex for Them : Regan Muffs, Says Women Prefer Fluff

A slightly miffed President Reagan said today that a remark by his chief of staff that women are more interested in the “human interest stuff” rather than the grittier issues at the superpower summit was misinterpreted.

Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, also asked about the comment by White House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan, said people all over the world are interested in peace, which he said is the primary issue of the summit.

The comment by Regan, made in an interview with the Washington Post, was the subject of controversy today in Geneva. White House spokesman Larry Speakes, trying to deflect the matter, accused reporters of focusing only on “peripheral issues.”

In the interview, Regan said coverage of the American and Soviet first ladies would have much appeal, particularly to women--because they do not understand the summit’s political, diplomatic and military intricacies.

“They’re not . . . going to understand throw-weights or what is happening in Afghanistan or what is happening in human rights,” Regan said. “Some women will, but most women--believe me, your readers for the most part if you took a poll--would rather read the human interest stuff of what happened.”

Reagan and Gorbachev were questioned about Regan’s remark as they entered the Soviet mission in Geneva for their afternoon working session today.

Reagan, apparently miffed by the question, said of Regan, who was standing nearby: “I don’t think he meant it in that way at all. I think he was trying to say they are interested in other things as well, in the entire human view. I think that I know his views on the entire subject better than most.”

After the question was translated into Russian, Gorbachev said:

“Both men and women in the United States and the Soviet Union and all over the world are interested in having peace for themselves and being sure that this peace would become stable and lasting for the future.

“And to that end they are interested in the reduction in the numbers of weapons. Therefore, these matters are in the center of my discussions with the President.”

Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said she considered Regan’s remark an insult to women.

Former Rep. Bella Abzug (D-N.Y.), in Geneva with a group of women observers called Women for a Meaningful Summit, said on the Cable News Network today: “It’s clear that Mr. Regan has made a big mistake.”

Regan, through an aide, declined an opportunity to amplify or clarify his remarks.