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From: gazit@cs.duke.edu (Hillel Gazit)
Newsgroups: soc.feminism
Subject: Re: womyn-only space vs. men-only space?
Message-ID: <659641372@lear.cs.duke.edu>
Date: 29 Nov 90 21:00:57 GMT
References: 02y4e7GH01@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> <47348@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>
Sender: ambar@ora.com (Jean Marie Diaz)
Organization: Nefolet shel nemushot (Fallout of Wimps)
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Approved: ambar@ora.com

In article <47348@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU> (Elissa Feit) writes:
>Could it possibly be that women's space is PERMITTED simply because
>the authorities (e.g, the gentlemen at the grove) trust that the women
>won't be making decisions that affect THEM?  

You got half of that right.

The Old-Boys realize that womyn-only space can't (in most cases) hurt
*them*.  They also realize that womyn-only space will give them a good
excuse for discrimination against women, and it will help to create
hostility between womyn and non-Old-Boys.  (Have you ever heard about
"Divide and Conquer"?)

But there is another half.

If all this womyn-only space is so unimportant then why womyn fight
for it so hard?  The point is that womyn-only spaces help them to
create a power base for discrimination against non-Old-Boys, a
preferred target by the feminists...