Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!ora!daemon
From: stabler@athena.cs.uga.edu (David Stabler)
Newsgroups: soc.feminism
Subject: Re: sexist space
Message-ID: <1990Dec10.023210.8120@athena.cs.uga.edu>
Date: 2 Jan 91 02:31:00 GMT
References: <9012052032.AA02898@decpa.pa.dec.com>
Sender: ambar@ora.com (Jean Marie Diaz)
Reply-To: stabler@rolf.stat.uga.edu
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens
Lines: 22
Approved: ambar@ora.com

Posted by a friend - send replies to Kathi Mills at stabler@rolf.stat.uga.edu

>"many women's groups exist for the purpose of inclusion, not exclusion"

>How is that???  They exclude men, right?  Or don't they count?

If you were not angry about groups which until recently routinely
excluded women, I think it hypocritical to take a stand now.

Aside from that, there is a necessity for women-only social groups
(note that I do not include business clubs, political groups, etc.),
since women have been socialized to defer to men unconsciously (speech
patterns, personal space, and internalized stereotypical views about
sex roles are just a few examples of this).  Only in the absence of
what many women characterize as the "aggressor" can many women learn
assertiveness, divulge problems in relating with one or more men,
identify and try to change stereotypical sex-role expectations, etc.

As a humanist, I do not advocate sexism of any kind.  However, as an
oppressed group, many women feel they cannot try to change their
victimization in the presence of the person they view as their
oppressor.