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Path: utzoo!watmath!watdaisy!saquigley
From: saquigley@watdaisy.UUCP (Sophie Quigley)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: net.[wo]men[.only] and controlled women
Message-ID: <6450@watdaisy.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 22-Jan-84 20:13:09 EST
Article-I.D.: watdaisy.6450
Posted: Sun Jan 22 20:13:09 1984
Date-Received: Mon, 23-Jan-84 00:25:13 EST
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 32

I think I agree with most of Peter Rowley's suggestions with a few reservations.
The first two which I mentioned already are that I think we should use the 
existing net.social instead of creating a new net.people, and also that I am
not convinced that there is no need for a support group for women on the net.
I am not convinced there is a need for it either.  But net.singles and net.motss
have been on the net as support group and seem to be working well and not 
fostering hate, so maybe net.women might be just as successfull as a support
group.

What I would like is a group where some kind of axioms are set.  I find it very
tiring to have to explain why "controlling who women copulate with is and has
been very important in most societies".  This fact is very clearly reflected
in many customs and laws of most countries.  Unfortunately, the only book I can
think of dealing specifically with this issue is in french "Ainsi soit elle",
which I read such a long time ago that I do not remember the name of the author.
I did not recommend it as an answer to the person who questioned my assertion
as I thought that other people might be able to suggest english reading better
than I could.  So if anybody has any good suggestions, please send them to him
so that we could get on to some more interesting topics.

I think that raising that point in net.women is equivalent to questioning
the premise that "it has been very important for white men not to let people of
colour get access to the same opportunities" in a net.coloured group.  If we
continue debating such basic questions, we will never get anywhere.  The problem
is that I am not too sure of what would be appropriate axioms for a net.women
group.  Maybe a reading list would be better, but that is too complicated. It
seems to me that right now, net.women serves more as a forum where some women
(and men) have to explain to some men some very basic feminist ideas.  It 
doesn't seem right to me.  I would like a discussion place where I do not 
constantly have to be on the defensive.  On the other hand, I think that
restricting membership to women would be discriminative and anti-feminist.
I do not have any good solutions to this problem.  Does anybody?