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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!seismo!harpo!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece
From: preece@uicsl.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: feminising literature FLAME - (nf)
Message-ID: <5140@uiucdcs.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 25-Jan-84 22:37:23 EST
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.5140
Posted: Wed Jan 25 22:37:23 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Jan-84 01:39:11 EST
Lines: 30

#R:utcsstat:-169000:uicsl:16400033:000:1484
uicsl!preece    Jan 25 10:05:00 1984

Laura would do severe injury to those who would change the words she
writes.  I can sympathize with that.  On the other hand, the particular
examples given are not given in the spirit of "Wouldn't it be better
if x had said it this way," but rather in the spirit of "If we change
the famous saying y to z, how does the change effect the reader."
This seems like a legitimate exercise.  One would never say "Let's
take all of x's work and replace half the masculine pronouns with 
feminine pronouns" (at least THIS one wouldn't, but I still think
the Anglican prayerbook lost a lot when it was updated and that the
RC should do communion in Latin).  Nevertheless, I would never
object to someone saying "Suppose x had said it this way."  Almost
every one of those quotes carried more impact in the new form, in
part because the issues addressed were old and familiar in the
original version, but newer and more controversial in the revised
version.

More directly to Laura:
Humility about your writing is hopeless and misplaced. You cannot hide
the fact that you address issues with more rationality and clarity than
the vast majority of the people on the net and that you express your
views more cogently as well.  If you ever change jobs and lose access
to the net, I'll contribute to a fund to support your own node. If
there is one person on the net whose contributions I read more
carefully and with more anticipation, that person is you.

scott preece
ihnp4!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece