Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!mimsy!mangoe
From: mangoe@mimsy.UUCP (Charley Wingate)
Newsgroups: soc.women,news.misc
Subject: Re: Update on Guidelines for Posting to Soc.women
Message-ID: <7973@mimsy.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 13-Aug-87 20:37:19 EDT
Article-I.D.: mimsy.7973
Posted: Thu Aug 13 20:37:19 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 15-Aug-87 10:50:11 EDT
References: <1129@gryphon.CTS.COM> <389@astroatc.UUCP> <635@microsoft.UUCP>
Organization: U of Maryland, Dept. of Computer Science, Coll. Pk., MD 20742
Lines: 35
Xref: mnetor soc.women:6283 news.misc:856

Ellen Eades writes:
>  The fact is that whether or not excessive generalization on the basis of
>personal experience is a "male" trait, IN THIS NEWSGROUP excessive ignorance
>of women's angers is a male trait.  What many of the women in this group are
>objecting to is not excessive generalization about males but excessive
>usurpation of soc.women BY males.  

I have a hard time believing that anyone can read such a group and have such
an ignorance, but at any rate, the problem I keep seeing is that the anger
escalates all out of control.  It seems to me that the anger of women is
quite obviously a subject of the group.  But the kind of discussions that
keep cropping up are "my anger is more valid than your anger" and "you keep
forgetting about my problems"  (I especially plead guilty to the last).
These are obviously invitations-- if not challenges-- to flaming.

The next passage is of critical importance:
>I certainly agree that sloppy rhetoric is quite gender-neutral.  The
>point Miriam, and I, and many others, are trying to make BY THESE
>GUIDELINES is that this is not soc.gender-neutral, this is soc.WOMEN,
>and male generalizations about women are simply going to be much
>less readily accepted here.  This is not soc.bash-men either -- but
>there has been MUCH less need to emphasize THAT fact than that this
>is not soc.bash-women.

Less accepted by whom?  The problem is that, in point of fact,
generalizations about male treatment of women are made, and men are
naturally going to object to them-- in the same group in which the
claims were made.  A symmetrical situation exists with respect to male
claims about women.  There seems to be a strong sentiment that women want to
be able to express these kinds of feelings, so it seems to me that either
they need to moderate out men's responses or direct the guidelines in the
direction of controlling flaming exchanges-- particularly the "my anger is
more worthy than yours" argument.

C. Wingate