Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!xanth!mcnc!ecsvax!marcia%hpindda@hp-sde.sde.hp.com
From: marcia%hpindda@hp-sde.sde.hp.com (Marcia Bednarcyk)
Newsgroups: comp.society.women
Subject: Re: Women and Usenet
Message-ID: <6228@ecsvax.uncecs.edu>
Date: 13 Jan 89 00:53:00 GMT
Sender: skyler@ecsvax.uncecs.edu
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Approved: skyler@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Moderator -- Trish Roberts)
Comments-to: comp-women-request@cs.purdue.edu
Submissions-to: comp-women@cs.purdue.edu


>I am very curious why more women don't post to the net and I'd
>like to find out why.  I'd be very interested in hearing from women,
>whether or not they feel there is discrimination on the net, whether
>or not they feel intimidated.  

The main reason I don't post more often is time. I read many newsgroups, 
but my job takes a lot of time and effort, and usually I just don't have
the extra time it takes to compose an article or a response.

The other major reason is that I feel I don't have anything to add on many 
subjects. Either someone's already made my point (and I'm not going to
waste my time and bandwidth on "me too" postings), or I don't have any 
knowledge of that area, or the subject doesn't interest me.

A third reason is that I do a lot of email correspondence, particularly if
I want to discuss a point in someone's posting in more detail. I know I
end up skipping subjects if the level of detail goes beyond where I'm
interested, so I try not to add more.

I've been on the net for about 2.5 years, and I've never once experienced
any intimidation or discrimination. I also haven't stopped myself from
posting what I honestly thought because I thought it might bring on a hostile
reaction. The only reaction I've ever had that was directly linked to my
gender happened in soc.singles, when, in response to someone whining "Where
are all the single women?" I thoughtlessly replied, "Where are all the 
single men?" I got a lot of email after that...no real problems, though.

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Marcia Bednarcyk            ADDRESS: (hplabs, sun, ucbvax, uunet)!hpda!marcia 
                                     marcia%hpda@hplabs.hp.com
"Sweaty Snugglebunnies."