burris (03/16/83)
#N:ihlpf:22200003: 0:2289 ihlpf!burris Mar 16 10: 8:00 1983 When the survey for this news group was posted and opinions asked whether this group should be formed or not, I thought it would be a great chance to discuss the issues, feelings and concerns of women. I was highly in favor and sent back my yes vote for the group immediately. Little did I know that the men on the net would know more about womens issues than women and that the most important issue would be abortion. I also never suspected that the women on the the net would set idle while a news group formed expressedly for them to express their feelings, etc. would be lowered to such a level. I would like to pose a few questions to the women that are still reading this news group. Flames from the men will be forwarded to /dev/null. If there are enough responses I will post a summary. 1.) Do you enjoy men dominating a group which was formed for the discussion of womens issues? 2.) Do you enjoy men being the primary motivating force in the political and legal systems? 3.) Have you considered that your lack of participation and/or concern in issues discussed here are indicative of women in today's society concerning other important issues in other situations? 4.) Do you feel that you should have the same legal rights as men? 5.) If not, why? If so, are you willing to speak out for your rights? I believe that men should be envolved in discussions of this nature with women so that each of the sexes may better understand the feeling of the other but that they should not dominate the group. I realize that many men are programmed with the dominant role, which is what I believe to be part of the barrier between the sexes. I also do not believe that even the most sensitive males are going to solve all the problems of women by discussing it with other males. In looking over some of the first articles first submitted to this group, I gathered some interesting figures. Articles concerning abortion: 47 Articles concerning other issues: 34 Articles submitted by men: 45 Articles submitted by women: 14 Articles where sex could not be determined: 21 Let's hear from the women out there or move the discussions in this group to their appropriate group and put this group to a merciful death. Dave Burris ihlpf!burris BTL - Naperville
avsdS:avsdT:sharon (03/23/83)
At least a month ago I unceremoniously unsubscribed to this newsgroup.
For lack of anything better to do, I just completed reading all the net.women
articles that are still hanging around on disk. This is in response to the
(male) person asking why relatively few women are active in this newsgroup:
I unsubscribed to this newsgroup because I was sick and tired of all the
talk and talk and talk and talk and talk about the abortion issue. Believe it
or not, as a woman I have many other things to think about *besides* abortion.
Questions like:
Why do men applaud when I successfully change the water tank
on the water cooler?
Why is the women's bathroom three times the size of the
men's bathroom? Is that required by law?
Why do men assume I'll be offended by an obscene joke?
Why does my father assume, because I once built a digital clock
using small scale integrated chips for a class assignment, that
I can fix his telephone?
Why is it that men are friendlier in the hallways than women?
(Women will not only avoid meeting the eyes of men they do not
know in hallways, they will avoid the eyes of women they do
not know -- occasionally, even I am guilty of this.)
Why is the percentage of male hackers higher than the percentage
of female hackers?
How do you cope with male co-workers who inflict puns at a rate
known to cause hemmorhaging among even lovers of the infamous
Paddy O'Furniture joke? (Or have your heard that one yet?....)
What is Women's Intuition and why don't I have any?
Why are women on American television portrayed as beautiful,
brainless, cardboard figures while women on British television
are portrayed as three-dimensional humans, often average in
appearance, with real intelligence and sensivity, and believable
faults? (I am here referring to Masterpiece Theater, NOT Benny
Hill -- while we (in America) have many shows comparable in
tastefulness to Benny Hill, we have nothing which compares
in quality to Masterpiece Theater.)
You know, I often make it through the whole day without ONCE thinking
about abortion; I even sleep at night with the burning question "At what
point does a fetus become human?" unanswered.
Sigh. Any responses to this article should be mailed to me
directly -- that is, if there is anyone *really* out there. I have my
doubts -- no one has yet replied to anything I've posted to the net.
I suspect you're all just figments of my over-worked, female mind.
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Sharon
...!ucbvax!atd!avsdT:sharonjamcmullan (03/24/83)
I hardly think the women had control over whether people would use net.women
as a forum for the abortion debate. No use blaming women for "sitting idle
while a news group...would be lowered to such a level". I mean, you might
as well get mad at everyone on the net because there are lightbulb jokes
in net.jokes. People submit what they please.
Anyway, to get to the point of the original article, I think I have to agree
with Tim Maroney. There seem to be more men than women on the net and
submissions to this news group are simply a reflection of that. I don't think
net.women should be "put to death" because men are submitting more articles
to it, than women.
I am hitting the 'n' key on abortion, but it is interesting to me to read the
other articles men put in, with their opinions on women. I have found them
encouraging, enlightening and discouraging. I send some flames (by mail) and
I post responses occasionally. The continuing stream of
articles being posted to net.women seems to indicate that it should stay
on the net.
I am not answering the silly questions. They are too reminiscent of the old
technique of naming women as victims and then blaming them for it. I refuse
to accept that "articles from men" is a problem and I refuse to take the blame
for it!
To respond to the point about why I (a woman) am not submitting more articles,
I should say that I see the newsgroup as a forum for networking amongst women
(other people may view it differently). I would wish to post when I had a
problem (with my boss, with my legal rights) that I wanted opinions on or
coping techniques for. It just so happens that I personally have not had
any networking needs since I have been on the net. I certainly am not going
to start posting "How I Dealt with Sexist Construction Workers" articles
unless I come up with something totally revolutionary. So far, the most
brilliant way I've dealt with that problem is to give them the finger and
my dirtiest look -- hardly worth an article.
Lastly, could you explain the totals from the figures in your article?
(Things like this drive me crazy).
Articles concerning abortion: 47
Articles concerning other issues: 34
Total: 81
Articles submitted by men: 45
Articles submitted by women: 14
Articles where sex could not be determined: 21
Total: 80
--Judy McMullan