rjl@sfmag.UUCP (R.J.Lewis) (08/13/85)
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I have just finished reading Owen Rowley's article on the recent content
(and lack of content) of net.motss. I must say that it really hit
home. For the past few months, ever since I discovered the existence
of net.motss, I have religiously read this newsgroup and have found
many articles and postings that merited a response buy I have rarely
posted.
Owen outlined that this is a struggle (almost always an uphill one!)
and that things will probably get worse before they get any better.
If progress is going to be made in the area of Gay Rights, we "responsible
netters" are going to have to communicate with each other (on the net
and off). The net is the best means of communication open to many of
us because
1) It can preserve anonymity
2) It has world-wide distribution
3) It's quicker and more reliable than U.S. mail :-)
While it is one of the best means of communication it is also one of
hardest to use. I can attest to the fact that it is not easy to open
one's self up to a world of strangers.
I think that I may have gotten a little off the track here; the gist
of what I wish to say is that the lines of communication must be kept
open. We can all do without Ken Arndt's type of postings; positive
communication is the key to doing almost anything.
Reggie.
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Reginald J. Lewis
AT&T Information Systems
...{ allegra ihnp4 }!attunix!rjlrrizzo@bbncca.ARPA (Ron Rizzo) (08/15/85)
I was glad to see Owen Rowley's encouragement to contribute. My guess is that hundreds (thousands?) of people read net.motss, and that many are heterosexual. Here at BBN quite a few straight employees read it regularly, & some even contribute occasionally. Because of its topic, net.motss probably generates more curiosity than a lot of other Usenet newsgroups. In a cooperative open enterprise like Usenet, what results is only the sum of participants' contributions. If no one posts, nothing happens. If Owen wants to see the level of discussion improved in some way, he should by all means start an exchange of the kind he wants. I have to disagree with Owen's opinion of the Jason postings. I think they're substantive and address very real issues in a productive way (they're also funny). Long ago I disparaged the first Jason posting, mainly because of how I thought it would affect others' perception of net.motss. Now I think I was completely wrong in my judgment then, & consider the attitude of others toward something like net.motss to be a consideration almost not worth taking into account (or as an aged' quean once said to me, "Now, honey, if you waited for other people's approval before you did anything, you wouldn't have done some of the most worthwhile things you have, would you?"). (BTW, Ray, I've tried to send you mail, but my butter-fingers have never managed to type a valid pathway to you.) One last point: working in a homophobic environment poses a real problem for many potential posters. True, they can post anonymously through another Usenetter, & many large corporations like DEC and AT&T (I believe) have anti-discrimination clauses; but there's still some risk: upper management may be tolerant, but not one's coworkers and supervisors. And even if the objective risks are slight, over- coming the psychological barrier of the occupational closet is not easy, especially when it involves one's daily bread. Regards, Ron Rizzo "U.S. out of my pants!"
sophie@mnetor.UUCP (Sophie Quigley) (08/22/85)
In article <656@sfmag.UUCP> rjl@sfmag.UUCP (R.J.Lewis) writes: >If progress is going to be made in the area of Gay Rights, we "responsible >netters" are going to have to communicate with each other (on the net >and off). The net is the best means of communication open to many of >us because > 1) It can preserve anonymity > 2) It has world-wide distribution > 3) It's quicker and more reliable than U.S. mail :-) > >While it is one of the best means of communication it is also one of >hardest to use. I can attest to the fact that it is not easy to open >one's self up to a world of strangers. Please do be careful though.... Anonymity can be preserved, but only by posting through other people's accounts. I think that there is a great danger in using the net, that of distancing oneself from the readers too much and opening oneself up to the world too much. I certainly regret having posted certain articles to the net. Not that I have felt any ill-effects as a result, but that I still wonder about whether I might not meet one day apply for a job with someone I have flamed to hell or have disclosed some intimate details to via the net. The former is not too bad as I doubt I'd like to work with someone I disliked enough to flame really badly, but the latter is, as it might open me to sexual harassment or other unpleasant happenings. So while there might be some therapeutic advantages to opening oneself up to strangers, there might also be some more down-to-earth repercussions of such an action. It's not an easy decision. -- Sophie Quigley {allegra|decvax|ihnp4|linus|watmath}!utzoo!mnetor!sophie