Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 9/27/83; site hplabsb.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!harpo!seismo!hao!hplabs!hplabsb!pc From: pc@hplabsb.UUCP (Patricia Collins) Newsgroups: net.women Subject: womanspace Message-ID: <2058@hplabsb.UUCP> Date: Fri, 3-Feb-84 14:08:21 EST Article-I.D.: hplabsb.2058 Posted: Fri Feb 3 14:08:21 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 8-Feb-84 08:49:19 EST Organization: Hewlett Packard Labs, Palo Alto CA Lines: 37 I am in an environment where there are very few women with whom I have close contact. There are few other women nearby at work and I know few women outside of work who take time for "themselves" (as different from time for family, housework, and careers) to be with kindred spirits. I miss my time with other women very much and feel it is the one area in my life I must attend to. I wonder if the desire for womanspace on the net isn't born of a similar sense of something missing, something enriching and nurturing. I would not claim that everyone recognizes the need for such a place in their lives, nor would I try to convert anyone. I only ask that my feelings be respected, not attacked. I do wish that I could understand the defensiveness (offensiveness) of those who seem so hell-bent on discrediting the feelings of those who express a desire for communication and understanding with others about matters very close to their hearts. Nineteen months ago, I drove to San Francisco with a woman friend. I was two weeks pregnant and felt so wonderfully FULL of womanhood that I truly radiated. We were going to a concert to mark the last day of the last ERA effort. It was drizzling in San Francisco and there were all kinds of women and men at the outdoor assemblage. We sang, with Holly Near and Meg Christian, filling that damp night with a harmonic expression of frustration and hope and sisterhood. It was not a night of intimacy with other women, but it was a place to share my feelings with others in mutual support-- people of all colors, both sexes, and assorted sexual persuasions. At other times in my life, I have lived closer to women with whom I experienced an ongoing synergism. Except for the relationship I have with my sisters and mother, these relationships have been difficult to maintain over distance. I imagine that many women who spend their days at a computer terminal have had the same experience. We are, indeed, fortunate to have a national network at our fingertips. If we feel free to use this facility to exchange recipes and jokes, why not use it in a way that may clearly enrich the lives of those who wish only to lend mutual support? Patricia Collins hplabs