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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