I too became tired of reading the recent inflamatory conversations on this
list. Over the weekend, however, I started to think about a few things.
Womyn are usually trained (at least in Western society) to sit still,
cross their legs, always be polite, laugh (but not too loud) at the men's
jokes, mostly listen, and never show that you're too smart, especially if
you are also cursed with being "pretty." I even admit to engaging in
gratuitous formal manners all too often. No wonder then, that some of the
conversations were "offensive" to me. But what truly was the source of my
uncomfortability? At least for myself, some of my discomfort came from my
social indoctrination of "feminine sensibilities." Knowing this, do I
wish to police other womyn, and punish through ostracicism? As far as my
mother is concerned, I'm already a "bad daughter" because I have not
followed the existing social contract. Do I wish to enforce the falsely
constructed contract with others?
No matter what form of Ecofeminism the person on this list subscribes to,
we all know that there is a correlation between the way that womyn and the
environment are treated. Are we ready to get a little uncomfortable
ourselves, in order to create change? I don't think that change is
possible without making people uncomfortable. Negative comments about the
USA and the domination of white womyn in the Feminist movement have also
put me on the defensive. However, I am trying to really look at the
source of my uncomfortability. Are the comments justified? If so, how
has my prejudices been internalized? How do I outwardly express my
prejudices? Where do I need to change?
I still don't think that a conversation which is obviously dominated by
two or even three people, should take up the time and space of the group.
Especially when so much cross referencing is taking place. But we can not
dismiss the issues, just because we don't like the presentation. We
should not forget that language is one of the great oppressors.
So go ahead and bring on the "you get more with honey than vinegar"
comments. I still think that we have to stop trying to bring radicals
into the "cult of true womanhood." Otherwise, we will never see change.
Randi Zimmerman
