Hi, On 6/7/13, Satabdi Das <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Svaksha, > > I have forwarded your email to the mailing list of WFS-INDIA
Thanks. > [email protected]. We are having a discussion there on this and > it would be great if you join that mailing list and participate in it. I just read the archives (of wfs-india) and TBH, as a woman, I would never want to speak for ALL-the-women or claim to be a "feminist", so when men do that ... *sigh* ..I find it tiresome to deal with Mansplaining (https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Mansplaining&t=canonical). Instead, I'll share with you what I have learned from observing female peers : * If you are a women's group (running one or building one), you want men as allies, not as decision makers: Read, if men are going to be telling you "what to do/how to think/etc.." in a women's group, its just as bad as the patriarchy they claim to protect you from. * Supporting "women" means, not intruding in their space or telling them how to think/ opine, allowing them to fail and being there to break that fall are crucial. When you observe babies learning to walk, they'd fall on the first try, but they'd still learn to walk ON THEIR OWN, in time. * Stepping back is crucial: Men (as allies), need to be open to feedback from anyone really but especially from women. Stepping-back when women opine why something makes them uncomfortable, or while she requests a change is the hallmark of receptive listening. Fwiw, this gyan was, surprisingly, given to me by two male FOSS friends and I've heard and experienced its echo with multiple male supporters who are not afraid of giving women control to run their own groups. I am still learning to be discerning with the above. Hope that helps you grow your own wings :) Goodluck ! -- svaksha ॥ http://svaksha.com ॥ _______________________________________________ WFS-India mailing list [email protected] Message archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Unsubscribe: To unsubscribe, please login to your account at http://www.wfs-india.org/ and unsubscribe to the WFS-India list from your account settings. -- WFS-India - http://www.wfs-india.org
