Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 15:11:02 -0500
From: Yoshie Furuhashi <Furuhashi.1-AT-osu.edu>
Subject: "Safe" Space and Bargaining (Re: M-FEM: flames and moderation)


Jan wrote:
>I uns*ubscribed from the marxism list precisely because of this type of
>behaviour.  I mistakenly thought that the marxism/feminism list would be
>safe, so joined that instead -  ho hum....
>Some of the male behaviour on this list reminds me of some research quoted
>by Dale Spender some years ago.   From memory: teachers in co-ed classrooms
>endeavoured to give the boys and girls equal attention/time, but found they
>could not.  Whenever the girls got attention the boys interrupted even
>though they had their own tasks- the teacher tried to ignore them and tried
>to give the girls their share - the boys interrupted more loudly The
>teacher explained that it was the girls turn and went back to teaching the
>girls - the boys started shouting - they ran about the room, stood on desks
>and threw objects.
>Spender concluded that single sex schools were better for girls. This has
>been born out by numerous studies since.
>Do we have a similar dilemna here? The list had a brief discussion about
>whether men should be on the list and I seem to remember a "look but don't
>touch rule was suggested"  Like others I thought this was a bit drastic at
>the time but, now I'm not so sure.  Though it is crucial for men to be
>involved in talk around gender and equity issues, surely women need to have
>a space that is safe from interruption of the nature that is being foisted
>on the list lately.  What do others think?

I think it is a mistake to think that women-only space can be safe--safe
from disruptions, interruptions, exclusions, indifference, trivializations
and other sorts of behavior that hinder discussion and development of
solidarity.

There are other kinds of hierarchy beside gender that produce exactly the
types of behavior that are mistakenly ascribed to only men. Race, class,
stratification within a class, language, education, sexual preference...and
the list could go on. The really existing women-only spaces that I
encountered have not been particularly inspiring, even when they are not
downright depressing.

Besides, one of the things that feminism teaches us is for us women to
stand up and to learn to *make* men hear us when necessary. There is no
point in being a feminist in a feminist-only place while avoiding a place
where being a feminist is considered subversive, or even actively
discouraged. So when you happen to land on a male-dominated list, don't run
away, bring other women with you and take it over!

Moreover, especially for the women who are marxist and feminist, who seek
to cultivate class solidarity and class politics that *are* feminist,
women-only spaces make even less sense, unless what women here want is
emotional catharsis that can come from getting together with presumably
like-minded women, which I don't believe is the case.

Women also need to post our thoughts and respond to one another. It is not
fair to complain of prevalence of male voices without posting oneself or
responding to the women who do post. This list supposedly has more than one
hundred subscribers; there must be *a lot* of women who have much to say. I
can't wait to hear from you, sisters!

>Anyway, on to a more fruitful conversation, I hope.  I am currently
>involved in research which seeks to explore strategies women can use to
>improve our socio-economic position.  I am particularly interested in the
>concept of 'bargaining'  as outlined by Amartya Sen, Bina Agarwal and
>Judith Seiz et al.  As far as I know 'bargaining" is mostly used in
>cooperative/conflict paradigms of inter-household relations but I'm more
>interested in 'bargaining' across class, gender and race lines,ie
>bargaining across, between and within "difference"- not to mention
>bargaining between the state civil society and the market.
>
>I'm not sure if anyone is interested in having this type of conversation,
>so I'll wait for a response before elaborating further.

Please do post. I am interested. Also, for other people who have listed
their research interests/areas of activism and sent out feelers, please
contribute something, anything, so we can get discussion going.

Yoshie