Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 18:14:38 -0500
From: Yoshie Furuhashi <Furuhashi.1-AT-osu.edu>
Subject: Re: M-TH: Arbitrary Quota Now!


Dear Bill,

>Yoshie
>You write,
>>Bill's test itself isn't the kind that would occur to me to think up. It's
>>a straight guy's definition of respect.
>I agree but would correct it to a straight guys definition of tolerable
>behavior as I extend this rule to persons I don't respect.I am however
>open to any suggestions anyone might have as to how to render this rule
>in a less masculinist manner.

I am not a formalist (to make a reference to the New Criticism thread), so
I don't advocate changing list "rules" as a way to change what's going on
here. As I repeatedly said in the Antigone thread, it is the context that
ultimately determines the text. So I live in hope of more women, people of
color, etc. showing up here. With changed demographics, I think that the
form, content, and focus of our discussion will change also. I agree with
folks who say that there are constraints to gender parity that are beyond
our control. However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't make efforts, does it?
At least, we ought not to be far behind fundamentalist churches, the US
military, corporations, academia, etc. in terms of
gender/racial/sexual/other inclusiveness. We lack credibility when we say
we are anti-sexist but our ranks contain very few women. For instance, how
can we criticize with a straight face the Nation of Islam for its sexism if
the NoI has more women than we do? We look more like the Promise Keepers
now.

>Incidentally the pub I frequent, the Delta Tavern, is a working class pub
>with about 75% of the punters being Maori, 30-40% women, a smattering of
>rednecks, farmers and the occasional piece of white trash such as myself.
>Oddly we all seem to coexist with most conflict being intra rather than
>inter group. A big chunk of the people are unemployed and seem to have
>constructed meaning and purpose in their lives by joining gangs and
>adopting mannerisms and musical tastes derived from the US.

That would be the pub I would like to drop in should I visit your area of NZ.

best,

Yoshie




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