Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 08:51:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: cyberdiva <radhik-AT-bgnet.bgsu.edu>
Subject: reply to qj from ava


I am not  going to disillusion you by telling you how  aggressive,
intolerant and fiercely competitive I can be=D6.but I will tell you
this=D6the only thing that stops me from becoming totally flop woman is
the bunch of er- baboons who call themselves my friends=D6.
Now-qs
[this is a battle that I love to fight because it is a particular
nightmare of mine=D6in my work context..]
what it boils down to then is control=D6.ie power=D6
let us agree that we both want to empower those who are now being
oppressed. The reason why it needs people like us to participate is
 1. The oppressed dont have a voice =D6[because if they did they would no
longer need us/ wouldnt be oppressed]
2.  empowerment can happen only when power centres give away power so we
have to be able to examine where the power seats are located=D6[sometimes
quite hidden ..this is where motives have to be examined]and we have to
see how powerful =EBwe=ED are =D6[and at whose expense] and how we are
participating in this pecking order=D6=D6
3.  we are in a position of power and if we are not to go the way of
previous middle people=D6who once they are not oppressed ..immediately
start oppressing others=D6..[yes I would like to locate myself as a
=EDbenevolent =EB middle man] =D6then my job is to be responsible and
sensitive and take public stands =D6because I have actually no other self
corrective mechanism to make sure that I am not disusing my power=D6
am I making sense????

__________
BEGIN QUOTE
In the American context, access to personal computers has been
 exceedingly "late blooming," leaving out women particularly, and of
 course the poor...but Americans are catching up.  We women were left
out
 of the loop for better, higher-paying jobs (with my Masters degree, my
 first job was a "clerk typist" -- can you imagine a *man* trapped in
 that quicksand ?), for health care, for education, and any number of
 other basics of survival.

 When I say that the internet allows me access to information and job
 searches independentently of the interloper, I breathe a sigh of
 *relief*...as long as there are interlopers making decisions *for* me,
 whether I'm a lowly villager in India, or a lowly pawn in some
 go-nowhere-but-down job, I run the grave risk of having the tool, the
 internet, or the TV thrust in my face *without* my being in the
 *driver's* seat.  *I* want to be in the driver's seat at all times...I
 want no one deciding who shall drive.

 The inernet has wiped the slate clean of interlopers.  In the American
 context, that's a very good thing.  I don't want anyone prohibiting me
 from using the tools that are around me...it's like funding
 organizations that decide someone's "eligibility" based on an
assessment
 of "need."  I object to *that* interloper having access to whatever
 tools of survival there may be...tools of communication...any monies to
 acquire bread, tools, whatever...and having access *before* I do
because
 they are in the unique, privileged position of being able to acquire
 anything due to social status, sanction, whatever, no holds barred.

 My objection is to the artificial "prohibitiveness" that we impose on
 society for "others."  I would like to level the playing field for
 everyone...I would like to make it possible for those without bread to
 be able to create their own possibilities.  I don't think this bears
 academic theorizing...it requires empirical knowledge of what works and
 why.  That TV infiltrates Indian villages with shows like Bay Watch or
 San Fran...wellll...what's your question?  Mine is "Why?"  Is it the
 fault of the tool or the interloper?
END QUOTE
---------------
Dear qj, my question is why too=D6but I ask why is it happening at
all=D6why is it so important that baywatch  be beamed and not x, y or z
that may have more relevance or universal context=D6..you may separate the
tool from the interloper =D6I cant afford to=D6[the u and i are the
geographical / ideological locations]
__________________
BEGIN QUOTE
nd????  I'm a non-English speaker, and may not have access to a tool
 because English-speaking decision-makers are misusing the tool??  It
 appears you understand the needs of these village women, and I will
 concede that they are not at a point where TV's and other developments
 will do them any good...they need bread.  Fine.  I'm not arguing that.
 I'm arguing the point of making an arbitrary decision to *withold*
tools
 because *we* somehow know what's best for *them*.  I'm suggesting that
 it is time we *asked* those upon whom we impose our own biases *before*
 imposing the biases...like thrusting San Fran in the faces of village
 women who, if asked, will *tell* us what they need...this is abject
 *misus*e of the tool...if the medium is English...it's a *misdirection*
 of English communication to a non-English-speaking audience...actually,
 an insult to them.  And women, especially, are the subject and object
of
 misdirected communication in most societies.
END QUOTE
------------------------------------------
Of course I am not saying therefore I will decide what is best for
whom..
there are two different points here =D6[your question is very valid and I
think that this is the first time I am comfortable answering it =D6others
make me feel fascist when they ask me this question=D6..]
1. what is the process of empowerment for these women=D6..even if
information is freely available here what is the cost being paid by
people who are being left out by virtue of language etc etc=D6
2. and how do we participate in this process where we are forced to
speak for other s who cannot speak for themselves
---------------------------
BEGIN QUOTE
>now the "imperial" expansion has taken a very
 different form...economic...it's much more subtle and surreptitious,
but
 the subjugation is equally pervasive and devastating.

 My point is simply that every human being, all else being equal
(healthy
 mind/body), has within herself/himself the ability to make
 decisions...
END QUOTE
--------------------------------
till this point I am in total agreement except for the bit about my
wisdom=D6.
_____________
BEGIN QUOTE
we are at a time in civilization when access such as to the
 internet's power gives *individuals* an opportunity to take control of
 their own lives...the internet is only *one* such tool...it is not the
 only tool...just as not all bread is the same kind of bread.  Giving a
 Bengali fistsfull of "Wonder Bread" won't satisfy her/his hunger for
 rice...not all tools work for all individuals...but for once, let's let
 the *individual* in question *tell* us...let's not be their
spokesperson
 anymore.  Then, we are no better than the politicians who promise the
 moon (well, that's no longer a viable unreachable anymore!  :)  ) "no
 new taxes," and WHAM !!

DO YOU SEE YADDAYYA IN TELENGANA OR CHITTI IN KAKARAPARRU SAYING I WOULD
RATHER WATCH TELUGU NEWS  AND NOT SEXY BODS ON BAYWATCH !!!
 IS THE SITUATION AT ALL CONDUCIVE TO A LOGICAL CHOICE
WHERE ARE THE REGULATORY BODIES OR EVEN  THE CONCERNED INDIVIDUALS FROM
WITHIN THEIR COMMUNITIES=D6..
GET SERIOUS BABY!!!!!!
------------------

_______________________________________________________
Radhika Gajjala
(Multimedia, New Technologies)
316B West Hall
Dept of Telecommunications
Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH 43403

(419)372-0528
____________________________________________________