Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 00:42:28 -0400
From: Lizzy Poole <lizzy-AT-cybertours.com>
Subject: Re: To Lizzy:  Re: Taslima Nasreen and her head


Manjusree -

>  every
> woman is responsible for every other woman's success or failure.

Wow - that's too heavy a burden for me to pick up! I believe our successes and failures
are our own responsibility - 90%hard work and a little good luck thrown in.
But a death threat by someone else is the same as making any harmful move on someone's
life. It should be stopped by whatever means possible. If a horde of screaming men is
lusting after her death because she disagreed with them or criticized that she was being
left out of the religion that she belongs to, or whatever wording she used that so
enraged them,
then the horde is certainly not going to pay any attention to whatever other women
writers she might align herself with. They're only going to pay attention to someone
they fear and respect - and that would be someone more powerful than them. I don't think
even world opinion can sway a fanatical crowd on the rampage.

The woman is in trouble whether we admire her or not. If I were her, I'd use every
tear-jerkin' tactic in the book. The question is not what color we want for her
parachute, but how we can help to get her one.
Maybe someone should contact Salmon Rushdie and ask how its done.
Lizzy