From: iview-AT-technologist.com
Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 10:49:35 -0700
Subject: Re: To Lizzy:  Re: Taslima Nasreen and her head


Lizzy,

You know what I mean...neither you nor I would take on "that kind of
responsibility" -- I mean, clearly, that how *I* behave and how *I*
treat my own kind often comes back to haunt *me*.  Now, as for Ms.
Nasreen and her dilemma...I believe Salman Rushdie would tell her to
stay in hiding...that's what he had to do until the ban was lifted...and
even now, that's come into question, and he is not readily accessible. 
Women wanted patriarchal equality with men...we now have it.  I wouldn't
at all be surprised if her sister writers are, in fact, rallying support
for her even as we quibble over semantics...she couldn't otherwise be in
hiding right now.  I have a writer friend in Dhaka, and am trying to
find out what the current situation is.  If I find out anything, I'll
post it here.

-manjusree


Lizzy Poole wrote:
> 
> 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