On Thu, Dec 16, 2004 at 09:41:06AM -0600, Colleen Hatfield wrote:
> I think it's great to see so much support from the rest of the (mostly
> male) Debian community, and I think that discouraging this type of
> participation would be detrimental to the goals we are trying to
> achieve (I realize that this isn't what you were suggesting, Erinn).
> I also think that our project has very strong female leadership, and
> that should be obvious to even the newest of newbies ;-).
Very very well said. Much more clearly stated than what I was trying a
couple nights ago at 3am (message never got sent because I was too tired to
try to remember my PGP pass phrase among other things).
Acknowledging that I have not been active in Debian-Women for various
reason, I would still like to offer up a small, modest amount of advice.
Feminism isn't about showing that women are superior to men. It's not about
putting women's needs over men's needs. In fact, both of those examples are
contrary to what the ideal feminist is. Feminism is about /equality/.
Despite the equality, though, one must keep in mind the differences between
men and women that make feminism so important. Women are *naturally* more
inviting, more compassionate and more open. Now, not all women have these
qualities ingrained in them better than all men, but in general you'll find
this true. These don't have to be detrimental qualities. Used to our
benefit, in fact, these qualities can help attain goals.
And please keep in mind, harboring negative feelings based on sex (even
towards guys) and acting on those negative feelings only hurts us in the
long run. It will damage the support that's been built. It will discourage
future/further support from others. It encourages a clique within Debian
rather than trying to promote full membership and participation in the
community at large. And, worst of all, it's not feminism; it's a form of
reverse discrimination that makes us (all of us) look every bit as bad as
what we're fighting. In other words, it doesn't promote /equality/ at all.
Love and bunnies,
Patty
--
----------------------------------------------------------
Patty Langasek
harmoney@dodds.net
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At times, you may end up far away from you; you may not be
sure of where you belong, anymore. But home is always
there... because home is not a place. It's wherever your
passion takes you.
--- J. Michael Straczynski
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