(SHIRLEY TO WENDY)
Susan Clerc talks of ‘whiny’ white males wanting women to leave politics out of the equation in online discussions, assuming a masculinised neutrality of interest is itself apolitical, ‘their naivete would be touching if it weren’t so depressing’ (p.86). In response many have started women-only online groups and mailing lists where the discussions may not be based about feminism but are set against a backdrop of shared (or at least similar) political beliefs. Concerning the Systers mailing list, L Jean Camp writes, ‘How freeing to have a place where they don’t have to deal with people very unlike them discussing “reverse discrimination” and “special rights” when they want to talk about how to just get through the week.’
Fears that such grouping signals a dangerous withdrawal from society – assume a society that is inclusive. Alexis de Tocqueville’s description of what he sees as individualism - ‘a calm and considered feeling which disposes each citizen to isolate himself from the mass of his fellows and withdraw into the circle of family and friends; with this little society formed to his taste, he gladly leaves the greater society to look after itself’ (p.119) ignores the experience of those who due to their ‘race’, sexuality, gender, politics have been marginalized and have had to operate away from mainstream society out of force.
Nina Wakeford has written on the importance of such online lesbian communities – where such groups can operate as a safe haven, a beacon for others and where your difference is not an issue. Of course, we should ‘carve out some female space’ (p.143) out of choice rather than being forced out of male space. Ideally, these women-only groups should function in parallel with a feminist presence in mainstream discussions otherwise that the mainstream will continue to follows its particularly masculine trajectory.
