AGA Roll Call: A Room of Our Own
"Women, then, have not had a dog's chance of writing poetry. That is why I have laid so much stress on money and a room of one's own."~ Virginia Woolf
When we went through the applications to choose each of you, the biggest common thread you shared (and which we were looking for most) was that you all both wanted women's community for yourselves, and expressed a dedication to nurturing women's community for other young women.
Write about why you want and need women's community. Here are some ideas to play with:
• When you don't have it, what is the experience of that missing piece? How do you think it effects women individually and as a class to be without their own spaces?
• When you DO have it, how do you see it benefitting you, other women, women as a class, and feminism as a whole? Why it is important to you?
• What do you think women's community can provide; what do you think it CAN'T provide?
• We know that women's spaces can be of great value to women, and that plenty of women would say that space is a vital neccessity to women. But do you think it can also benefit others? How?
• Talk about an already-existing women's space you've spent time in: think about it broadly -- there are likely spaces you've spent time in which haven't been put forth as women's spaces, but have ended up being so.
• Build an ideal space for women. Where is it? What does it look like: what colors, scents, sounds are there? Who's in it? What's everyone doing there? What does it feel like to be in it?
Tag your post with "AGA Roll Call: A Room of Our Own," or, if you're a reader here, leave a letter at the All Girl Army forums, or a link to your letter at your own blog or journal in the comments here.
To read our writer's responses to this call as they come in, click here.
... But what about the men?
".... But what about the men?"
This is, in my opinion, one of the most detrimental questions asked in women's spaces.
Why is it that when women's spaces are provided, the most talked about subject is that they're NOT inclusive of males? That drives me insane. I've seen it here and other places as well ....and it drives me up the wall! I can certainly understand the arguments for inclusivity: males are affected by sexism as broadly as females, if we're arguing that sex and gender identity are not neccessarily intertwined we can't deny that fact... What I don't understand is why the male perspective/detriment/etc is always highlighted over the female ... in spaces made specifically for women! I love it that the AGA is not inclusive of males, honestly. Women offer sympathy to sexist detriments and annoyances I experience that men just cannot provide. We experience life differently in society. Our perceptions are inseparably laced with cultural influence, and there's really nothing we can do about that... It's ALL we've known, from birth. That though can lead to separatism and it's a bit depressing to think how it's separated us, perceptually, from males ... but that's how it is. And women just understand other women better than do men because they've been socialized in the same way and have experienced much of the same oppression as their fellow females. That's the way it is. Not to say that men cannot sympathize, or the women should not sympathize ... but there's a time for empathy and a time for sympathy. Women only spaces are here for empathy... you know? I needed to get that off my chest, thanks!
Blog it, gal!
Seriously. How about doing this roll call as a blog entry, and talking about just what you're talking about? Because it's an awesome, important issue and one worthy of exposition.
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