Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id j6LCSjG21870; Thu, 21 Jul 2005 08:28:45 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 21 Jul 2005 08:28:45 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <s2df5c24.049@mailsrv21.gsu.edu> Errors-To: listowner@nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Daphne Greenberg" <ALCDGG@langate.gsu.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:3268] segregation and sisterhood X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise Internet Agent 6.5.4 Status: O Content-Length: 1804 Lines: 27 I wonder if women who live in countries/cultures where women can interact freely with men in open spaces lose a certain kind of sisterhood that exists more naturally in countries/cultures where women and men are more strictly segregated. For example, I wonder whether female students feel more of a sense of female comardarie in an all female classroom compared to female students in a mixed gender classroom. Has anyone experienced this as a teacher or a student? Or has anyone read any research on this? Daphne >>> AWilder106@aol.com 7/18/2005 10:10 AM >>> Daphne! I'm in kind of a rush again, but will try to put my thoughts together a bit. First, I was firmly in the upper class when I was there, as I was an American. I honestly don't know whether that is important, though. Second, what shone out at me from other women I knew was a kind of womanly warmth and certainty. Women seemed to have a larger emotional space to inhabit. I remember acutely a woman, Ismaili Moslem, who was stringing blankets on a wire across a porch/living room, for some relatives who were refugees from another part of Asia--Malaysia? This kind of warmth I experienced many many times, in many different ways. I resolved on returning home to try to live more like that--the women in households were more connected, so there would be neighborhoods of connection among women. I didn't succeed then, I had a lot of other tasks on my plate, but I know what I want, and in my house upgrades I have ALWAYS directed my work to achieving an environment where that closeness is possible. A womanly welcoming. One graduate student from Bangladesh had that way of greeting me when I came into the kitchen....such warmth! Next time--administrative women. I have to run, again.... Thanks for asking, Daphne. Andrea
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