Preface - Electronic Poetry Center

thought and long study, that there was no way for me to be visible "here" in any
of the ways which mattered to me. So I now confine my occasional public
espace forays to "raids across the border," with the intent of making the
population nervous, while at the same time escaping without serious wounds.
And I have always figured that the only way to create a "level playing field" is
to build it yourownself, so I got together with some like-minded people and
started SIXTIES-L, a moderated discussion list in my field of study. I don’t
even post there that often, but it is definitely a woman-friendly space, as is
demonstrated by the high percentage of women posting to it. Which brings me
to the next question:
> If so, what do they do differently?
Well, it seems to me that moderated spaces, or restricted-access spaces provide
a more hospitable environment for women. I’ve been on women’s-only lists,
and in those places women have no trouble posting at all. As I said, on
SIXTIES-L we moderate the discussion, and one of our rules is that we don’t
allow ad hominem attacks: you can harsh on people’s arguments or texts all
you like, but you can’t slam their characters. This level of protection (applied
equally to men and women) might have something to do with the higher
percentage of women posting on our list. The only unmoderated list I know of
which supports an overwhelming percentage of female posters is WMST-L, the
Women’s Studies list for educators and academics. WMST-L is technically
unmoderated, but Joan Korenman is one of the most competent and active
"nonmoderators" it’s ever been my pleasure to observe in action. WMST-L
might work so well precisely because it is mainly populated by feminists–and
not only feminists, but women specifically dedicated to the work of building
Women’s Studies as a field.
Hey, Ron, thanks for asking…