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Old 05-13-2008, 02:26 PM   #61
JW
 
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Location: San Diego CA USA
Join Date: Aug 2000
Posts: 561
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Re: Starting an all-women's class

Quote:
Ron Tisdale wrote: View Post
Try going up Black in the inner city surrounded by drug dealers, crime, police brutality, poverty, etc...

See what that does for self-esteem. Or growing up in Appalachia. Heck, or rural Texas for that matter.
I never meant to contest this-- in fact I agree that self-esteem is negatively impacted by these things.
This discussion seems to have devolved from the topic of an all-women's class to a discussion about segregation itself. I don't believe in segregation in general, and I don't believe that making up random concessions for any group that feels disadvantaged is a good idea in general either.
This class is not a concession for women-- it is a mechanism that addresses male domination's impact on female enrollment by taking away male domination in one class session.

I just believe that male dominance perpetuates itself in that male-dominated arenas can be intimidating to women. I believe that men can take advantage of this situation sometimes (we may not even realize it), and by not fighting it, we allow ourselves to sometimes accept its favor but then never fight against it.

Segregation is not supposed to be involved in outreach in general-- this is a case wherein those who are reaching out are attempting to overcome the particular barrier of intimidation due specifically to one group's dominance or presence.
Well, I feel like it is a dead horse now!

Anyway I don't believe in granting concessions as a solution to problems. I believe problems should be solved. Aikido is one small way where I see an end to one gender's psychological domination of another, and it sucks that there are very real reasons for some women to not find aikido even though it is needed.
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