If women want to have any chance of anything approaching fair and equal treatment

M[/dropcapy first work on the radio was being trained by a women’s radio collective in Sydney at 2SER, I also was lucky enough after training to be able to do a weekly session on radio Redfern – ‘the Blak heart of Sydney’ – an aboriginal radio station.

During this time I was very focussed on coming to an understanding of separatist movements.
The name of the women’s collective escapes me at the moment I think it was silver something it. We only played women’s voices and when someone played Salt n Pepa ‘Lets Talk About Sex’ as appropriate and women positive there was much disagreement

It has always be very clear to me that many who are vociferously against the idea of certain people coming together on their own spend the majority of their time in such separatist society as they wish to deny others.

I know very few whyt people who grew up in places or spent time in spaces where being wyt was different.
I can’t think of a single man I know who is not often or regularly in a space where there are no or very few women. Yet somehow if women or people of colour want to create a public space where they too have this experience. It creates a great deal of antipathy (the opposite to sympathy).

My mode of operation with people is energy, that is what I work with.
If my daughter is pretending to have a hangover I know it because the energy of a hangover is very distinctive and very difficult to pretend energetically. To give off a different energy takes even more energy plus focus, with this example if you want to energetically ‘give off’ hangover, you have to remember all the different feelings of a hangover, headache, queasy stomach, low energy, aches, often bruising, also sensitive hearing and eye sight to think on and try to constantly give the impression all of that at the same time just to deceive someone is rarely worth the effort.

Being in a public space with restricted access creates a sense of safety.
Everyone knows that. The feeling increases the more limiting the restriction, breaking down the usual barriers to opening up to strangers. When the restriction is boundaried by success or failure to… or shared experience these places operate more like personal or private space wherein it is almost inevitable that you positive, amazing, (healing,) exchanges and experiences with total strangers.

These spaces no longer exist for females.
Most (young) women say they are not interested in women only space. What does that say about how we feel about each other and through that ourselves.

Everybody would rather be with the boys – much research bears this out.

When I first heard about women only spaces,
I was curious. How would that be? I am amazed that so many women without ever having done it, dismiss it as something that would clearly be unpleasant. Unless it’s to sell them something – Sex toys, make up and cosmetics, cleaning products (baby) clothes – a request to come to a women only gathering more often than not garners a puckered face look “Why?” “No!” and “I don’t ‘do’ women only”, have been the main answers when I’ve attempt to create such spaces.

Women behave very differently when there are no men around.

One of the (few) great things about many African, Middle Eastern, Islamitic and Indian (sub continent) cultures is the fact that there is space created where women get to spend time in and seem to value their segregated spaces. Albeit that the operation and culture outside of this space is overtly misogynistic (women hating). In my opinion Western monotheistic culture is inherently misogynist and the fact that this hatred of women seems strongest among women themselves is it’s most damning, damaged and damaging aspect.

Women speak differently when there are not men around.

I am blessed to have been given space to voice my opinions of Radio Alwareness. Patricia allows me to bring in any idea, always listens and usually gives the go ahead. This year 2018 she wants to take more affirmative action.

I contend that Simone de Beauvoir was correct in her assessment in the book The Second Sex published in 1949 – if women want to have any chance of anything approaching fair and equal treatment from men they will have to give up the idea and notion of femininity (and the beauty imperative).

At this point in the equation whether any individual subscribes to femininity, the beauty imperative, looking good, wanting to be beautiful, is irrelevant as is the notion of choice and free will in the matter. What is interesting and relevant is whether we can look at and address the reasons why we make the choice(s) one way or another

Heli St Luce