Re: Reprinting Postings

[Shannon Ford <shannon -at- UNIFACE -dot- NL>]

I will never get any work done this way!

I think that the term racist refers to acts which are negatively biased against
someone because of their race, the classic being that persons of another race
are somehow inferior to your own. OK, this is a narrow definition, but at least
a workable one. It seems a bit silly to label as racist someone desiring to
know other technical writers who are of the same race. We must acknowledge
cultural differences (where race and culture are very closely linked), not
pretend that there are none.

The same holds for sexism. I don't think it is sexist to want to know other
women writers, or to count how many women writers there are. I do think it
is sexist to say that women don't make good technical writers because they
are no good at science. Or when a woman says she works for IBM and the person
she is talking to assumes she is a secretary.

Taking such a broad definition of these terms only diffuses the issues into
obscurity.

Shannon Ford
fords -at- uniface -dot- nl

p.s. In my experience with Brits, I haven't found many enlightened feminists of
 either gender, I'm sorry to say. And I am married to a Scot. It is also
common practise to bash Americans, so all you Americans out there, don't feel
bad.

(This is response to Simon North. Sorry, didn't feel like including the
message.)