----- Original Message ----- From: Marian de Haan maya@multiweb.nl

Fiona wrote:

...

I mean, if I'd come on the list and said "I find issues of gender and

sexuality in Deliverance, especially with regard to Avon's conduct in Meegat's presence, occasionally questionable," would anyone have responded at all? Whereas Wendy's post, using provocative words like "sexism," got people talking about the wider issues.<

I would have responded exactly the same as I responded to Wendy's

question,

by asking: "In what way?"

And maybe you would not have replied with the patronising "Are you kidding?", implying that I must be terribly dim not to see what's so apparent to you. :-)

And maybe I would have :-)-- I've been rightly accused of being arrogant and elitist in the past. But no, I don't think it's right to sneer at anyone else's opinions, though I'll willingly and cheerfully argue anything with anyone.

It's a good point to note, though, that if I had raised that point in that way, the people who would have answered would have been the people who participate in the "serious" threads anyway-- the people who prefer the "silly" threads would probably just delete it (I know most people participate in both, but the point is that my question would have been treated as "intellectual"). The astonishing thing about the Deliverance thread for me was seeing people who don't normally participate in the "serious" discussions take up cudgels.

Fiona

The Posthumous Memoirs of Secretary Rontane Available for public perusal at http://nyder.r67.net

_________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com