Safe Sex is No Fun

[Paul Mackin]

On Fri, 22 Mar 1996, Robert Bruno wrote:

> Something tells me that there ain't too many women subscribed to this list...
> I just get the feeling that women aren't as turned on by Pynchon's 
> writing as men are
> 
> Maybe some lady subscribers can comment?

Out of curiosity I browsed through the some 300 addresses on the
list, but alas in the overwhlemingly proponderant majority of cases
addresses are not sex specific--you can't tell. Damn.

I had an idea a while back but suppressed it. Everybody (or whoever
wanted to) would start using anonymous mailings. This is easy to do
these days on the Internet with so called "remailers".

The advantage might be it could help avoid sex- and other- 
stereotyping that I got a sneaking feeling we are all prone to in
bad ways. You could sign your own name, adopt a pseudonym, or be truly
anonymous.

It's a racical idea and not free of danger:

It might be disorienting. Too much stereotyping is bad, but some may be
necessary for efficient communication. We _do_ adjust our way of speaking
and listening according to who we perceive the other party to be. Doing too 
much of this was the problem in the first place. But maybe some of it is 
necessary. Anyway it's a possibility. 

It would no longer be easy to communicate with one individual as
opposed to the whole list. There'd be the rigmarole of finding
his or her addreses. You'd have to post an all-list query. "Would
the woman who said if TRP were her son she would wash his mouth
out with soap and make him stand in the corner, please get in touch with 
such and such address." Of course you wouldn't necessary know it was a
women, so the gross stereotypying I have just been guity of wouldn't
be so apt to happen.

Now you see why I suppressed the idea.

Maybe stereotyping isn't so bad.

				P.