Robin Gordon wrote:
>
> Melanie, while I recognize some anecdotal truths in the stereotypes you
> portray in your story I have to take issue with your characterization <snip>
.... as many others did, both on and off list. Robin posted a note to
the moderator at the end of this email to apologise for continuing an
off-topic subject; therefore I will make this my last public posting on
the subject and continue to reply privately to the emails I receive on
this.
My stated intention was - and still is - to offer *a* (NOT *THE*) point
of view and one possible answer to a question posted to the list, based
on my own personal experiences (I chose not to have kids until age 30
due to my own hedonistic lifestyle and selfishness) and those of close
family, friends and acquaintances with whom I am sufficiently familiar
to enable me to gain some understanding of their reasoning processes.
I recognise, admit and understand the fact that there are many other
childless couples in different circumstances who have both chosen to
make the decision and/or had it inflicted upon them by circumstance.
Even upon close inspection, I can't see where the original email I
posted invalidated any of that. Nor do the experiences of those couples
invalidate my own.
The reason I posted the reply as a story is that - apart from the fact
that I'm unable to stop writing them - it enabled me to amalgamate the
experiences of which I am deeply aware into a caricature couple and
their relatives who represented exaggerated bias in the areas I was
attempting to highlight.
And let's face it, one of the easiest ways of getting inside another
person's skin is through a story - for stories are what led us to this
list in the first place.
-- I rest my (public) case. Regards
Melanie Dunstan
in Perth, Australia
Encaustic Art: http://www.ozemail.com.au/~cbooth/melanie.htm
Allcrafts specialises in Unusual Crafts
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 25 2000 - 19:06:30 PDT