NH: Hmm, I dunno. My lover (male) and I are about evenly matched for
height, reach and strength, as I am with a couple of other male friends, now
that I think on it. But with us, the average holds true. Their upper
bodies are stronger, and my lower body is stronger. We are all
comfortable with physical labour, but we do accomplish tasks
differently. However, none of this is as simple as that. I was raised
in the tropics, where we had the option of going barefoot a lot of the
time. As a result, if I drop something, I'm as likely to pick it up with
my toes as to bend over and use my hands. But the first time a Canadian
friend saw me do that, she was absolutely bowled over. Huge
generalisation, I know, but she figured she simply had spent so much time
in shoes that she hadn't figured out how to move her toes.
-nalo
On Wed, 10 Sep 1997, MARINA YERESHENKO wrote:
> Mike,
> Your wife does the same task differently not because she's a woman, but
> because she is not as strong as you are, as a human being. A man of her
> height and weight would not not accomplish something the way you do, either.
> And a woman of your size would not have a problem with that.
>
> Marina
>
> woman your size On Tue, 9 Sep 1997, Michael Marc Levy wrote: <snip>
>
> > Charnas portrays women who
> > have either been born into a society or adapted to societies where women
> > are expected to participate in the full range of human activities,
> > including many physical activities generally handled by men in our society.
> > One of the problems with many female warrior stories, it seems to me, is that
> > the female characters act pretty much like men when it comes to accomplishing
> > physical activities. This doesn't strike me as entirely realistic. I know
> > from experience, for example, that my wife, who is a small person and
> > doesn't have a lot of physical strength even though she works out
> > regularly, will often set out to accomplish a physical task (digging up a
> > garden, flipping a matress, moving the refrigerator, sewing on a button)
> > completely differently from how I, who am much stronger but much more clumsy,
> > would do it. She'll do the job just as well, sometimes less quickly, sometimes
> > more quickly, but she'll break it down into different parts or
> > sub-routines than I would, use different tools, etc. I think we see some
> > of this in Charnas's riding women and particularly in Alldera's invasion
> > force in Fury. We see some of this in Eleanor Arnason's work as well.
> >
> > Mike Levy
> >
>
>
> "Femininity is code for femaleness plus whatever society
> happens to be selling at the time."
> Naomi Wolf
>
"There are two kinds of dates; the kind that you go out with, and the
small fruit that you eat."
-my aunt
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