(no subject)

[tanaise]

The Yearly Meeting house I go to in Philly has two meeting rooms from when it was first built. the east one, I think, is the old women's meeting room. What amazes me is that it took me so long--several years, though only occasional visits to realize the problem with this. Quakers have been EO since they started. Women have been ministers (*not* preachers, more like traveling teachers.) since the first few years. So why the two meeting rooms. So I asked someone. They weren't for meeting for worship, just meeting for business. And it wasn't out of any sort of inability for the groups to interact or relate or anything. It was for comfort. It was a lot easier for a woman to stand up and say, "I agree/disagree/think it's a stupid idea." if her husband wasn't sitting next to her. And I agree. I think that people need space of their own.
So while I don't like that the lesbian/gay group at FMW has a different meeting than the rest of us, I also understand why they want one. And I know it's not exclusionary, and that probably if I went, no one would care, or ask or anything, but I would feel uncomfortable because they'd be...judging? that's not quite the word I want--evaluating, maybe, me based on a set of common experiences that I wouldn't have. So I say, let them have their meeting. Let them have one spot where they know they are safe. So much of my life is safe, why must I begrudge them an hour a week?

Comments

[bunnythecat.livejournal.com]

ok this is random. i have no real idea how i found your livejournal, insomnia and the internet combine for wacky adventures.
ok finding someone's livejournal isn't wacky, but it's all i've got right now. :)

anyway, regardless, i'm just wondering where you go to quaker meeting in d.c.?
my only experience with the quakers is through my ex girlfriend who lives in d.c. and went to sidwell.

i really should say something clever and witty here, that let's you know i am not some random dweeb who found you on the internet and deserves your contempt, but since i just drove from flagstaff (arizona) to boston massachusetts stopping only for energy drinks and gas my brain is about on fizzle.
and... done. :)

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

It's near dupont circle, on florida avenue. It was built for Herbert Hoover back in the, um, thirties I think. It's very nice.