The woman-positive activity

Mary asked four women from the CORE program if they would be interested in participating in a women-only discussion group. After hearing about the research and Marion and Mary's interest in exploring what it means to be woman-positive at the Learning Exchange, they began to meet regularly, usually once a week for about two hours. They talked about their lives, sharing experiences and exploring different ideas.

Mary and Marion want to continue with this group as it has become a very positive part of the program for all six women. They also want to continue exploring what they are learning about "woman-positive." They plan to organize some information sessions with their colleagues and other students to share what they discovered and to discuss different points of view on the possible consequences of focusing on women within the program. Some key words they have already identified include loyalty, isolation, and caregiver.

This is what happened

The group grew in several ways. This was not in terms of size but in terms of what the women became. They went from being a loosely knit group to a very harmonious and close group. They learned about each other and about themselves. They discovered that they all talked, all of the time, about women's interests and issues. Since they had given themselves no parameters at all, nor any guidelines for their conversations, their discussions flowed completely spontaneously. Much of the time they laughed at things they had done, or that had happened to them, sometimes describing events from years ago, sometimes relating recent things they found funny.

Little by little the women became closer to each other. When the group first started they were interested in the idea of a women's group. As they began meeting on a regular basis, they became more and more interested in each other. Since they didn't have a topic or a program of any kind, they were simply six women talking about whatever came up. They were amazed at how natural it felt. Across the varied boundaries of education, income, and family support, they became a small band of women who enjoyed each other's company as they travelled together without maps or navigation or defined goals. They shared thoughts, listened and sympathized, and sometimes explored a little bit. They discussed some of their problems and possible solutions, told stories about themselves and their lives, and all of them frequently thought about the group in-between meetings.

The entirely natural relating and responding which occurred was a surprise, especially to Marion and Mary. It was such an eye-opener: how comfortable they all felt, how much they all looked forward to meeting again. Neither Mary nor Marion could think of many other situations in which they felt such an absence of tension.