Having national workshops to discuss, challenge, and affirm their experience was also central to women's learning. Many said it was the sense of other women involved in the work that helped them move beyond the everyday practice of literacy work to reflection, then more conscious action. The intense discussion as well as the promise of developing a collaborative analysis and recommendations meant that women believed they would be able to actually get something done.

I think the key was the workshops. I think it's getting together with all these women. . . . getting so many different perspectives on all this. I think us standing together makes us feel better too - maybe we can make a difference. (Shirley Hickey, Rabbittown Learners Program)

Some of the women felt that having a clearly articulated philosophical framework when they came to the research often helped them move into their activities with more confidence. Others talked about how they could understand resistance - or even avoid it - because of the ways in which they understood power relations in their particular setting. Other women talked about the way in which their strong grounding in humanistic thought allowed them to challenge assumptions in others and in themselves. Others suggested that the complete newness of what they were discovering led to an enthusiasm that provided energy for the extra work under difficult circumstances.

• What resistance to your woman-positive activity did you experience?

When we asked this question women often went through a series of reflections before finally settling on an answer. Some first said there was no resistance, then qualified that by outlining one incident or several incidents that might be interpreted as resistance. Others first said that there had been resistance, then qualified that by suggesting that they might have been paranoid that day or that they might be over-reacting.

Some women experienced resistance from all directions: administration or board of directors, other staff, students, family members, themselves. Some women talked unequivocally about the encouragement they received from everyone involved. For most women, their experience fell between these two. They encountered resistance, most of it passive or indirect. It often seemed more like benign neglect, disinterest. They felt ignored, but that ignorance did not often become openly expressed.

The most blatant forms of resistance clearly came from men students. In one instance, a few men became physically violent or threatened physical violence in response to the woman-positive activity. They blocked the woman-positive activity or made their presence continually known.

Certainly in the earlier stages the men would all make comments like, "Oh, you're going to have your women bitch session tonight." Or five of them would walk by at 7:00 to see how many women showed up. Even now occasionally, certain men, almost always the same ones, show up at the door and say, "Oh shit, I forgot it's women's night." Or they show up at 9:00 and say, " Any women need a walk home?" (Robin Silverman Allcorn, Beat the Street)