Amazons International # 23 ************************** Contents: riotgrrl: Bio & stuff William: Bio William: Non fiction story Date of Transmission: 18.12.92 ************************************************************** Date: Mon, 14 Dec 92 17:41:19 EST From: riotgrrl Subject: Bio & stuff hi, does this go in the bio. section? i'm not sure, but what i want to talk about is me and my scene in a couple of words. first of all, i refuse to use uppercase letters in my mail (apologies if this makes it hard to read) it's easier, faster, and unconventional. i suppose unconventional is the best way to describe myself, though when i was an undergrad. me and my my friend Annie decided we were Amazons. I'm 5' 11", she's 6". She's back in Alaska now and I'm in Virginia, lurking amongst small men (I think I scare the shit out of them) getting weird looks. see, not only am i tall and pretty strong (I swim a little and occaisionally lift for tone) i also dress pretty unusually; lots of vintage dresses and combat boots or men's jeans and cowboy boots, lizard, with steel tips. oh and i have a nose ring. all this makes me sound pretty rough and i can be, but the funny thing is i like to mix up this tough look with my long long dark hair, silver rings and sometimes dark lipstick. it confuses the average joe that's for sure. i guess i'm curious if there's anyone out there like me...or what you guys who dig Amazons think of this image? that description is all look, i guess part of the reason i intimidate a a lot of men (and women i suppose) is that i'm not dumb. i have a Masters and i teach 1st and 2nd year college students. i have a hard time finding someone who stimulates me intellectually as well as physically; a lot of the guys i end up attracted to seem threatened by me. so what do you think? i would love to hear from someone saying what they make of a woman with these Amazon features...do you have to be a body-builder type to qualify as an Amazon? i hope not. i admire strong women and consider my self one; i don't spend a whole lot of time in the gym but i'll arm wrestle you any day and argue theology and politics til we both turn blue... i should explain about my psuedonym: riotgrrl. this is the name of a women's 'fanzine' out of washington d.c. which is expressly for young women who dig music traditionally thought of as male (i.e. punk/hardcore) but the mag. covers all sorts of things, not just music, they've done stories on politics, food, violence, you name it, but the point is they are truly dedicated to the idea of strong women...now i guess you can say they're young feminists, and this may be true, but that's a fairly simplistic analysis: the point is they support womenPOWER that is in deed more than word; they want us to kick ass, to show those boys we are as strong and inspired as they, if not more. thus, RIOTGRRL. it is ironic that in progressive music (which resists sterotypes of men and women, race, sexual preference etc, for the most part) there is rampant misogyny in the way men treat women, despite what their lyrics say; RIOTGRRL is out to disrupt the subtle sexism, to shatter the male dominated music industry. i'm really into their efforts; i'm too old (27) to be a true riotgrrl (they're usually 18-25) but i support their noise, their strength. long live Patti Smith! long live L7 and Bikini Kill! we need strong women in all aspects of our culture...not just at the gym, but at the nightclubs too. thanks for hearing me out, send word. ************************************************************** Date: Sat, 12 Dec 92 23:37:03 PST From: wbarr@bma.jeslacs.wimsey.bc.ca (William Barr) Subject: Bio I just wanted to write a few words about myself and why I am here. To get the statistical stuff out of the way, I was born in April, '65. I'm 6'1", 235# which would make me a little on the short side for a male "amazon". :) I work-out daily and also practice some powerlifting techniques, although I have no intention of competing. When I was grazing through the various mailing lists available, Amazons International caught my eye and I subscribed, right away. The Amazon archetype has always appealed to me for whatever reason. I really don't want to know why. :) Over the years, I have had a number of acquaintances with women who would easily qualify as Amazons whom I met at gyms. Even a few have been workout partners; one even went on to compete in amateur competitions and she gives me full credit for being her coach. I have always been supportive of the Amazon lifestyle and only wish more women had the courage to live their dreams. To digress, momentarily, it always saddens me when I see a tall woman walking with a stooped head and shoulders. It's a real shame when such women think that being tall is a curse and they have to wear flats and destroy their posture (and eventually ruin their backs) simply because the majority of humans are very insecure. To drive the anecdote home, it's as if she is subconsciously bowing to a totally unworthy populace. Perhaps the reason for the attraction is more a reflection of myself. I'm a big person and a fairly physical, playful, rough and tumble guy. I just like a woman who can keep up with me and challenge me. So, for those women who are Amazons, here are some words of encouragement. Never apologize for genetics. Be proud of who you are, what you are and above all, be true to yourself. Those who seek to put you down or deprive you of your laurels are merely envious and deserve no deference on your part. And finally, take heart in the fact that there are indeed fellow humans out there who support you, respect you and love you for just the way you are. -- William Barr Internet: wbarr@bma.jeslacs.wimsey.bc.ca ************************************************************** Date: Mon, 14 Dec 92 01:07:25 PST From: wbarr@bma.jeslacs.wimsey.bc.ca (William Barr) Subject: Non-fiction story The Dawn Of My Youth: A true Amazon story When I was a young child, I was surrounded by young Amazons. None of us knew about the differences, real and alleged, between men and women, nor did we care. Some think of that time as one of naivety and immaturity; perhaps the innocence is an enlightenment that transcends maturity. Perhaps, we shouldn't grow all the way up. My friends and I used to have a great time together. The boys amongst us realized that the girls were different from most; the girls didn't mind playing with us. Often, we used to go down to the river to chase frogs in the mud of the riverbanks. On the way, we used to watch squirrels, chase rabbits, catch bees and all that good stuff. Inevitably, as kids do, we became covered in mud. On the way home, I remember the girls running up the doorsteps to be met by their mothers. Almost always, the mothers would scold the girls and shoot us an accusing, menacing glance. Of course, we were to be held responsible for dirtying their precious daughters. Didn't we know that little girls aren't supposed to do those things? To us boys, it was all the same. I mean, the only real difference between boys and girls was that girls sometimes wore dresses and used a different washroom in public buildings. Other than that, they could play tag, climb trees, fly kites, play war, dig for worms and fish just like we did. Though, they did get dumb toys. We always felt sorry for the girls and made sure we brought enough Tonka toys to the sandpit so the girls had something to play with, too. Then grade 1 happened to me. What a shock! I remember well the first few days in the wilderness known as the playground. It all seemed so simple. The girls played hopscotch and skipped rope and the boys routinely played this free-for-all that was barely recognizable as soccer. If boys did "girl things", they were sissies. If girls did "boy things", they were Tom Boys. The more adventurous and brave souls meandered over to the playground equipment. Here, the boys were so intimidating, the girls barely had a chance to give anything a try. Often, the bullies would humiliate and tease the braver girls so much, they would run away in tears leaving the boys laughing. Only when a teacher was present to scold the bully-boys did the girls get a chance to use the equipment. When the teacher left, the girls knew their amnesty was over and quickly left. As a boy, even I wasn't safe. I was bigger than all the other kids and if I tried to act as aggressive as my age-mates, I would get scolded or even strapped by teachers and told to be "nice". Meanwhile, the class runt could almost get away with murder. Even a 6 year-old can sense injustice. After a week at school, I found that I fit in, nowhere. My friends were in different classes, and I only saw them after school. The next week, after wandering around, I found a quiet sand pit I could create a world in. Soon, my friends found me. We didn't know how we came to that one place all at once but, we knew why we were there. So, we found a grove and a pond to explore in. There were no Tom Boys or Sissies in our world. That Christmas, I received a ring from a girl in my class that I never really knew existed. The ring was just a string of beads, the small ones used to make patterns with on moccasins, on a fabric elastic. We were teased relentlessly. I invited her to join our group. I taught her how to make "real" snowballs and how to throw them properly, I showed her how to make an igloo and I taught her how to ride a sleigh over moguls. She seemed really happy and liked being with us. However, by the spring she went back to being just like the other girls. Around that time, my parents enrolled me in Judo lessons. The club had about 50 members, and around 20 of us were kids. By the end of summer, the membership had dropped to about 10 kids, 3 of which were girls. By this time, we all had orange belts and were getting quite good. Then, our world changed. A new teenager joined the club. She was quite tall and a green-belt. She was also from a nearby city so this was quite a novelty for us. I remember the first class she joined us in. There were the 10 of us, a few teens and about a dozen adults. The instructor made her fight all of us, in turn. Of course, she clobbered us because she was much bigger. Then, she tossed the other teens around the mat for a while until she decided it was time to win. Then, she tossed the adults around and beat everyone, except the instructor. From that day on, Dawn was responsible for teaching us kids. In our eyes, she was too young to be an adult and too old to be a kid. We overlooked that and adopted her, anyway. Dawn taught us everything and most of us worshipped the ground she walked on. The girls used to say they wanted to be just like Dawn when they grew up. Secretly, so did us boys but we never admitted it in public, much less to each other. Dawn taught us everything. She taught us how to fight. She taught us how to win gracefully and lose with dignity. She also taught us a few things that "... would keep the bullies from bothering us." She taught us to run away and avoid a fight but, if we couldn't, she taught us how to win any fight. Dawn was our big sister. More than that: our heroine. Under her tutelage, we all passed our tests for green belt, flawlessly. She also trained us for our first competition. Dawn was relentless. Whenever one of the girls said, "I can't do it", Dawn would drag one of the other teens over, toss him around for a while to make her point and wouldn't take no for an answer. By the end of the lesson, the unsure girl would always find a way to overcome so she could walk away saying, "I did it!" Us boys never said, "I can't," because that would only disappoint our heroine and we wanted to make Dawn proud of us. The time came for the tournament and all of us managed to win a ribbon in our various categories. Out of all the clubs, we walked away with the most awards and cleaned house in the junior division. When it came time for the adults to compete, we formed a cheering section for Dawn. She didn't disappoint us and won a gold medal, that day. Now, she was truly larger than life. The next year, she moved away and I moved a year later to a town with no Judo club. But, I never forgot Dawn. None of us did. Several years later, when I was a young teen, my father pointed out something to me in the sports section. Pictured on the cover was a familiar smile. It was a little older, but familiar. The caption proclaimed the new National Women's Lightweight Judo Champion. After all those years, Dawn was still my heroine and larger than life. When I saw her picture, I wished I could find a way to thank her for all she taught me and the wonderful role model she was. -- William Barr Internet: wbarr@bma.jeslacs.wimsey.bc.ca ********************************************************* * Amazons International: thomas@smaug.uio.no * * Thomas Gramstad, editor * ********************************************************* "A Hard Woman is Good to Find" -- The Valkyries