Announcing the Amazons International Chat

by Thomas Gramstad thomas@ifi.uio.no

I have created a new group at yahoo.com, entitled Amazons International Chat. The Chat is an addition to the AI newsletter, and should be well-suited for:

brief, informal, social postings
messages with a time-limited interest, such as announcements of news, events, meetings etc.
real-time chatting
sharing of pictures and sound files
questions and replies about book, movie, video and multimedia references, food supplements, recommended exercises, training equipment, etc. etc.
information about web sites, forums, clubs and other Internet resources
no contacts ads; you can find that elsewhere, for example from Yahoo's top page
I want a positive, upbeat, and supportive tone; no abuse or flame wars

I think this can be a good addition to the AI newsletter.

It will also give AI a visible presence at Yahoo.com and help attract new subscribers to the AI newsletter. (The number of newsletter subscribers is steady at about 1400).

I expect and will maintain pretty much the same quality and style in the AI chat as in the newsletter, even if the chat is more informal. Basically, if what you are planning to post is something you wouldn't want your 15-16 year old daughter to see or hear, take it elsewhere. Then again, I perceive most 15-16 year olds, especially girls perhaps, to be generally mature enough to know most of the facts of life and to be considered young adults or close enough, so this is an advocacy of class or style, rather than puritanism. Be, speak and act adult -- but not adult in the pornographic or sleazy sense.

If you do a keyword search at Yahoo.com for clubs or groups that contain words like "amazons", "female fighter", "women's bodybuilding" and the like, you will find a huge number of clubs, and most of them are less than a year old, many only a few months, or weeks, or even days, old. So there is clearly a boom happening right now. Most of these groups are highly specialized with a tight focus; like "Female Biceps", or "Amazon Pirates in History", or "Black Women Bodybuilders in the New York Area", or "Male Feminists Unite", or "Biker Babes with Serious Muscles". Or personal fan clubs of various shows, actresses, athletes or characters such as literally hundreds of clubs dedicated to various aspects of Xena, Chyna, Wonder Woman etc.

That's good. We need a lot of specialized groups. Amazons International, however, will continue to be a generalist group -- a forum for those who see or want to be a part of a bigger picture, a meeting ground for the whole spectrum of, and therefore widely different perspectives on, Amazons. But can there really be a picture big enough to encompass and/or develop a common ground for feminist historians, heroic feminist fantasy fans, biker babes, feminist archaeologists, action heroine movie fans, male feminists, bicep fetishists, lesbians and role playing gamers? The 10 year history of Amazons International seems to suggest such a possibility.

You can find the Amazons International Chat club page here. You can join it directly at that page, by a simple two-click process. You can read postings without joining it, but for access to the other club features and services you must be a member.

Here's the AI chat presentation from that page:
Amazons International (AI) is an e-mail, text-only newsletter for and about Amazons and their friends and supporters. Read more and subscribe to the AI newsletter here. You can find archives of all previous issues of the newsletter at this web address.

That's the newsletter; now to this Yahoo club. The purpose of the AI Chat club is to provide short, quick notes, chat, messaging, photo exchange etc. for the newsletter subscribers. While the AI newsletter is moderated and intended for longer, more thoughtful postings and mini-essays that takes some time to edit and publish, the AI Chat is for immediate and informal talk. If you sign up for this AI Chat club at Yahoo, please also sign up for the AI newsletter here.

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