It’s all good, Liza. It’s all good. And you are just fine. And we are just fine. Relax and breathe and be well, sweet sister. :)

You portrayed issues of low self-esteem to get attention, Liza, Karin and whomever else you pose as? That’s unfortunate but I’ll take the lesson with me…

Thank you for your kind words, Lily. But I realize as I sit with my faithful companion at my feet as I type, that “I’m not in Kansas anymore.” This is not a place I belong. So I’m clicking the heels of my ruby slippers three times, grateful for what I have learned while here. Namaste.

Sister Lena, I’m tucking in a message in a whisper that I am leaving, as another sister put it, “Wowville.” Quiet reflection and the experience I had following Frank Peterson’s post being chosen for the “friend stopped by” feature (are you up on what transpired?) has made me aware this is not where I belong. As I prepare to make a quiet exit, it occurs to me I want to write you to tell you what a very beautiful soul you are. I’m the better for the connection, despite how brief,” Namaste.

Thank you Frannie for this feedback. It has been noted and taken in.

Mugsy Peabody, Where are you? Please bring your gift of sage wisdom to this thread wrapped in compassion. There are some tones of sadness here. Do you feel them? You have “leader” energy on this site from what I see and I beseech you to help salve up some of this angst. Please. You are missed here today. Certainly by me.

And Mary Lou, I question if perhaps our negative experience and the discrimination we have endured is all we will be left with if women section themselves off tethered and bound together with those awful experiences as the glue. This is not the way to counter what has been done. Scream at me if you like. I feel my Renata gene activated and I didn’t know I had one. :)

Frank forgive the impetuous little kid in me but I’m hitting the override button and I am questioning your decision because I heard that nothing is for sure except death and taxes. I do recall that you said you liked sassy women so live up to your words, don’t get angry that I am challenging your request and please hear me out. The trauma that women have experienced individually and collectively is ugly. It is carried within our cellular memory. It can be triggered by anchors that reflect what created the wounds and I’m sad to say in many cases those wounds may have been caused by men. PTSD is an unconscious process. To be human is to experience it on some level. If not the individual, then someone in their ancestry. We have to as human beings be careful about what re-stimulates those horrors and not let it come out sideways. I am getting the feeling that much contained in this thread is exactly that. Pain coming out sideways. So what is the major deal with that, one might ask? Inevitably, the pain gets recreated in another venue over and over and over. It is recreated because in essence it is begging to be healed. This is the harm, Frank. Not you. Leaving this website would be symbolic of that cycle. I ask you to challenge that strongly. The Mark Kleins will remain until the internet turns to dust. They do not acquiesce. They are stuck. They are asleep. They just wound and re-wound in the careless unconscious space they occupy. They refuel the rage that has developed from centuries of former harm. That is not you, Frank. I am sad that the sequelae of sexist wounds perpetrated over time has been, as someone said in another comment, laid at your feet. Please consider helping the “group” break the cycle of recreating the wound. Allow this to be a step to evolve into something different. There. Now I will jump off of my very high idealistic platform and keep my fingers crossed because this feels like @#%*&.

I agree with you, Lily. My heart is aching as well. I would be so thrilled if the outcome of this upset could be resolution. That would cast a light on this website and it’s members that would really speak volumes and teach via example (in a little microcosm) that “with understanding, there can be no hatred.” I hope all involved will consider that as a goal.

Dear S. Bolz, Yes, I am sad. Sad that for as much as I would like from the depths of my soul, women to unite and role model “another way,” at times they miss the mark. I encourage you to read Frank’s post once again. Word for word, line for line. Your paraphrases do not reflect what he wrote. Therefore the inferences you draw from them are erroneous. As for your question, “i would like to know if at least some of the women on this site are sad about the loss of someone like “us” being president?” My answer is “no.” No, because I do not see HRC as a universal representative of women. There have been numerous posts on this site that attempt to address why she is not the “poster’s” chosen candidate based on her politics, past votes (most esp. the war) or conduct in her current office. These are writer’s that attempted to leave her personal attributes, deceitful cheating husband, and most definitely her gender aside. But, still the inevitable return to perpetuate the sexism manifests. This occurred in a series of replies that ignored the solid points being made but once again hooked the conversation back to her gender. You minimize the numerous posts that sought to view Hillary outside the lens of gender by saying “because they didn’t like her.” I feel very frustrated with that. Just because she is a woman, and women are very invested in having a woman in office and getting their “just due” does not mean under any circumstances that everyone will find her “the woman” for the job. To take the leap and scream , “that is sexist!” is in my view keeping the attention to gender and sexism going. That is not to say in a variety of circles that she has clearly been the brunt of the sexist arsenal of weaponry. Let’s start with the mainstream media. However, the media can be a ruthless, unscrupulous, evil entity toward anything mammalian quite frankly and depending on the day, it’s anybody’s guess who or what will face it’s nasty discrimination. If wishes were horses, women, including some on this website would take 5 minutes, center themselves and breathe. From that space I would like for them to determine who they are really angry with and then use the gifts they have access to (like patience, intelligence, balance, sanity, etc) to appropriately address their concerns in a way that can be heard. I believe that’s where empowerment lies. Who among us does not want to be empowered? Ready now for rebuttal…

And perhaps the way this feature was introduced , “this one says it all” set a provocative tone rather than a tone of appreciation for the featured wow contributor’s positive commentary in a time when “inclusive” rather than “exclusive” is where as a society we might want to head considering the climate of some pretty troubled times. I think this is a run on sentence but I’m late and need to hustle away from this computer now. My apologies to all the teacher’s on this site in advance. :)

Please take some space and reconsider this, Frank. I may be mistaken, but though this website targets women over 40, there is not a clause that says “and be gone if you don’t have boobs or aren’t at least in perimenopause.” And if it did, I would not be a part of it because that perpetuates the crazy exclusivity and separatist attitudes that I think all the “isms” are fed by. You have done no wrong, Frank. No line that I am aware of has been crossed. Rather, you have brought a voice of respect, appreciation and an honoring of women in your commentary and that has meant a great deal to so many that are members of this community. I really think that sexism is alive and well, and Mugsy is right, women have become desensitized to it, true. I don’t think that conquering sexism is going to involve a “girls club” to retalliate against the “boys club” that has been responsible for the atrocities (selected that word carefully) against women that have gone on for what seems an eternity and is still going strong. Actually the opposite. I think that will be accomplished by a club for “people” that practice harmlessness toward one another, show mutual respect, and live unified in harmony. Independent of whether they don a bra or jock strap. I encourage you to return to what I consider your welcome seat at the table of wowowow discussion. That to me, despite the sensitivities and upsets that are being worked through at that table, would reinforce your support of women in a strong and solid way. Besides…I already miss ya…:)

Mugsy, I think the pain and anguish that countless women (self-included) have experienced at the hands of men and rampant abuses make sexism an incendiary topic at it’s best. It seems though that in your post of 6/4/2008 8:33 PM, you in fact did make it about Frank. I have re-read what you have written several times on this thread. Your comments regarding choices made on the website are so exacting and valid. It appears this is where your angst lies. Why then is this the arena you chose to voice it? And why target Frank and what you perceive to be his knowledge of sexism? I think it is distracting from the larger more important assertions that you have brought forth.

Renata, I second, third and fourth Beth’s opinion.

Beautifully articulated. :)