First part of this message is really for Les: am I still on the digest list? Since last Thursday, I have not received any messages at all. I did find them of course on the digest site, but I just wonder if anything's changed to my set-up. (If you remember, my IT dept. blocks out messages with "profane" words so half the time I need to go to the archives anyway, but then I used to get a system message telling me a message had been blocked - now I'm getting nothing! I've checked with the Helpdesk and they say they have not changed anything from their side. Please Les, I need to know I haven't been booted out!)
Then (assuming I still "exist" on this list!) some replies to issues raised by Colin. Yes, I must admit, I have always had a dislike for the term "lady". Not because anybody told me it was not PC, but I just felt that I did not need anyone to embellish the term "woman" for me. I'm happy to be a woman, that's good enough. I don't need a title, that's condescending. Maybe you understand the feeling if you imagine someone calling you a "lord". But having said that, I've mellowed a lot. I would not hold it against most people, because I know they mean well. I just keep correcting my own kids, e.g. when they tell me something that has happened and they say "and then there was a lady...", I will jokingly reply "oh she was titled, was she?" and point out that it's fine to say "there was a woman...". So I would say: it's OK to say "lady" if it's the female equivalent of "gentleman" (as in the address "ladies and gentlemen") but not if it's used in a sentence where you could replace it with "woman" without it sounding strange, i.e. where you would simply say "man" if you were referring to a male equivalent. And a quick aside re titles: I think it's sad, this British habit of giving people titles. Judy Dench is a great actress indeed, but why do we need to call her a dame? And why on earth have people like Paul McCartney accepted the title "sir"? I'm really disappointed. And then I'd just like to add something to the other point you raised, Colin, about people discussing the Oscars more than the BAFTAs etc. (Yes, a rather old topic by now, but I'm catching up with digests!) Although I live in the UK, I must agree with Victor. If most of the active contributors to this list are from the US, then it's normal that they won't mention the BAFTAs to a large degree. That's just life. As they said: the list is only the sum of its members, and if more UK listers want to write about the BAFTAs then they should do so. I also agree with Mack that it's all pretty irrelevant, just another show biz glitter event... But I think it's a bit "rich" to call US citizens isolated, Colin, if you don't realise that people in the UK are just as isolated! When was the last time we discussed the Cannes or Berlin film prizes? As a Belgian living in England, I don't even know who the Belgian prime minister is any more, because I live on a diet of BBC (radio 4) info and their focus is very very Anglo-Saxon! When I lived in Belgium, equal importance was given in the news to say the Danish elections as to the US elections. The same with music. We did not need to invent the term World Music in the 90s, because also in the 60s and 70s I was used to hearing music from Brazil, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Mozambique, etc... in the same type of programmes that would play English folk or Louisiana swamp music or good old blues... Anyway, the people on this list are great, they have a mind that's wide open, an interest in just about anything and a generosity of heart, so I don't want to accuse then of being "centric" in any way. The media are at fault, let's not blame each other! (Victor, yes I'm one of the people who berated some of the US reactions after the September 11 attacks, exactly because I wanted to point out that we in Europe and certainly in London were one with people in the US in our shock and horror and vulnerability, I don't think that argument is contradictory with the point I'm making above.) OK, that's my bit, probably for another long while. If only time did not prevent, I'd be writing a lot more, my fingers itch every day when I read so many intelligent, wonderful contributions. Thanks JMDL for existing - I just hope I still exist in it! Lieve. ********************************************************************** EBRD SECURITY NOTICE This message has been Virus scanned **********************************************************************
