From robin@xxxxxxx.xxx.xxx Tue Mar 30 06:35:52 1999 X-Digest-Num: 100 Message-ID: <44114.100.553.959273824@eGroups.com> Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 17:35:52 +0300 From: Robin Turner > i no'i ca'a zasti fa loi fetsi tadni be la lojban i ku'i ra > jikte'amli gi'enai sezyjarco This applies to most e-mail lists, which tend to have a "masculine" (note scare quotes) discourse style (for more on gender and discourse, see Robin Lakoff and/or Deborah Tannen). However, dialogue on the Lojban list isn't nearly as bad in this respect as many others - at least we have no flame wars here! I was wondering if the overall image of Lojban might also be off-putting, which gets us back to the "logical language" point. There is an (illogical) association in many cultures along the lines of logic-male / emotion-female, which may result in Lojban having a bit of a "masculine" image, or a desexed Mr. Spock-like one (for more of my thoughts on gender and logic, see http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/8309/malelogic.html ). However, I don't think the answer to this problem is to try and present Lojban in a more "touchy-feely" way (though one could) but to challenge those ideas in society at large. co'o mi'e robin.