JJ, that's exactly how I see it and agree 100%. How many times I've befriended an agressor (or oppressor) and found them to be more scared and insecure than anything else. So they act out in bullying mode. Then they find someone that reminds them of themselves too and oppress them. You see this in the animal kingdom sometimes.

NYWoman, no offense taken by you post, as some others here I was confused as to your meaning. Except for right here in BWS "women oppressing women" runs rampant through the world. I have always used another word however besides oppression...To me the word has proven to be JEALOUSY in most cases. Women who are jealous of other women can seem extremely oppressive, especially in the work place. Sad too, because its an old boys world, still in 2008, and we women need to stick together. Great website!!

Orchid,
I've said it many times and you are right, the internet allows those who have very different lives come together and know one another a bit and that is good.

I dare say that I would not have met most of the women on this forum through work or home. I know that most here would have walked by me without a thought, or, perhaps, a judgement!

"Knowing a dancer," which I said on another thread, is so hard to do, and hurts those of us who dance and live in that life. We do not talk, and are trained not to talk but to express ourselves through a body. We do not change our faces like actresses and we give a good argument for making our own botox, we are so straight faced.

Through this medium, I can get to know those who would not otherwise reach out to me and speak to me! It is refreshing to me.

How would we all do in "real life?" I was a member of a support group once for those of us with PTSD at Sierra Tucson. We were all SO different, in mannerisms, dress, ideas and lifestyles. We were close in the process we were in and those boundaries fell away. For the time that we were there, we could know each other on a deep, deep level. A 300lb. Lawyer was my "partner," in treatment and we would not have know each other privately at all! She was gay, I am not, she is lawyer, I have an entertainment attorney, she does not shop where I do.

Still, we forged a bond so deeply that we stay in touch! We know each other so well from honest, deep conversation that I have a good friend I would not have.

That is the best hope for a site like this one. That those who are very different and may have just judged one another, take a risk and make a friend,

dancer

Eagle Heart,
I know what you are saying but for me, trusting as quickly as I do has given me SO many problems. I am first to trust and believe a person has good intentions. I cannot tell you how many times I've been burned.

My agent, my husband, and my son's all know that "Dancer will believe it," of anyone who is giving me a story. When they see right through someone, I cannot see it without them pointing it out.

I have been used for money, contacts, drawing people to businesses or to parties that are for business contacts, and all of my positive energy.

It is said I am born without a "skin." This is probably true.

dancer