I thought I’d be real original and post the subject in bold… see where that got me!

I feel bound by my promise not to post any more under the topic launched by Topoftheworld about the French War on Anglais. It’s a hard one to keep, considering the developments, but I say to myself: "Hey, Self! the poor thing is beyond help and understanding, just let it go." (Sneaky, no?)

Actually, in the thread I just referred to, and in other threads, I sometimes have been referred to as him. I realize that to anyone but me, this is nothing to write home about, but I still wish to let it be known that I am a woman. Lou, as in Poèmes à Lou by the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire, written for Louise de Coligny-Châtillon while Apollinaire was on the Western Front during WW1. Fascinating, isn’t it? BTW, if you should know these poems, where Apo used to call his loved one "Lou, mon Lou…", don’t be confused. Yes, mon is masculine but it is also very common in French to use the masculine gender to address a loved one, be it a man or a woman. A man would say "Mon chéri" to his wife, for example. I don’t know, I thought you’d like to know this trivia.

The fact is that gender does matter, and perhaps all the more so in this virtual world, when we attempt to understand an opinion and its author’s grounds. Both genders can enrich a debate by bringing to it a perspective all its own.

Do you agree, or do you think it does not matter one bit?

Lou, la femme

[This message has been edited by lou (edited 10 March 2000).]

[This message has been edited by lou (edited 10 March 2000).]