I agree entirely, Kendall. I think it's a grand idea. I know from experience that most of the real-world song circles or jam sessions I've happened upon have been participated in by far more men than women, often all men. If anything, the HearMe sessions are much more balanced than what I've seen in 3DWorld.

So, I do see as completely valid the impulse to establish a women's song circle, either in meatspace or cyberspace, since so many song circles seem to be men's song circles by default. And as much as I enjoyed joining in singing on HearMe the one time I've had the chance to so far, I also relish the idea of popping in for a HearMe session full of women's voices.

Marvelous idea, harpgirl. I disagree with the way you reacted to Jon, but I'm behind you 100% so far as the basic idea goes. A "well, that feels a little ghettoizing, can we talk about alternate solutions" sort of reaction would have been much more productive than accusing Jon of acting as an agent of the patriarchy. As Joe quite rightly points out, it's Jon's own web page that's setting up all the pointers into HearMe space, so he has some say in how it's put to use. And it kinda seems no-win: if Jon's main HearMe room is scheduled for special, semi-exclusive groups of any kind, some people are going to feel excluded; and if the women's song circle idea is shunted off to a separate room, I can also see why those who want to participate might also feel excluded and ghettoized.

The solution's gotta lie somewhere inbetween. I, being a bear of very small brain, don't have that solution, but I'm thinkin'. I lean towards your approach, harpgirl, keep everything as up front and open as you can, but I can't just ignore Jon's concerns either, and after all, HearMe isn't Jon's, but the website is, and that deserves a little respect. So let's try to work together to make this thing fly rather than getting angry at each other.

HearMe space is free and unexcluding, and actually has nothing to do with Jon, us, our circles, save for his pointers into it. We need those pointers, though, because they are easy to follow for those of us who aren't chat hounds and net geeks and used to this sort of thing all the time. Jon provides such a springboard out of his own generosity and enlightened self-interested, and that needs to be commended.

But I very much hope that you don't let the unhappy tone of some of this thread discourage you from pursuing the idea, because I'm one Y-chromosome type whose ears would be positively tickled by the result. There are several women hereabouts, including you, harpgirl, whom it hasn't yet been my privilege to hear play and/or sing. I can't think of a cooler way to hear 'em than your idea.

Chris