>>> Item number 27213 from WRITERS LOG9403C --- (47 records) ----- <<< Date: Mon, 21 Mar 1994 18:35:02 JST Reply-To: WRITERS Sender: WRITERS From: Mike Barker Subject: EXERCISE: For Women Only (if you men reading this want to try, go right ahead. but you'll have to stretch your imagination hard, I think) Mitsuko, my wife, and her sister were talking the other day. I'm not sure what brought it up this time, but they wandered into one of their attempts to describe to each other the physical sensations preceding menses (i.e. how's it feel before/at the start of? your period). This is the lower back.. pain? heaviness? heat?? - they tried those words (roughly - in Japanese) and decided they didn't really describe the sensation. As usual, after a while they asked me how to describe it in English. I ducked hard and fast... asked a few questions about what kind of feeling it is, suggested a few notions (all rejected as no, not quite), and then reminded them that I really don't know what it feels like (I am handicapped here - the body isn't equipped that way). They do this every now and then. Sometimes I think the main point of this little exchange is to reassure each other that they do feel something, and that the other person knows it is a funny feeling. Sort of mutual sympathy through bafflement? I suppose I feel honored that they include me in the session. Hokay. The challenge, or exercise, is to describe the sensation(s) in such a way that (a) any woman reading it would clearly know exactly what you are referring to and (b) any man reading it would be able to learn to understand what you are talking about. [bonus - I think some women or times may have different sensations. You might split up the descriptions if you need to both as reassurance for women who have a harder/easier/different feeling and to illuminate those differences for your male readers] I.e. - roughly half the human race is color-blind in this spectrum. You have a chance to tell them about the rainbow. Take the lead now, ok? hey - do a good job on this, and there are lots of feminist markets popping up that might buy it... (hot pads, backrubs, and hot baths help sometimes.. that much I know...) tink