FREE WOMEN & FREE WOMEN INTERACTING WITH EACH OTHER Why are free women not more supportive of each other? It's a well known fact that free women online are outnumbered greatly by both men and slaves, yet this situation which should cause us to draw closer together, often times seems to leave most of us standing alone. Each one of us, is in effect watching our own back. We teeter on a rope trying to keep our image in the eyes of men, not wanting to give them the opportunity to taunt us. We do not want to be found guilty by association We shun other free women when we see or think we see in some cases a tendency in them that will eventually cause them to submit. We shun others because they have been labeled "un-fw" by men in most cases but also by other free women. Still we shun more simply because we don't *like* them. Then we shun the great portion to have been judged or labelled *gamer*. That's a lot of shunning within a minority group in the first place. Then there are those we allready know yet remain aloof from anyhow for several more reasons : They don’t act like us. We don’t understand them. We’ve listen to gossip. They did not back us up when *we* messed up. They did not back us up when we were right. Well actually I can think of several reasons why we stand apart from each other, I just don’t happen to agree with most of them. Some of the free women that have been around for a couple of years, say they are frustrated at helping out the new ones, only to have them turn slaves (hence reinforcing the impression that all women are slaves). While this is probably true, I would like to point out to those women that in truth it does not matter anymore if all the women they help turn slave… because *they* themselves are the living *free* proof that all women do not turn slave. A small minority, true, but a minority which voids the statement none the less. And then finally there’s the perception from our own perspective that she does not act like a free woman should… All of us are different, we may have some basic rules that we all must adhere to, as we are all free women… but is it really realistic to expect all of us to be the shy/demure/silent or reserved type? It’s also unrealistic to expect that we all like each other, but I believe we should try to be more supportive of one another and understand each other more and the only way to understand someone is to spend time with them and get to know them. In the end we may still end up not friends per se… but I am willing to bet that respect for each other will grow upon our understanding each others motivations.     I wish you all a pleasant month and remember to change your clocks J . rakella@usa.net   Rakella