Cohousing-L Mailing List: What is community?

[Joaniblank (Joaniblank]

Well, Rob, I guess it's a guy thing (smile), or maybe it's a "girl" thing
that most women (I believe) would not be so likely to draw a distinction or
suggest a continuum between "social contacts," and "real relationships,"  the
former being "not community" to your way of thinking. My experience is that
women can often become quite close to other women with whom they have limited
contact. Maybe what I mean is that women seem to do what you call "real
relationships" more easily, or less self-consciously than men, even in a
situation that might look to you like a relatively superficial "social
contact." I'm not saying that women can do community better than men, just
that I think I understand why we may have difficulty communicating about
community because of the different perceptions we have of it. 

Quick. When I say "rugged individualist," don't most of you think "male?".
And when I say "putting the group before the individual".......? You get my
drift. Now, I hope I haven't started something divisive here. That is
certainly not my intent. I do hope, however, that if I get criticised for
bringing this up (am I being paranoid?), some of you women will come to my
defense. 

Joani