Conference turris::womannotes-v1

    Eastern Star in very active in Southern NH.
    
    Gale

    There is a feminist reading group in the Nashua area.  Look up Barbara
    Corman in Elf and send her mail and ask about it.
    
    

    You might also try the YWCA on Prospect St. in Nashua...
    
    Dave
    

    RE: Eastern Star <speaking as an ex-Rainbow girl>
    
    It used to be that you had to be the wife, daughter, or sister
    of a Mason to be in Eastern Star. <gack> I don't believe this
    has changed, but it may have in the last couple of years.
    
    It's a pretty paternalistic organization.
    
    --DE
    

    
    thnaks, i have checked with the library and the ywca.
    thanks for all your replys.
    
    			wendy-juanita matthews
    

    RE: .4
    You are right, that is still true, or grand-daughter also.
    A lot of grand-fathers were/are masons, so I thought I would add
    oraginization ...
    
    
    Gale (you might want to take a look at ARGUS::MASONIC)

    Some other possible organizations:
    
    The Nashua area Business and Professional Women's Club
    
    Nashua chapter of the American Businesswomen's Association
    
    There's also something called the Nashua women's network, or
    something like that, which I believe is organized through the
    YWCA.  
    
    --bonnie
    

    
    re: .4
    
    Add one more to your list - Rainbow Girls who reached Majority.
    
    Beckie
    

    RE: Eastern Star
    
    Have the rules changed? When I was involved, the deal was
    Brother, Father, Husband. My Grandfather was a 32nd degree,
    and I was still told I couldn't join. And reaching majority
    didn't help, either (which I did, and with Grand Cross of Color)
                                         
    --DE
    

    Yes, you are right, Majority Rainbow girls are not permitted to
    petition for membership.
    
    However, they are allowed to continue workig with Rainbow Girls
    (Mother Advisor, Advixory Board)
    
    Myabe I was wrong in the grandfather route... I will check on it
    for you...
    
    Gale
    

    IT goes something like this:
    
    Well, to start with there are Masons 
    
    Eastern Star is the female auxiliary of Masons
    
    DeMolay are junior Masons (age 12-21)
    
    Rainbow Girls are junior Eastern Stars (sort of) (also age 12-21)
    
                                        
    --DE
    

    The DeMolay/Rainbow Girls in my hometown were racist, sexist,
    classist, and generally snobbish.  
    
    Is this something inherent to the organization (if you have to be
    kin to a man who belongs, it rather sounds like it might be!) or
    was our school just unfortunate?
    
    --bonnie

    And in the West there is also Jobs Daughters, but you must have
    a direct masonic line to join (girls 12-21), however with Rainbow
    Girls you can be the friend of a Rainbow Girl...
    
    Gale

    My mother used to be involved in P.E.O., which is *not* connected
    to the Masons or any other organization that I know of. Its main
    purpose had to do with sponsoring a women's college (in Missouri?)
    and generally being a sisterhood of sorts. I was a member for a
    while - may still be one for all I know - but was never active in
    it. As I recall, it was rather WASP-ish, but I don't think it was
    deliberately exclusionary.
    
    I have *no* idea whether it has any chapters in NH.
    
    -b

    RE: racist, snobbish, etc...
    
    I don't think so... I was a Rainbow Girl until I was 18 (majority
    due to marriage), and I certainly was NOT any one the above :-)...
    
    My daughter is a Rainbow Girl, and her group is not either... If
    anything, just the opposite is taught and advocated....
    
    Gale

    When I'm not moderating notes conferences or playing music or doing
    errands, I turn to my other favorite hobby:  genealogy.  (What did
    she say?!)
    
    I've been tracing family roots for about 14 years.  It started
    as a women's studies honors project, since my goal for the project
    was to search primary records (if I could find them) to learn more
    about the women in my family.                        
    
    After a while, I uncovered over a thousand male and female ancestors.
    I've traced some of the lines back 14 or 15 generations, and being a
    WASP, have the usual number of Revolutionary, Colonial, and Mayflower
    ancestors.  Several older woman have offered to sponsor me for the DAR
    (Daughters of the American Revolution) over the years, and I've really
    been torn about it.  On one hand, this is a women's organization doing
    historical preservation work of both records and physical artifacts.
    On the other hand, in the past, the organization has been associated
    with some values which makes the feminist in me gag.  (Racism and
    classism.)
    
    I like the individuals who have offered to sponsor me a lot, and
    don't see those things in them.  Still as an organization, the DAR
    and the Mayflower Descendants and the Descendants of Colonial wars
    (etc. etc.) have historically been an upper/upper middle class
    organization promoting rather conservative interests.
    
    Has anyone else ever struggled with an issue like this?  As yet,
    I haven't resolved it, and I haven't joined any of the groups. 
    Does anyone have personal experience as a member of the any of the
    above organizations (and would admit it :-)   )?
    
    Holly                              
    

    Consider this, Holly - the agenda of those groups will not be set
    from without. 

    Bonnie R. 
    
    I was also a Ranbow Girl to Majority - 21 (unmarried, you see)
    
    I made a lot of friends - we had a lot of fun. The *people* I knew
    were "none of the above" (your list of "ists") The *organization*
    is ALL of the above. 
    
    I used to be disappointed that I couldn't be an Eastern Star (no
    males of the proper Masonic-persuasion, you see) - since understanding
    the INCREDIBLY sexist basis of the whole magilla, I am not longer
    disappointed.
    
    To give the devil its due, the Shriner's hospitals (which are supported
    by the Masonic "family tree") are wonderful.
    
    --DE
    

Since this topic has come up, perhaps those of you who know more about the
Masons and the Star can fill me in.

My father's family has been active in the Masons and in the Star for many
generations.  My dad is also in the Shrine.  I am both intrigued and disturbed
by these organizations.  

I am intrigued by something that has been part of my family for generations.
I am intrigued by an organization that fosters charity and sense of community
(which I have witnessed as being very strong) in its members.

What I am disturbed by is what appears to be sexism.  My father has told
me that only men can be Masons.  He has told be that both my husband (by
virtue of being married to the daughter of a Mason) and I can join the Star
but that my husband *must* be a Mason (a part of an exclusively male
organization) first.  Hmmm...

On the one hand, I do not want to pass over something that has been part
of my family's heritage for many generations.  On the other hand, I cannot
ignore my feminist leanings, which tell me that this is discriminatory.
Is there a place for feminists in the Masons and in the Star?

Can anyone enlighten me on this?  Can you tell me *why* women are not
Masons?  Do you have any feel for what (if anything) is denied to women
because they cannot be initiated as Masons?

And is there hope for progress?  Is it ever possible that women will be
permitted to be Masons?  Working for change from the inside of an organization
is a nice idea, but, is it really possible to affect such a change?  Any
thougts?

Thanks,

Rita               

        

    Hmm one that I am familiar with "The Professional Businesswomans
    Association" is in New Hampshire (someone mentioned that they have
    Nashua Chapter).
    
    Then there is "Lambda" (which , as far as I know, is exclusively
    for women.
    
    A friend of mine, who had been a sorority member in college was
    pleased to find that there is a "sorority" for ex-collegiate women
    in Nashua. Perhaps now that you know that one exist, you might be
    able to do some research and find it (perhaps throuigh Riviere College?).

    I beleive thers is also a local chapter of "Toastmistresses USA";
    which was brought into beiong when the "Toastmasters" officially
    denied women public entry into their club.
    
    There's a womens political organization .. sorry the name escapes
    me at the moment ... along with the normal ones like "NOW", "ERA".
    
    I'm not sure what "type" of club you want, but almost every religious
    association has some sort of "womans" club to help do charitable
    work.
    
    Good Luck .. personally .. I wouldn't join any of them.
    
    Bob