Crow’s Caws continued from page seventeen Another woman said, “You can’t grow up in this country and not be classist. I come from a working-class back- ground, and unfortunately, I think people with more money are better than I am — not nec- essarily on a conscious level, but it’s a conditioning I have. They’re happier, they’re more worthy, they get more respect — which is true. How is that per- son going to understand what it was like for me to grow up with newspaper in my shoes because I had big holes in them?” Another woman who was on welfare because she had to be — not because she considered it a “government grant” to be a revolutionary —- was energized when her class-consciousness was raised. “It was about the power in working-class women that was brought to my aware- ness. We were fighters; we were the ones that were on the bottom holding the rest up. That was a brand new concept, and I just ate it up. My voice came out — the political voice that said, ‘Yes, this is who I am. I am this powerful, angry woman. I’m not going to drown my anger in alcohol and give up because I’m not like the rest of the world. That’s what makes me so valuable.’” Another dyke, who was also poor to begin with, was in fact homeless, but she never thought of herself in that cate- gory. "I didn’t live anywhere. I was on the road, traveling with my thumb. It didn’t seem like I was homeless. It seemed like I was on a mission. In town, there were women living col- lectively. They didn’t have roommate situations — it was this collective or that collec- tive: Monroe St., Peru St., Colchester House, Handy Court. They always had some- body extra there, on the couch or sleeping over with them, or some kid that wasn’t theirs. They didn’t see me as a home- less person, but as another woman in the community who ,¢.2¢,...«5z..;.. ' 2&0 flu didn’t have a designated bed.” I definitely learned a lot from those class conflicts — the hard way. I gave away a sub- stantial amount of money to the lesbian community from my divorce settlement for them to distribute the way they wanted in an effort to support our rev- olution and to fit in. I, too, wanted to identify with the working class. I was trying to learn about the dynamics of oppression and how that played out in our lives. My heart was in the right place, but I was naive. It was pointed out to me, somewhat ruthlessly, as we were wont to be in those days, that just because I gave away my money doesn’t mean I’m not a middle-class bitch. Arrogant, I was, that’s for sure. I also had a college education, was good with words, and was not afraid to express my opin- ion at the slightest provocation. These characteristics can defi- nitely be attributed to growing up privileged, but our fierce accusations wounded many of us to the core. One lesbian said, “.Our analysis of class wasn’t sophis- ticated enough, and there was a problem of lumping all kinds of stuff into class difference when, in fact, the fine points of some things just had to do with family differences and personal style and any number of things that were going on. Class became a very easy receptacle for something you didn’t like about what somebody else was doing. That was really very painful, particularly when it involved lovers and ex-lovers.” Another woman put it com- passionately: “People were saying the word ‘class’ a lot. I think we were really trying to grapple with questions of inequality, but there were a lot of fingers pointed at people. Some people said this one woman was well-spoken, a strong leader, very visible, and that was due to class, and it wasn’t OK. She should get out of the way and let some other women have a chance at that spot in the limelight. Rightly so. Maybe it had to do with her June 2000 | Out in the Mountains I23 “People have to have the boat, the trip to the Caribbean — these things that have become the norm for women. Twenty years ago we would have looked at all of that and said, ‘Yuck.’ It’s intense to see how much we own and to see how much people way overwork in order to consume more, but maybe aren’t even conscious that that’s what they’ve chosen How is that person going to understand what it was like for me to grow up with newspaper_in my shoes because I had big holes in them?" being too privileged. All I say was that this was fucked up. She’s working really hard because she loves women and -she cares about us, and we’re pushing somebody away who has so much to give. We’re still so hurt inside that we end up hurting each other.” I’m not implying that just because some of us choose to have beautiful possessions means that we ought to be embarrassed about that. “I worked in factories when I came here, worked for a cab company, washed pots and pans for $2.50/hour with a masters from UVM, lived in apartments over stores,” said one woman. “I wanted to buy a house, so I went out West and worked in a coal mine and ran heavy equipment, round the clock in shifts. I got to work overtime, weekends at time and a half. It was hard physical labor, but I saved enough to come back to Vermont and buy this land.” And yet another perspective comes from a woman who grew up privileged and contin- ues- to reject that lifestyle. worked _ to do. If you choose to work less, people think you’re lazy or don’t like your work or don’t think it’s important.” What can we learn from all of this? Is the current GLBT community sensitive to class differences? Do we have slid- ing scales at our concerts and fundraising dinners? Do‘ we include genuinely working- class people on our boards and committees? Do we share the wealth? Do we avoid making assumptions about what people can afford in our midst when we’re busy making plans to fie-ma your dog in «nay camp ins" the summer... .f‘§’€a;,t- éifie :1. ititasgr it’s good is: he the’ dog. 33$... ’§ ’§ Q-flu 3?} '§axz>itz.»é«£a£5£§xva2su.<¢*. ‘I’ -sffiseag. ‘Z-lezsmzztt. meet at a fancy restaurant for dinner? When we are wounded about class issues, is it safe enough to speak up? Do we run workshops on studying class dynamics in the same way we might sensitize ourselves to racism or homophobia? Are we adding to the rape of the earth by consuming way more than our share in the richest country in the world? I don’t know the answer to these questions, nor do I believe that we ought to merci- lessly guilt—trip one another; but I do know that ignoring class differences hurts. I didn’t much like being called on my ignorance in such a hard-nosed way, but those dialogues made a lifelong impression on me. I also know that just as sex- ism damages the souls of both those who are dominated as well as those who dominate women, and racism damages both people of color and white folks, classism destroys the souls of both the rich and the poor. People who use money to buy happiness, feed their greed, or insulate themselves from the plight of the poor are not doing themselves any favors. Their ignorance will catch up with them. Crow Cohen Winooski V lives in ggiecfiage 3 ~.~w. . FRANK.HADDLETON MASSAGE THERAPY (802) 863-8033 *‘A'* Swedish and deep tissue massage *‘k1i( For relaxation, stress reduction, avoidance of injury and facilitation of recovery Frank Haddleton, a graduate of Touchstone Healng Arts School of Massage in Burlington, is pleased to announce the opening of his massage studio at 1 Steele Street, Burlington. C ‘k** Conveniently located on Burlington’s waterfront - on the bike path in the Wing Building (between One Main Street and the King Street Ferry) ‘k‘k‘k Gift certificates available Present this‘ ad before 9/1/2000 and take $10.00 off your first massage.