[This article was published by Womenspace in the spring of 1999 when RWZ was hosted by Women Online Worldwide]

"You know you're a rural womyn if.........a really big thrill is finding muck boots that fit."

THE RURAL WOMYN ZONE
Claiming space online for ruralfems
Published by Womenspace

Rural areas in the United States and Canada are known for their political conservatism.  Some of us choose to live rural because we like the isolation and the lifestyle.  We want to live where we are in touch with the land and the sky.  We don't like crowds of people, shopping malls, traffic and noise.  But being feminist - politically different - in a conservative place can be very isolating.  The internet is a perfect solution for those of us who choose to live in remote places and still have a mob of wonderful rural feminist friends!

I was late coming to the internet because there was no local service provider and being online meant a long distance call. When
the first local ISP went in, I eagerly looked for other rural women "out there" somewhere.  My search turned up large organizations concentrating on rural women in Third World Countries, but nothing specific to rural women in the U.S.

In the midst of a winter's insomnia, I began trying to design a web site in some free space I found online.  Finally abandoning my attempt to write down what I would like urban feminists to understand about the rural woman's experience, I started having fun creating a tongue-in-cheek scrapbook called Rural Grassroots Feminist Organizing.  This became the center of the first Rural Womyn Zone web site.

Some of the basic concepts for RWZ are:

--  This is the Third-and-a-Half World.  Women in the U.S. experience barriers to full participation in farm life and economy and yet receive little attention from rural organizations.

--  The Ag/Fem Gap.  Ag women don't focus on women's issues and feminist groups don't focus on rural issues.  RWZ attempts to bridge the gap.

--  In order to make progress and create alternative visions, women need a separate and safe place to gather.  For rural women, this means the internet.

Interactive forums

Our primary online meeting space is the Ruralwomyn email list.  Ruralwomyn began as a list for rural domestic violence and sexual assault workers but we soon found that we had lots of other things to talk about so we started a second list, Ruralconnect, to reach out to rural anti-violence workers and on Ruralwomyn we talk about many things.

All of the enhancements to RWZ have been created by a group of women who have met only in cyberspace.  Online organizing works!

A member named Ellen brought RWZ to the attention of Women Online Worldwide.  They liked us and asked us to move in with them.  Now we have message boards and plenty of room to grow along with the opportunity to network with a larger group of women.

Other online meeting places include the Ruralwomyn Chat Room, the Rural Womyn Zone folder on the WOW message boards, EDUM, (editors don't understand me), an email list for rural women writers and Trainstation, a mailing list used for online trainings.

A MEMBER'S PERSPECTIVE - by Jo

RWZ has become the hub of a multitude of activities. Like any community, we are a diverse group, and not all aspects of the zone serve all members.

Dictionaries define 'community' as the people who live in one locality, are subject to the same laws, and have the same interests. A cyber community challenges that definition. Members of RWZ live on three continents, are subject to a plethora of local, regional and national laws, and have a range of interests nearing the infinite. Yet from that very disparity comes our community strength.

I noticed early in my experience that men and wimmin can be segregated on-line. I chose to be in wimmin's cyber space far more often than co-ed space. But having noticed that, I also came to realize that I, a white North American, was meeting primarily only other white North American wimmin. RWZ has been fortunate in attracting wimmin of colour, immigrant wimmin, and wimmin from outside North America. They contribute different perspectives and help me to learn more about wimmin's realities; they have helped me to expand my global understanding.

RWZ supports the goal of teaching wimmin to access the Internet and each other as resources. In June 1998, we hosted a group from Regina, Saskatchewan, who were attending a training session. They were learning about the capabilities of the net, and we welcomed them to a virtual meeting in our chat room, shared ideas, and let them return to their own rural Canadian communities with the knowledge that a community awaited their ability and choice to access it.

In the autumn of 1998 a group of Ruralwomyn list members launched on-line training using the Trainstation list for wimmin working in the field of advocacy. By overcoming physical geography, we were able to take ideas from far flung programs, learn from others, and improve our efficacy.

In early 1999,  14 members with an interest in health and fitness formed a sub-group for support.  Our background communicating as members of RWZ resulted in a degree of intimacy. Members felt free enough to announce their weights to each other within the first days of the new group. RWZ is always a safe and non-judgmental environment.

The fact that membership fluctuates and expands has not stopped us from becoming friends. We recommend books and films to each other. We exchange jokes. We are always free to disagree, to post that we found something to be off-colour, or insensitive, and we are respectful of each other as we debate such differences. Threads of, "you know you're  rural when ..." bring laughter as we compare the parochial nature of our individual home regions.

We can ask for help for ourselves. A member quitting a tobacco habit can receive experience and tips for her own journey; a member taking up soap-making can ask for, and receive, recipes and experienced advice.

In addition to the scrap book, we have a photo album and a selection of writing about the rural experience. We share the realities of life in the barn, the chicken coop and at the end of an unpaved concession road.

Those of us who enjoy chat meet two or three times a week, more often if a few of us are snowed in. We can contact each other on icq and have a common frame of reference to start independent relationships with friends far away. RWZ has become like family. When I read the morning newspaper, I can post those stories which I would read aloud if we were all sharing the same space, and I can depend on the reactions I receive.

During the time since I signed up with the RWZ, our small local ISP has been sold and resold and merged and restructured several times. During one of the "interruptions to improve our service" we were without access for three days. On the second day, I received a phone call. It was Lynda asking whether or not everything was all right in my world. That is community. That is a friend.

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