A decade or so ago the women of the Des Moines Meeting of the
Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) had a group we called, with a
giant tongue-in-cheek, "The Quaker Ladies Sewing Circle and Terrorist
Society."

We weren't actually plotting much of anything, except providing a
means for us all to gather together and talk about what mattered to us
and what we might do about those things, whether personal or of larger
social import. The purpose was mostly to build solidarity among the
women of the Meeting.

Yes, we all understood the implications of the word "Ladies." That was
part of the joke. (Just in case someone doesn't get it, along with the
absurdity of a "Quaker Terrorist.")

We didn't require anybody to sew or knit or do anything craft-worthy
in order to participate in the group. And those of us who did bring
such projects hardly ever did much with them anyway.

Nonetheless, a blind female member of the Meeting took grave
offense. She took the "Sewing" part of the title quite literally and
assumed she was excluded by her disability, despite all efforts to
explain to her that of course she was welcome and she would fit in
just fine. She also thought the "Ladies" part of the title was
politically incorrect, and just wouldn't accept it as irony.

The group was disbanded shortly after.

--Georgia

Georgia NeSmith, Ph.D.
Rochester, NY
georgia_nesmith@lycos.com
See my poetry, fiction, and other creative work at:
http://georgia_nesmith.tripod.com