Sawnet Discussion List Policies

These policies have been framed by the moderator pool and the Sawnet membership.

• Sawnet is a woman-only discussion list.
• Sawnet is restricted to those over the age of 18.
• Shared or group accounts cannot be subscribed to Sawnet.
• Sawnet posts and digests are private and restricted to the Sawnet members. They are not to be shared with or forwarded to any other person, male or female, without the explicit permission of the original author of the post. This is to ensure that each writer retains control over her own words.
• Only Sawnet subscribers can post to Sawnet.
• We make an effort to verify the identity of all Sawnet subscribers, and to limit distribution of digests to members only, but we cannot guarantee confidentiality. There are over 1000 subscribers to Sawnet, on several continents. If the privacy of your post is very important to you, consider posting anonymously, or perhaps not posting very private and personal stuff at all.
• The Sawnet anonymous posting feature is intended for private or personal posts. It is not intended as a way to flame another person while remaining anonymous yourself. Strongly worded anonymous posts directed at other members or their posts may be rejected by the moderators.
• We cannot and will not regulate the behaviour of Sawnet members outside of what they post to the list, and even that, we keep to a minimum.
• Subscribers are entirely responsible for their own posts and email. Sawnet (the discussion list or web site as a whole), and/or the moderators, do not endorse the opinions or beliefs of any subscriber.
• The posts are moderated in the sense that abusive or purely provocative posts may be moved to the Sunday Special digest by the moderator, but there will be no other attempt to edit messages.

• Commercial posts:
  Blatantly commercial posts are not accepted. However, the line between commercial and non-commercial posts is not always clear. If you want to announce your book, video, exhibition or journal paper to Sawnet, the polite and appropriate way is to post a short announcement and invite interested people to write to you for details. Or you can post a website address where there is more information. Long advertisements will be rejected. It is also highly inappropriate to send advertising to Sawnet subscribers by private email.

  Studies of South Asian women:

  According to a vote of the membership, no study can describe Sawnet as a whole, or make global statements based on Sawnet posts (e.g. 'Sawnet subscribers are...'). You can, however, post a note on Sawnet inviting participants to join your study, and can use whatever they send her. If the participants give you explicit permission, you can also use their Sawnet posts. But the study must be restricted to the people who respond to the request.

  Forwarding articles, newsclips etc.

  Forwarding long newsclips or articles to Sawnet, however interesting they may be, is discouraged. It is far better to post a short summary or your own opinion about the article, and perhaps offer to email the entire text to anyone who is interested. Or, if possible, put the article up in a public ftp or web site, and post the address to Sawnet. If you must forward a newsclip, you are responsible for determining whether you are violating any copyright laws. Check the source for copyrights, and if in doubt, don't.

  Guidelines for posts to be moved to the Sunday Special

  Confrontation (i.e. disagreeing with the content of a post) is acceptable, but name-calling is not.

  Difference of opinion is fine, but categorizing another poster as close-minded conservative or flaming liberal or (g)na(t)zi or anything else is not. E.g, language such as the following will warrant your post being rejected from the main list and relegated to the weekly digest:
  "you are the most/worst (category of choice here) I've ever seen/heard/read"
  "chill out/take a hike/stop posting/go fall off a cliff"
  "you/your posts make me sick/throw up/etc."
  "you are anti-(religious/ethnic group of choice) or (group of choice)-phobic"

  anything abusing the poster/casting aspersions on her integrity/character/professional abilities rather than questioning her post is rejectable from the main list.

  moderators will reject rudeness, obnoxious language, and purely provocative posts from the main list. All these will be bumped to the weekly digest.

  You can't be subscribed only to the weekly digest, and you can't post directly to it. Posts will be redirected at moderators' discretion, and not at a poster's request.

  General Netiquette

  If you're a novice to the Internet or to discussion lists, the Netiquette Home Page is recommended.

  Arguments often get heated, and there's a fine line between strongly supporting your position and flaming someone else's. When opposing, give the other person's motives the benefit of the doubt. Do restrict your opposition to the topic under discussion, and avoid making assumptions or generalizations about the character, personality or background of your opponent.

  Do assume that we've made our choices in life with much thought and often with anxiety, and don't damn someone else's choice of parenthood, career, marriage or lifestyle, or lack thereof.

  The members of this group are on four continents and are of all ages, ethnic origins, and educational fields. Don't assume that everyone is in the same environment as you are.

  If you have complaints about the way the group is run, feel free to post or email to the moderator. The system is not fixed in stone and can be modified to echo the views of the participants. However, over the past 5 years of Sawnet history, most policies have been debated and voted on, so talk to one of the moderators before you suggest major changes in policy.