Theos-Talk Archives (November 1996 Message tl00016)

Kay writes:
>
>> > 2. Brotherhood.
>> >  But i personally support the original term "brotherhood". Annie
>> >Besant, who herself fighted for equal rights for women, never tried
>> >to replace it by some other term.

Ramadoss answered:
>
>	Knowing the personalities of HPB and Besant, I totally agree with
>you. If there was even a hint of male superiority, they would not have
>put up with.

Kym flips after reading it:

Really?!  It may have been more of an issue of prioritizing.  One must know
what battle to fight when.  HPB and Besant were in the middle of trying to
firmly establish Theosophy in a time period that was less than welcoming.
They had to use words that spoke to the people of that time.  We don't know,
not having been privy to private conversations with the two women, whether
they did or did not feel the word was guilty of exclusion.  I do know that
they "put up" with a lot of stuff they didn't like (per biographies), but
that doesn't mean they approved.

Kym