Anyone living in or previously lived in an intentional community ?

[RosemaryandThyme]

Hello, I live in an intentinal community and am wondering if anyone else does or did ?
Ours is a community for the education and welfare of it's members, of which there are about 9 families (plus a few floating extras) living in an collection of houses and a main maor house in a rural hamlet - anyone else in a similar position ?

Some strong women have got quite agitated at meetings regarding the exclusion essentially from the mens meetings and limited input into both the work and finances of the community, for me I've had too many children taking up my time to really give it much thought and when I do try to ask there is lots of silence... we do silence really well hear.

I too get concerned for the children in terms of mixing with a wider community, small in-roads have been made but always require exhaustive debates before things like joining scouts are agreed.

labs? what sort of labs??

massively cross posted sorry, had the laptop open for an extended period of time.

Suggest the "Strong Women" (all the women!) join the strike on Wednesday. What would the "men" think of that

I'd be just as worried abouty where my money's going, to be honest.

Who owns your money assets and the products of your labour? In whose name is the property and land - yours? If the men decided to sell up and go, where would you be left legally?

Sorry I don't mean to sound harsh but ideals which are purchased for serious sums of money have a habit of being difficult to sustain when the community responsible for adhering to them becomes stratitified in any way.

"and when I do try to ask there is lots of silence... we do silence really well hear"

I find that extremely worrying. This is sounding more and more like a plot from a Midsomer Murders episode.

I used to live in a housing co-op / 'intentional community' too. Much more like Queen's than the OP's though!

Have to say one of the good things about community living is hearing the gossip from other communities who are, of course, much more barking than your own . My favourite was the community I heard about that purportedly banned all drugs, which sounds great until you realise they included tea, coffee and chocolate in the list . . .

I've lived in a community, a shared women's only, partly lesbian, vegan housing co-op. It was completely lesbian only until the 80's, but now is mixed. It was an amazing, if a little challenging place to live. Sadly, and somewhat surrealy, it came to an early end as I unexpectedly found myself pregnant. Which was a difficult situation to say the least. Although not without it's funny moments. I had a heavily pregnant Christmas there with my boyfriend, shagging against the aga with a turkey cooking. Really felt very naughtyin a vegan lesbian household!

I wouldn't like it at all! Men's meetings?

If my DC wants to join the scouts he would join the scouts-not be put to a committee! Why ever did you get to the position when you had to have 'exhaustive debate'? I think that I was right in being cynical in whose 'intentions' they are and their agenda.

You don't sound very happy, Rosemary. Which is understandable in such an oppressively sexist set-up.

at ditziness

Takver

I like ditziness' commune though

Did you start the thread because you are unhappy?

Should say that I did like living in the co-op on the whole, lots of good things though it was also a lot of work (too many acres, too few people, too little time).

Sounds too much like Stepford to me. A male-led community serviced by little women. Get out now op while you still remember what self-respect is!

I would get the DCs out.

Well, my DH spent part of his childhood in a Soviet communal apartment, does that count? It was certainly an intentional community, though the intentions of the government were clearly at odds with those of the residents (most of whom moved to private apartments as soon as they possibly could).

The OP's arrangement sounds like my idea of hell, to be frank. The men off in the labs doing their Very Important Work, while the women take care of the cooking and cleaning and childcare? No, thank you very much for asking. Shudder.

Sounds like a crock of shit to me.

I liked my community too. There were brilliant things about living there, I've never lived so cheaply, eaten so well and had such a beautiful house. So much space and shared resources. There were 8 of us living there, taking it in turns to cook so every night you'd have an amazing meal and only have to cook and clean up once a week. It was great to be able to be have shared wealth and resources too and do things that you couldn't do alone domestically ( such as put in solar panels). Obviously there were challenges to 8 grown women living together tho, personality clashes and suchlike. But in the main they were worth it for the benefits.

Oh this has cheered my sunday evening right up.

I'm sort of guessing I wouldn't fit in though . . .

There'd be shiney and me polishing our mulberry handbags whilst the menfolk raised the barns and shot the sheep in the barn or have I got a bit confused with extended/silence of the lambs.

So what sort of science, exactly?

I'm still not clear on that one, or the maths one. What is it for, what are the science labs used for. That bit sounds a little bit too Aum Shinrikyo for my liking. Do you know what they are doing in there exactly?