Feminism Part II
The other way in which discussions of "women's issues" have been quite uni-dimensional here is the very narrow and naive view that women can only be victims of discrimination and inequality and not perpetrators. The women's groups typically consist of white women espousing very mainstream middle-class values. Diversity along race and class lines isn't explicitly excluded, although it's also not actively persued. This is exactly the same criticism that has been leveled against the first wave of feminism more generally, but it doesn't seem to have taken root here.
Personally I have been offended on several occasions by very bourgeois attitudes regarding gender roles and employment issues. For example, given my background and my husband's career, I find it offensive when people imply that blue-collar jobs are worthless and assume that there is some intrinsic value in having a Ph.D. It is even more insensitive when these comments are made by people who know me fairly well. I realize that these comments are not made to intentionally insult me, but they are based on a naive assumption that our gender unites us in a way that blinds all other social distinctions. Simply because we are women, we must naturally be similar in other respects as well.
I'm bothered by the uncritical examination of how women can engage in exclusionary practices. It's easy to blame men for all of our troubles. It's much harder to be self-reflective about our role in perpetrating social divisions.
Personally I have been offended on several occasions by very bourgeois attitudes regarding gender roles and employment issues. For example, given my background and my husband's career, I find it offensive when people imply that blue-collar jobs are worthless and assume that there is some intrinsic value in having a Ph.D. It is even more insensitive when these comments are made by people who know me fairly well. I realize that these comments are not made to intentionally insult me, but they are based on a naive assumption that our gender unites us in a way that blinds all other social distinctions. Simply because we are women, we must naturally be similar in other respects as well.
I'm bothered by the uncritical examination of how women can engage in exclusionary practices. It's easy to blame men for all of our troubles. It's much harder to be self-reflective about our role in perpetrating social divisions.
posted by Janet | 7:17 PM
2 Comments:
Thank you for this post, Janet. Middle-class white feminist academics frequently have racial inequality brought to our attention, but are much less frequently called out on our class biases.
After simmering over this issue for a week, I've finally let it go (in my head, at least). However, I still don't know what to do about it. If I stop going to these events then I miss important opportunities to talk with students and other faculty. If I continue going, then I'm going to get increasingly annoyed.
It's sad to say, but I think it's professionally risky to be too confrontational about these issues. So can I try to offer alternate points of view in a subtle, non-threatening way? Well ... I can certainly try but I think we all know how that would end. I also can't lose mental energy being bothered by these conversations because I really do have more important things to think about right now.
I think I'll probably skip the next few gatherings, at least to take a break.
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