[Ads-l] Sorophobia

[Laurence Horn]

Seems like “sororophobia” would have been clearer, although I’d have guessed a more specific notion of fear/hatred of (one’s own) sister(s), parallel to “fratrophobia”.  My first guess on “sorophobia” was fear/hatred of (George) Soros.  There’s a lot of that going around in certain circles.

LH


> On Aug 25, 2020, at 3:43 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> The term was employed in the title of a 1992 book.
> Michie, Helena. Sorophobia: Differences Among Women in Literature and
> Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. 216 pp.
> 
> Here is an excerpt from a discussion of the book:
> https://search.proquest.com/openview/4de506b83d411805935f6aef11546011/1/advanced
> 
> [Begin excerpt]
> Sorophobia: Differences Among Women in Literature and Culture.
> Brandenburg, Sandra; Hill, Debora.
> Iris; Charlottesville Iss. 30,  (Dec 31, 1993): 67.
> 
> In Sorophobia, Helena Michie argues that a feminism advocating
> "sisterhood" risks negating undeniable cultural differences that exist
> both among small communities of women and across nations. The book
> studies textual representations of women's relationships to
> demonstrate the diversity and opposition along lines of race, class,
> and gender in seemingly homogenous sub-groups of feminist discourse. .
> .
> . . . Michie challenges feminists to continue the process of
> recognizing difference while refusing to re-create negative images of
> otherness.
> [End excerpt]
> 
> On Tue, Aug 25, 2020 at 1:57 AM Stanton McCandlish
> <smccandlish at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> That's a new one to me.  I encountered this term in a news story, quoting
>> something written by a professor.
>> https://news.yahoo.com/iowa-state-university-forced-professor-195057364.html
>> 
>> I have yet to find a clear definition, just a few rambling gender-studies
>> papers about "negotiating dialectic spaces" among the "differences between
>> women".  Etymologically it seems to mean "fear of sisters", if Latin-based,
>> though someone on twitter joked that it could mean "fear of coffins" if you
>> go the Greek route.
>> 
>> Google hits for the term are almost all repeats of the same news story.
>> 
>> --
>> Stanton McCandlish
>> McCandlish Consulting
>> 5400 Foothill Blvd Suite B
>> Oakland CA 94601-5516
>> 
>> +1 415 234 3992
>> 
>> https://www.linkedin.com/in/SMcCandlish
>> 
>> "The capacity to produce social chaos is the last resort of desperate
>> people."
>> —Cornel West, author and philosopher (1953–)
>> "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."
>> —Isaac Asimov, biochemist and science-fiction writer (1920–1992)
>> ------------------------------
>> 
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>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
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