feminism summary

[Trechter, Sara]

>From the postings regarding whether to make a feminist philosophy an overt
part of the mandate of GALA, there are three basic opinions which have been
articulated.  Briefly, they are:

1)  Do not make GALA overtly feminist, despite the potentially large number
of feminists in the organization, because

a)  there are a great variety of feminisms; we do not want to be in the
position of deciding or rating someone's 'feminism.'
b)  feminism may be perceived as exclusionary, an overt statement could make
some people feel unwelcome.

2)  Include an overt philosophical statement for GALA which emphasizes the
promotion of feminist research and goals among other things which may or may
not conflict with 'feminist' goals, such as the study of queer language,
gendered language and ethnicity, gender and race.


3)  Include a general 'feminist' philosophical statement for GALA which
because of its generality does not conflict with other approaches, drawing
on Alice Freed's last posting:

"feminism" means something related to both theory and practice. The
theoretical: the pursuit and creation of new knowledge resulting from the
investigation of new questions and diverse experiences that have been
neglected by traditional scholarship because this was established according
to male norms. (white, heterosexist male norms.) The practical: This
knowledge should be used to create a world in which issues involving sex and
gender difference are minimized and equal opportunities and possibilities
exist for everyone."

We will take a vote on these issues beginning Friday, June 4 .  Please
before that time feel free to make suggestions to the phrasing of these
three choices or to propose other options.  We have tried to remain
objective in the summary.  Note that the wording of the vote is not
necessarily the same as the ultimate statement of philosophy.  That will be
drawn up after the executive committee receives a mandate from the group.


Dr. Sara Trechter
Asst. Professor Linguistics/English
CSU, Chico
Chico, CA 95929-0830
(530) 898-5447 (office)
(530) 898-4450 (fax)