feminist philosophy vote

[Miriam Meyerhoff]

Dear All,

A couple of thoughts re. this vote we are all supposed to be participating
in. Since the theoretical and practical gloss of 'feminism' given earlier
has made it's way onto the ballot as a firm option, I feel like I should
point out some baggage that goes along with the "practical" clause
(highlighted) in the following option:

>> (3) <snip>
	"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."***
>>

To adopt this as a basic goal will be to place GALA firmly within a western
(Anglo?) model of feminism. If we truly want GALA to remain global, then
this may not be an appropriate statement to have as the basis for how the
organisation develops next. A person might agree with the theoretical
clause, but not agree with the practical.
	I also felt like I had to respond to this because something about
Jeff Deby's post bothered me too. With respect (and I agreed with the bulk
of Jeff's message), at one point he wrote "This is our professional field,
and I believe GALA will be **THE** [my emph.] dominant voice in it once
it's up and running."
	Yuck, what a horrible thought. One dominant voice. What a lot we'll
learn then. Especially if the "party line" from the outset has some built
in assumptions about the proper nature of "feminism" (and specifically the
proper nature of f. theory and f. practice).
	Look, I don't have a problem with proposal (3) on the ballot, it
reflects and codifies my norms and assumptions pretty well. But I'm not
going to be voting for it, because I don't see what the point is of
starting GALA if it's just going to be a bunch of people who share all my
norms and assumptions already. I'd rather have a looser philosophical
statement at the moment. If that proves to be a problem, it can be fixed.


Miriam Meyerhoff

Asst Professor
Department of Linguistics,
1890 East-West Rd
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
Honolulu, HI 96822
ph. (808) 956-3236
fax. (808) 956-9166

mhoff at hawaii.edu

on leave AY 1998-99:
Department of Linguistics
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14850-4701
ph. (607) 254-4436
fax. (607) 255-2044

mm167 at cornell.edu