taimatsu | (no subject)

I have just had my first lecture of the year - the introductory session for Women's Writing 1. This involved defining feminism, mostly, and the horrible but not unexpected discovery that about six of the 60 predominantly female people in the room defined themselves as feminist. Gaaaaah!

Also Gaaaaaah was the thing where the lecturer was talking about an essay on basic feminism which discusses the terms 'feminist' 'female' and 'feminine', and dismissed biological sex - 'female' - as binary 'apart from a few hermaphrodites and things'. I was so cross. I know a variety of people who are women but for whom the biological clues to 'sex' are not straightforwardly female - whether that's because of a chromosomal disorder, or physical intersexedness, or being transsexual/transgendered. The lecturer has no idea if one of those people is in the room, and I was cross that she made them invisible and used what I suspect is rather an inappropriate term for the biologically different. She's my seminar leader so I might be able to tackle her about it tomorrow, though it's tricky when I'm not in that group myself.

Similarly, she was talking about the prevailing image of feminism as all about 'hairy humourless lesbians'; while it's *true* that that's what people think, what if I *had* been a hairy lesbian? It really sounded very dismissive, and her talk didn't make any compensatory mention of the contributions lesbian community has made to the women's movement.

I think I sound way too 'right-on' here, but then the whole point of the lecture was to make the girls who go 'eww, I'm not a feminist!' think again. Maybe it ought to make me think again about saying 'erk, I'm not one of those radical queer folks!' (Actually, I think I'm not, but I get the feeling if I make the fairly basic points above about sex and gender non-hegemony, I'll be thought of as one.)

It makes me nervous to think of saying any of this in a seminar, but I want that to be a safe(r) space where I can talk about, you know, lesbians and queer politics if it's relevant without being afraid to come out. *sigh*

Thoughts most welcome. Anyone got any experience with feminist literary criticism or feminist writing in general? I'm making this public so I can link to it in a community.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

As long as you're not doing it while saying that part of the process in which we're in theory all involved is the right of all ducks to self define, it's fine.

If, however, I'm going to sit here and say that part of feminism, for me, is the right of all women to self define, that means I have to accept their self definitions - whether I like them or not.

I might go so far as to say, "Ok you don't call yourself a feminist, fair enough - but I'd class your beliefs as belonging to the broad spectrum of feminism" - but no further.

If I'm about giving people freedom to self define, I can't then take that freedom back simply becuase I think someone's done it incorrectly...

I see, thank you. I can understand that self-definition is privileged, but I didn't realise it was to the exclusion of all other labels.

I think it's to the exclusion of imposition of labels from without, that contradict self chosen ones, for the most part.

There are obvious exceptions - I may maintain that I am perfectly healthy but my doctor disagrees - for the most part, her label (say, suffering from delusions of adequacy...) takes precendence over mine, if that makes sense.

But generally, yes, that's the view I'd take. :) What I can't do, of course, with any sort of integrity at all, is insist that my view takes precedence...

I didn't realise it was to the exclusion of all other labels.

Do you see a difference between labelling a woman a feminist and labelling her a bitch? The latter, as I understand it, is considered bad form.

Heh.

As I see it, the label is problematic: not the act of labelling.

I agree.

For some, "feminist" is also a problematic label (if not perhaps to quite the same degree).