Email to lecturer?

[taimatsu]

I thought I would write up a draft email here, for comment. Do take a look.

Dear Lecturer,

I was concerned by some aspects of your presentation of the nature of feminism in your lecture this morning on Women's Writing. There were two points which specifically discomfited me. When discussing the essay 'Femninist, Female, Feminine' you said that the second of those descriptions was straightforward 'apart from a few hermaphrodites and things'. In fact, 'female' is not actually a straightforward term, and 'sex' is not such an easily-defined concept as one might think. You have no way of knowing whether in the lecture theatre in front of you is someone who might feel stigmatised and made unwelcome by the phrase 'hermaphrodites and things' - you could have a transsexual person in the group, or someone with a chromosomal abnormality which makes them genetically male while they appear female. 'Hermaphrodite' is, I believe, not an especially appropriate term to use in this or any context as it can be considered pejorative. As we are concerned with feminism I feel it's appropriate to take into account the struggles of other liberation movements and try to discuss other areas of inequality sensitively.

Secondly, you talked about the image of feminism as to do with 'hairy humourless lesbians'. It's true that this is a common negative image of feminists, but as I understand it the lesbian community has historically been fairly instrumental in the women's rights movement, and your presentation of this image seemed not only dismissive of this contribution, but also rather unfortunate in the light of the fact that you may very well have young lesbians in your audience, hairy or otherwise. If you are trying to re-educate your students about the societal image of feminism which they may have rejected, why not also suggest a re-think on this prejudice against and stereotyping of lesbians or otherwise non-heterosexual women?

I thought I would email you about this as I worry that if I were to bring it up in tomorrow's seminar I would drag the entire group off-topic. I am happy to discuss it at any time, however, in or out of a seminar or lecture situation.

Comments

[the-lady-lily.livejournal.com]

In fact, 'female' is not actually a straightforward term, and 'sex' is not such an easily-defined concept as one might think.

Makes you sound as if you are grandstanding. Try 'in my understanding, 'female' is not a straightforward term, and 'sex' is not an easily-defined black and white concept.'

You have no way of knowing

You appear to be attacking her directly here. Try 'There is no way of knowing whether someone is present in the lecture theatre who...' getting rid of all second person references.

you could have - again, 'there could be'.

that you may very well have - there could very well be.

If you are trying to re-educate your students - again, sounds a bit aggressive - perhaps 'as you re-educate your students about...', assume this is her goal, sounds a bit more flattering and less confrontational.

Mainly taking out the second person references, really, which are the ones which make it sound a bit more spikey than it needs to.

[taimatsu]

Good points, thank you. I was having trouble working out how not to sound aggressive or patronising.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

I agree with all this -- you want to make her buy into your thoughtfulness, so the less confrontational the language is -- the less you make her feel like a bad person -- the better.

[medland.livejournal.com]

I think it's good, to the point and polite but firm.

[mirabehn.livejournal.com]

I agree with Liz's comment, especially with the objection to "in fact".

I think you're on the right lines though, and much kudos for doing this. :-)

[angeoverhere.livejournal.com]

TBH, I think you should probably grab her after the seminar, ask for a chat, and see where you get. You might have to arrange a separate time that suits you both (she may have to go off to do something else). I think an email, even diplomatically phrased, is likely to get her back up (and may well register as more 'work' for her), whereas a discussion in person registers that you are really interested in the topic.

As others have said, I'm thinking that watching out for the many different positions calling themselves 'feminist' would be a *very* good idea. It's possible she'll be as unreconstructed as she came across, OTOH, she may be fine, and/or was phrasing things simply/clumsily to accomodate a naive audience. But taking it up in person will help you figure this out.

[taimatsu]

Mmmm, good thought. I might need to write about it some more so I am really confident in what I am trying to say. But yes, if I can find the right moment a talk in person would probably be better.

[juliet]

Agreed re in person rather than on email, if at all possible.

[syllopsium.livejournal.com]

I'd personally try and buttonhole her after the lecture, rather than writing an e-mail. It's difficult to tell from your post, but you need to see whether the lecturer is ignorant or just inconsiderate.

It also depends on whether she's trying to relate to her audience; mentioning hairy lesbians could be acceptable, provided it's followed by acknowledging the positive and negative contributions lesbians have brought to feminism.

[taimatsu]

Mmmm - if only she had said anything about lesbians which didn't involve the adjectives 'hairy' and/or 'humourless'! Bah.

[natsukaze.livejournal.com]

Feel free to drop her my email - laurenmichelle@gmail.com - if she has any questions for a few hermaphrodites or things.

[pozorvlak.livejournal.com]

Is "hermaphrodite" a pejorative term? I thought it was a straightforward anatomical description.