Minorities

The Real Wealth of Nations: the people

Posted onWednesday 8 January 2014Monday 6 January 2014

Irigaray’s fascinating work, which I reviewed yesterday, calls for a radical change in the individual’s worldview as expressed through an intersubjective spiritual caring and hospitality, but is (perhaps unfortunately) also written primarily for the academic. Intriguingly, in the same year an eminently pragmatic book was published on much the same subject, though from a far…

The Minangkabou & the Mosuo: modern matrifocality in action

Posted onSunday 5 January 2014Friday 3 January 2014

Of particular personal interest are a number of truly excellent books I have, which present anthropological research on several modern and still existing matriarchies. In each case cultural matrifocality instigates a tending and nurturant social worldview, leading to a surprisingly stable and self-regulating society. Two examples emerge in 2003 from Southeast Asia: Peggy Reeves Sanday…

The wonderfully titled: Goddesses, Whores, Wives & Slaves

Posted onFriday 3 January 2014Friday 3 January 2014

(repeating from yesterday…) Both historically and in the modern day, patriarchy stunts and diminishes both women and men, and will continue to do so until that time when women are once again regarded as both human, and an integral part of history and civilization. This is not to say, of course, that women had no…

The perils of ivory tower indecisiveness when studying misogyny, pt. 3

Posted onSaturday 12 October 2013Wednesday 9 October 2013

So yes, this book is one of the most horribly self-righteous homilies on how the poor, emotionally tragically sad, snoogie-woogums-needing men are suffering SO MUCH!! by all that abuse they’re foisting on the women! It’s not that they actually want to dominate or anything, right? — though Gilmore has apparently forgotten some shockingly honest Indian…

The perils of ivory tower indecisiveness when studying misogyny, pt. 2

Posted onFriday 11 October 2013Wednesday 9 October 2013

Weirdly, Gilmore also seems to be completely blind to any understanding of the concept of “patriarchy,” to the point that he repeatedly enthuses about how there’s no unifying external element in misogyny. But good modern research has shown us that every patriarchal culture we’re aware of mandates the creation of, first: strongly separated gender roles,…

The perils of ivory tower indecisiveness when studying misogyny, pt. 1

Posted onThursday 10 October 2013Wednesday 9 October 2013

First, an apology for starting two separate posting threads here, and then getting distracted with midterm schoolwork. Now the paper is handed in, I’ll be getting those done soon, I promise. Second, fair warning: this blog entry is going to be a rant — a very ranty rant! — that will get it out of…

What is humankind’s “worst discovery” ever? part 1

Posted onTuesday 24 September 2013Saturday 21 September 2013

A common assumption I’ve frequently read is that the “worst discovery” made by humankind was agriculture, in that it taught men (not humans) the concept of property. The rather androcentric theorizing seems to be that once men conceptualize food as property which can be hoarded away despite the needs of others, it’s invariably a short…

Women & World Religions comps booklist, take II

Posted onWednesday 11 September 2013Thursday 9 January 2014

This has been a very strange semester so far, and I’m less than a week in. Amongst other things, my Women & World Religions comps essay prof did another review of my bibliography, and suggested some changes. I found this odd for two reasons: 1) I thought we’d agreed on the official booklist at the…

A wonderful revelation: we can “undo” destructive gender roles!

Posted onTuesday 10 September 2013

Ecofeminism is a powerful means to accomplish the goal of a more peaceful, prosperous, and socially just world. Unsurprisingly, entrenched blocks to its implementation exist within the modern social order due to its excesses of hierarchical capitalism and masculinism. Thus one of the most methodologically exciting works of this subsection is an analysis of how…

Wandering Thoughts on Feminism

Posted onThursday 5 September 2013

Because of the field of study I’m in, the definition of the word feminism is of powerful personal importance. I’m always faintly surprised at the astonishingly ridiculous I sometimes hear regarding feminism, too: things like the movement is full of sexually frustrated lesbians, or it’s embarrassing to be associated with such a (supposedly) retrograde social…