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After
reading your question, I was
reaffirmed in my decision not
to major in women's studies
because it spent too much time
using obscure language and too
little time talking about women's
everyday lives. That said, I
would assume that what she means
by these phrases is as follows.
To make it easier, take the
main word and just look at it
through a gender lense:
Feminist
Empiricism -- is data that
is collected based on women's
real life experiences. This
would involve talking to women
about whether or not they have
felt discriminated against based
on their gender or talking to
men about why they don't ever
think about combining their
career with childrearing as
a clue to finding out why most
women still have two jobs.
Feminist
Standpoint--is simply a
feminist perspective on a given
issue. For example, when there
is a conversation about welfare--a
feminist at the table would
be likely to put the welfare
debate within the framework
of women's lives and how women
are more likely to be welfare
recipients, because:
1.) They are still primarily
responsible for children
2.) Because there is still unequal
pay for work of equal value
and
3.) Because women still don't
have access to higher paying
jobs, they remain in the pink
collar ghetto--which in most
instances is only a side-step
to welfare.
Feminist
Postmodern Epistemologies--although
I don't personally believe in
the term "postmodern" (and this
statement is the perfect example
of why--because if you remove
"postmodern" from the phrase
you are left with the sentiment).---
this would involve going to
the root cause of the inequalities
that exist between men and women--when
did it begin? Why? I hope this
helps--and good luck--Amy
P.S. For more information, please see: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-epistemology/.
FOLLOW-UP
LETTERS
Hi,
I'm writing with a request to
please not denigrate feminist
scholarship in the "Ask Amy"
section of your website. I popped
in to read a few of the "Ask
Amy" Q & A's so that I could
talk about your site to my introductory
women's studies class, and the
first Q & A I read sorely disappointed
me. I scanned through a couple
more and my disappointment wasn't
lessened.
When a young college student
asks for definitions for terms
in an article, terms such as
"feminist epistemologies", and
Amy answers by responding that
reading the list of phrases
reminds her why she didn't want
to major in Women's Studies,
that what is studied in classes
doesn't have direct application
to women's lives or to activism,
your column simply replicates
a perceived theory/activism
split that we've all been working
to suture. *Many* women's studies
classes open with a discussion
of just this issue.
Please don't overgeneralize
about what women's studies actually
studies, or assume its ineffectiveness,
or pass those prejudices on
to our students. The result
is an undermining of the movement
itself. Most of us are activists,
and many of our students are,
too. We also happen to study
philosophy, sociology, psychology,
literature, education, and many
other disciplines, and work
to understand how women's activism
and feminist ways of knowing
have contributed to and will
continue to contribute to social
change. Sincerely,
Ann Haugo
English and Women's Studies
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
AMY'S
RESPONSE
Thank you for your note -- and
for pointing out the ways that
I was being irresponsible in
my column. I will certainly
attempt to correct my "anti
academic bias" in the future--and
refrain from making generalizations.
In my defense, 1.) sometimes
when I respond to "Ask Amy"
questions, I forget that they
will be read by more than the
recipient. Therefore, while
I think that some of my comments
are appropriate in the context
of a single given question,
you are entirely right that
it sends a bad message to the
movement and it appears as a
greater generalization than
it would in the context of one
of the actual exchanges. 2.)
While I agree that my comments
were sometimes flip, general,
not specific, and irresponsible,
I also stand by that fact that
many academics cloud women's
studies by the language that
is used. As witnessed by "Ask
Amy" as well as by the conversations
I have with many feminists on
college campuses, the language
used by their professors is
1.) intimidating, and therefore,
a barrrier to them fully understanding
the material and 2.) more theoritically
and less practical, i.e. when
putting these theories into
practice, it is unlikely that
this is the language that will
be used.
To help on this latter point,
I encourage you and your colleagues
to use language that is more
accessible to your students--so
they can further understand
it rather than go to "Ask Amy"
because they have absolutely
no idea what they are researching.
Please write back if this isn't
clear and/or if you have further
concerns. Thanks again for taking
the time to respond.
—Amy
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