The part where this reading really began to click for me was on page 47, when Belenky starts talking about how helping people is incredibly empowering for these silent women. I found that sort of heartening in general.
As I interpret it, these women are able to graduate from their "received knower" perspective by entering a position where they're able to uplift other people. It's in conflict with dualism, too, because it shows that there's more than one way to be an authority. The authorities they grew up with were in a position of trying to push them down and make them smaller; a positive authority can use their expertise or wisdom or resources to empower others. This relates to our last reading, on letting people into the culture of power, and how doing so is a benevolent act toward those who feel disempowered.
I remember talking to a counselor when I was younger, and telling her that I had this constant feeling like everyone but me knew what was going on. Everyone had all the answers besides me. I felt left out of the general motions that seemed to happen around me. I guess I've learned to embrace that, because nowadays it's kind of a feeling that I enjoy. I can use my unique perspective, like the women in this article, to help other people, just like other people can use their unique perspectives to help me become a more well-rounded individual. Being socialized feminine has some pretty serious repercussions both in the long and short term, and I see those things played out in a lot of the people I meet. My little sister is a total loudmouth at home, but very silent around men, and I wish there were some kind of wisdom I could impart that would make her want to stand up for herself, and be an authority on her own life & body.
I agree that the accounts of women who developed supportive friendships with others was really heartening. In later chapters of the book from which this material is excerpted, the authors write about the phenomenon of "connected knowing," which is described this way: "The focus is not on how They want you to think...but on how they think; and the purpose is not justification but connection." They analyze a poem not to build an argument, but to discover "what is this poet saying to me?" The idea is that analysis doesn't involve separating yourself from the thing you study--working from an impersonal set of rules--but making judgments based a kind of intimacy with it. Connected knowers trust personal experience more than the distant "pronouncements of authorities." It strikes me that the seeds of this for the silent knowers might be in these early friendships.
ReplyDeleteHi Elise, thanks for your post. I was struck by nearly every page of Belenky, and I've been thinking a lot this week about which experiences might have had the biggest impacts on who I am and how I think, imagine and see the world today. I'm beginning to value these complex readings more than I did at first, as many of these readings are fantastic examples (IMHO) themselves of complex writing, and organization of thought and argument - the craft of great rhetoric. Another thing I'm beginning to notice is that its more difficult to forget about these readings a week later, as is often the case with some readings. I often forget or fail to realize just how different and unique each of our own journeys are with the experiences and interactions we have which weave our individuality throughout our lives. Psychology fascinates me, and I used to think the various paths to our psych states were much more black and white. I think these are great conversations to have, and involve some deep thought, and in my case re-reading certain parts several times for clarity.
ReplyDelete