On Mon, 3 Jun 1996, Richard Twine wrote:
> -Is anyone interested in discussing the novel
> "Women on the edge of time " by Marge Piercy,
> and related to this, the whole subject of eco-social utopias?
I haven't read the novel. Should I? I am a novice to eco-feminism.
Everything I have read so far has been academic.
>
> -Alternately, the topic of ecofeminism and aesthetics. Particularly
> the apparent contradiction in relying upon appeals to "beauty" for
> the protection of earth-others, and the pejorative use of "beauty" and
> "ugliness" in discourses of social domination, especially but not solely,
> racialised and misogynist discourse, and how these discourses reinforce
> 'others' as 'body-people' in Plumwood's terminology.
I am not familiar with these terms. I assume "others" to be part of the
US-Them dichotomous thinking. That seems to be the problem. Why does
there have to be one cause and one effect for every act or action? Is
there only one valid reason to save the earth? I wash my hair because I
like the way it looks, smells and feels when it is clean. It is something
that the society I live in expects of me. I will also remain healthier
if I do so. I believe that all these are pretty good reasons for doing
it. We save trees for the purposes of maintaining bio-diversity,
beauty, ethical and moral reasons. Does it matter "why" we do it ? Or
is it best to look at the morals and ethics and consider the beauty a fringe
benefit? I really think that's it. We need to look beyond the utility
and see the biosphere as a working organism of which we are just a part.
We don't really have to understand every mechanism of a clock to know
that if you want to have the alarm wake you every morning, you can't bury
it in the back yard. How much more complex is our world? > > Desperate to
talk, > Richard. > > >
I'm ready to talk too. I've been on some lists lately wherein folks
wanted to attack other people as opposed to their opinions. I hope that
doesn't happen here. I don't mind criticism just don't flame me.
Peace,
Carolyn
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mon Jun 3 13:52:53 1996
Date: Mon, 03 Jun 96 14:41:38 CDT
From: Jane Sooby <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Woman on the Edge of Time
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hello!
This is one of my favorite books because of the detail with
which Marge Piercy has imagined an alternative future.
One of the most significant points she makes in the book is how
the reproductive ability of women creates a power imbalance
so strong that the society of the future has to come up with
a way to remove this imbalance by "industrializing" (in a sense)
reproduction. I have mixed feelings about this, because on the
one hand I feel that (generic) man's desire to conquer women
does derive from anger/fear over our reproductive ability and
without that the root source of so much violence against women
would be gone; on the other hand, women's ability to give birth
is a natural, sacred, and significant role that deserves respect
instead of cooption.
My 2 cents (computer keyboards don't have a cents sign!)
Peace, and thanks Richard for igniting conversation,
Jane Sooby
Ag Tech II (Sustainable Ag)
High Plains Ag Lab
3257 Rd. 109
Sidney, NE 69162-3129
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mon Jun 3 15:34:04 1996
; 4 Jun 96 08:58:06 +1200
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 1996 08:57:37 +1200
From: "STEFANIE S. RIXECKER" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: call for papers/fwd
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Organization: Lincoln University
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
CALL FOR PAPERS
The Vernacular Architecture Forum is soliciting proposals
for presentations at its 1997 Annual Meeting, to be held in
Portland, Oregon, June 11-14, 1997. Papers may address any
aspect of vernacular architecture in North America or elsewhere
and should be primarily analytical rather than descriptive in
content. The selection committee especially welcomes proposals
from scholars investigating the landscape and built environment
of Northwest America.
Proposals may be for either a twenty-minute paper on a
subject that the author has extensively researched or a ten-
minute "work in progress" report. Selection will be based on the
proposed paper's original contribution to the study of vernacular
architecture. Fellowships may be available to students whose
papers have been accepted. Papers presented at the meeting will
be considered for the VAF's Perspectives in Vernacular
Architecture publication series.
Typewritten proposals should include the author's name,
address, telephone and FAX numbers, and e-mail address (if
applicable) and should be one page (400 words max.) in length.
Please be sure to state the argument of the paper, lay out the
scope and content, and discuss the methodology and sources.
The deadline for submissions is October 1, 1996. Accepted
papers, tailored to the prescribed time limits, must be submitted
to session chairs by April 1, 1997. Those presenting papers must
be VAF members at the time of the conference. Please submit five
(5) copies of the proposal to Alison K. Hoagland, Department of
Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend Dr.,
Houghton, MI 49931-1295; (906) 487-2113; FAX (906) 487-2468.
For more information about the annual meeting, contact
Howard Davis, Department of Architecture, School of Architecture
and Allied Arts, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403; (541)
346-3665; FAX (541) 346-3626; e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
************************************
Stefanie S. Rixecker
Centre for Resource Management/
Department of Resource Management
Lincoln University
Canterbury
Aotearoa New Zealand
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Phone: (64) (03) 325-2811 x8377
Fax: (64) (03) 325-3841
************************************
