Thank you Beth. I am off to bed now, but I will wake thinking about what
you said.
Susan
-----Original Message-----
From: Beth Carroll <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: STUDIES IN WOMEN AND ENVIRONMENT <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 08 March 1999 19:48
Subject: Re: molotovs and mailing lists
>hi everyone,
>
>the question of experience as a source of knowing seems to me to be a very
>important one. especially in regards to validating the experience of
people of
>color, i think it would be very inappropriate for me, a white woman, to
ever
>speak *for* a woman of color; however, i do see real importance in speaking
*to*
>and speaking *with.* in other words, i think my opinion counts for
something (
>if i have done the necessary thinking, research, listening to others, etc
on a
>particular topic), but i could never attempt to speak from a position of
>experience, which, to me seems of vital and *primary* importance.
>
>another thought: often personal experience of a particular social position
only
>gives me a partial understanding of what it means to be of that particular
>group. for instance, i'm not sure i totally understand what it means to be
a
>woman. and i certainly know i can't speak for all women.
>
>if we see identity as fluid, shifting, always contextualized and
historicized,
>we might see that there are many differing (contradictory?) definitions
which
>inform even one social category. experience in a particular time and place
can
>vary drastically from one person of a certain category to another (of the
same
>category), so that i might think it means one thing to be a woman right
here,
>right now, and another woman on this list will probably have a differing
>definition. can we both be "right"?
>
>but in the context of speaking about issues outside your own cultural,
social
>position, i have to agree with nicole. you can never know what it means to
be a
>member of a group until you have walked in those shoes, so to speak.
>
>cheers,
>beth
>
>Susan Hoyle wrote:
>
>> Just in case Nicole's latest post was referring inter alias to me, I
should
>> say that I could direct all the questions I asked in my first post to a
>> feminist position. Our experience as women is valid, I do not dispute
that;
>> but what exactly does it validate and invalidate? I am not trying to
score
>> points. I am interested in what others have to say about what seems to
me
>> to be a real problem.
>>
>> Susan
>
>
>
