David,
There's no tone of moral superiority and censorious self-righteousness in my email. Who was I censoring? I simply said that from my brief acquaintance with Mark Weiss that,
"I'm
sure
that he would have made such a claim in terms of his psychological and
professional experience."
And furthermore, my email leaves plenty of room for argument, which is hardly a definition of moral superiority and self-righteousness:
"Which isn't to say that it can't be argued with;
even therapists and mental health professionals can disagree,"
I agree as far as the foibles of various people on the list, which is partly why I posted that comment in the first place. Henry seemed to be making a case that Mark Weiss should be disciplined in some way by the list managers for what Henry felt was an ad hominem attack. So I added my comment, which was meant more to give the benefit of the doubt to Weiss's intentions.
You seem to be sore and smarting from the other discussion about your poem, where you felt Alison and I cast "imputations of sexism upon your head." I do think that your work is often deeply sexist, and not merely in this poem which begins with the analogy of giving birth to shitting, but in your previous poem that was favorably compared to Eliot's "The Hysteria," though that isn't to say that there isn't a misogynist or sexist cast to his work, etc. However, that doesn't mean that I view you as an enemy or disregard what you have to say or don't look at your work as I would anyone else's. I don't feel at war with you in any way, though I might quarrel with various elements of your postings, whether poems or statements. For instance, I don't think sizeism explains anything. I bet I am as tall as you and I bet you would still at moments 'talk down to me,' because you do here, for instance, this letter with its "oh heavens, Rebecca," as if we were suddenly chums followed by your attacking me as self-righteous and censorious and morally superior, it's an assumption of over familiarity followed by an attack upon my character, and why? because you are upset, and what gives you the right to do that?
Rebecca
Rebecca Seiferle
www.thedrunkenboat.com
-------Original Message-------
From: "david.bircumshaw" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 04/04/03 09:54 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: resignations
>
> Oh heavens, Rebecca, why take such a tone of moral superiority and
censorious self-righteousness? I haven't been following this thread
closely,
and don't think I want to, I've never met Mark in person but I'm sure he's
an ok guy. This list, like any other human gathering, is bound to have its
quibbles, its upsets, its foibles. That's the way things go. I could have
claimed that I was deeply offended by the imputations of sexism that you
and
Alison cast upon my head, it's a matter I think hard about and I've
realised, subsequent to some words of Alison's, that my problem actually
is
unconscious 'sizeism', because I am quite tall I unwittingly talk down to
those who are significantly smaller than me, whether male or female, this
I
did to Alison, and was deeply upset at myself about it.
Let's all make peace, for Gawds sake, it matters in such dark days as
these.
All the Best
Dave
David Bircumshaw
Leicester, England
Home Page
A Chide's Alphabet
Painting Without Numbers
<a target=_blank
href="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/index.htm">http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.bircumshaw/index.htm</a>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rebecca Seiferle" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2003 4:20 PM
Subject: Re: resignations
Yes, that's it exactly, I think. I recently met Mark Weiss at the AWP
conference, and, from my short acquaintance with him and his views, I'm
sure
that he would have made such a claim in terms of his psychological and
professional experience. Which isn't to say that it can't be argued with;
even therapists and mental health professionals can disagree. But I'm sure
that his remarks were a statement of fact based upon his psychological
evaluation of the situation.
Best,
Rebecca
Rebecca Seiferle
<a target=_blank
href="http://www.thedrunkenboat.com">www.thedrunkenboat.com</a>
-------Original Message-------
From: wildhoney <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 04/04/03 05:02 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: resignations
>
> Henry,
one of the reasons Mark may make such a claim is that he is such a
professional. It's a statement of fact.
best
Randolph
>
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