----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday,
April 28, 2006 2:15 AM
Subject: Re:
List definition
Now I am seriously
confused – I don’t see the connection between Paul’s response and Sue’s
reply – I don’t interpret Paul’s response as being about sex as suggested by
the opening remark in her reply (I realized the mention of sex raises powerful
emotions in people but this beggars belief. It's too bad controversial
topics cannot be discussed) I
thought it was about courtesy and respect toward one another, especially to
a new voice on the list. The remainder of the reply does not appear to
address the issue as raised either – or am I missing something
here??
Dawn
Darlaston-Jones
WA
From: The
UK Community Psychology Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sue McPherson
Sent: 28 April 2006 08:56
To:
[log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [COMMUNITYPSYCHUK] List
definition
I realized the mention of sex
raises powerful emotions in people but this beggars belief. It's too
bad controversial topics cannot be discussed. I feel I am in the same place
gays must have been many years ago when they could not openly
discuss sexuality and gays' process of self-discovery. Heterosexuals
are particularly bad for this - I mean talking about their own sexuality, as
part of being a heterosexual - for women at least, seems to be to
remain unaware of how one came to be and what it means. For many women,
sex - ie heterosex, is just a tool. That wasn't going to be the
subject of my research. I hadn't realized how much of a tool it was, for
many women. But I think the women I interviewed may have seen sexuality
differently than women in academia. The higher women go in men's world
the more they are required to act like men, in a way, to be like men, though
the penis is not the equivalent of the vagina, and women's sexuality is not
the same as men's. And women's sexual needs are not the same as men's.
I had once hoped that exploring sexuality among older women might reveal
something significant, that younger women might find useful, or
insightful. But I think they are too busy proving themselves in a world with
scarce resources. And men anyway are not keen on letting that
happen.
----- Original Message -----
Sent:
Friday, April 28, 2006 12:25 AM
Subject: Re:
List definition
The criticism
that Rachael should not have included her 'credentials' on her first
posting to the list was completely misguided in my view. Rachael was
actually making the point that academics are not the experts. As
such, by stating her university affiliation she was surely positioning
herself as a non-expert. Before Rachael barely had time to reply to the
rebuke she received, a further one was added to the list stating
"And before you write back
and say you are only a student let me tell you, when I was a student I was
treated a helluva lot better in this world than I am now. "
I just found that condescending,
rude and disrespectful. We cannot presume to know what someone will say in
reply to a posting nor presume to know another list member's social
history or life experiences based on the social identity they have chosen
and/or had imposed upon them. It is sadly ironic that Rachael stated that
her contribution was the first one she had made to the list because, among
other reasons, she was worried that she might be misunderstood. How right
she was to be fearful. In the first replies she recieved it was clear to
me that neither were her worries about posting to the list taken into
account nor the content of her message understood.
There, I have
said my piece. Discussion has already moved on to the next
target, which might temporarily be a social system or a social
institutions, but may well default back to attacking an
individual who will find themselves in the firing line as the list once
again resembles more a jerry springer franchise than a space where people
can engage critically with understanding the ways our social systems
and social institutions effect our lives and how our lives effect our
social systems and our social institutions.... That's my reason for being
silent lately...
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