Carolyn,
what a thought-provoking post! We could ponder this for a long time
(I, for one, would love to - how do others feel?)
My quick reaction:
1) "normative" is used by many (independently of the feminist
debate) as a denigratory term. It isn't. Ethics - the study of right
and wrong - is one of the main branches of that venerable
discipline, philosophy. (And anyone who says that ethics is purely
religious, has never read Aristotle.) True, the existence of objective
right and wrong is denied by some schools of thought - but (a) not
everyone concurs with this (and it is neither amateurish nor
politically incorrect not to), and (b) even the relativist schools of
thought posit certain standards of behaviour (tolerance etc.). (PS
those of you who are suspicious of philosophy, don't forget that the
main problem with philosophy today is the direction into which
Western white males have taken it! It is a noble discipline to be
reclaimed, not a dead one to be buried.)
2) Of course feminism is normative! Its whole point is to
counterbalance machismo, which is itself normative although it
often doesn't recognize it! How do you fight against male values
unless you speak about values? (It is not ONLY normative, of
course. Feminism also analyses, in a non-normative way, the
differences and similarities between men and women. Necessary -
but hardly sufficient.)
I'd say that the accusation of "normativeness" is one of the subtlest
attacks against feminism - or blindest, if it comes from men who
honestly confuse their value-systems with a positive reality.
Barbara (who faces the same accusation of normativeness in
connection with economic development theory - so I had to learn
how to handle it!)
|