taking this in a slightly different direction:
Alison mentioned:
>I can't speak with confidence of the US, but I think I can safely
>assume that Australia's economy is not widely at variance from it,
>being a fairly standard western economy based on American principles.
which reminded me, as a Canadian, that Dubya has refused to visit Ottawa
(we weren't 'with' him), but had his latest 'honorary texan,' John Howard
to his ranc=h recently, where he not only called him a heroic manly man,
but offered Oz a 'free trade' agreement. I just want to warn all Aussies,
that it's an interesting term, as NAFTA, while certainly being good for big
business in Canada, is one of those things where it's mosty free for the
US, & paid for by the other guy, & if the other guy is doing well out of
it, the US immediately lays a bunch of economic sanctions on it.
As for Delany's little experiment: it was some while ago, & he probably
didnt travel during rush hour, but he was interested, as someone who
self-identified as onside with feminism, in seeing what his own perceptions
were. Once he rigorously examined his responses, he was rather horrified to
see that what appeared to be neutral perceptions were way off, & he
certainly does (did) wonder about what kind of learning went into
constructing those perceptions. I confess, I tried the experiment, & found
i was at fault in somewhat the same way, although i hope that's no longer
the case...
and i truly do fear the backlash Alison points to; the political culture of
the US, as well as of Canada (not to mention many other countries where
feminism hasn't even begun to count), the rampant triumphalism of the right
(& of family values), does not give one great hope for the near future. on
the other hand, i do think those who have gained something (which certainly
includes the women in the academy) will not give it up easily, which is
good to know...
doug
Douglas Barbour
Department of English
University of Alberta
Edmonton Alberta Canada T6G 2E5
(h) [780] 436 3320 (b) [780] 492 0521
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm
Violence can only be concealed by a lie,
and the lie can only be maintained by violence.
Any man who has once proclaimed violence as his method
is inevitably forced to take the lie as his principle.
Alexander Solzhenitzyn
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