A couple of things stand out that I would like to reply to. For the most part, you seem vastly better-informed than I feel, and I have a lot of reading to do, so I will save a longer-form reply for the post itself.
Things that stood out:
Saying that something is socially constructed, to me, is about the map/territory distinction. Thus in the case of queerness, I would say that things such as “gay” and “straight” are socially constructed, and our concepts of sexual orientation are socially constructed, which does not at all contradict that they may be biologically based. For example, I would also say that a table is socially constructed (why is it a table vs a bed vs a chair?). The set of people that you may or may not be attracted to is not socially constructed, but the labels you apply to communicate that information are.
In regards to the response to Fausto-Sterling; I don’t agree that (as they claim) her claims about a continuum rely on her claims of abundance. I also noticed that when discussing vaginal agenesis they did not discuss consent or comfort, although the comparison to a cleft palate makes that implicit. Finally, they conclude by defending pathology only with an example, and by saying that her theories are “not helpful to clinicians,” whereas I feel that her intended audience was not so limited. I also feel very strongly that on page five about “these...individuals deserve the same care...” is pure window dressing, for reasons that I will mention but not in detail.
On the other hand, purely in terms of statistics, I feel somewhat betrayed by my Professor who is, for the most part as far as I can tell, of a feather with Longino (we had assigned reading from Longino, for example).
I agree with you that feminism includes specific political ideals at its roots, including fairness and inclusivity, and while I don’t mean to say that this means everyone should “tow the party line” I do think that effort put into, for example, reasserting the sexual dimorphism or discussing female privilege could be better used in other ways and lead to self-images which create artificial conflict. Of course this somewhat assumes epistemological hygiene on the part of feminists which may not exist...
I’m cutting myself off because this is at least five times the length I intended and I need to go to a barbecue.
my Professor who is, for the most part as far as I can tell, of a feather with Longino (we had assigned reading from Longino, for example).
I don’t deny that your prof holds similar views, but in general this isn’t an accurate indicator. Some things are just stuff everybody has to assign or they’re accused of not covering the material, and I’ve also had teachers assign things specifically to complain about how awful they were in the next class.
I’m pretty sure that our professor said we should read the Longino assignment twice, because we probably wouldn’t get it and it was very important. But that is of course extra information that convinced me that I didn’t provide, and I do see your point.
A couple of things stand out that I would like to reply to. For the most part, you seem vastly better-informed than I feel, and I have a lot of reading to do, so I will save a longer-form reply for the post itself.
Things that stood out:
Saying that something is socially constructed, to me, is about the map/territory distinction. Thus in the case of queerness, I would say that things such as “gay” and “straight” are socially constructed, and our concepts of sexual orientation are socially constructed, which does not at all contradict that they may be biologically based. For example, I would also say that a table is socially constructed (why is it a table vs a bed vs a chair?). The set of people that you may or may not be attracted to is not socially constructed, but the labels you apply to communicate that information are.
In regards to the response to Fausto-Sterling; I don’t agree that (as they claim) her claims about a continuum rely on her claims of abundance. I also noticed that when discussing vaginal agenesis they did not discuss consent or comfort, although the comparison to a cleft palate makes that implicit. Finally, they conclude by defending pathology only with an example, and by saying that her theories are “not helpful to clinicians,” whereas I feel that her intended audience was not so limited. I also feel very strongly that on page five about “these...individuals deserve the same care...” is pure window dressing, for reasons that I will mention but not in detail. On the other hand, purely in terms of statistics, I feel somewhat betrayed by my Professor who is, for the most part as far as I can tell, of a feather with Longino (we had assigned reading from Longino, for example).
I agree with you that feminism includes specific political ideals at its roots, including fairness and inclusivity, and while I don’t mean to say that this means everyone should “tow the party line” I do think that effort put into, for example, reasserting the sexual dimorphism or discussing female privilege could be better used in other ways and lead to self-images which create artificial conflict. Of course this somewhat assumes epistemological hygiene on the part of feminists which may not exist...
I’m cutting myself off because this is at least five times the length I intended and I need to go to a barbecue.
I don’t deny that your prof holds similar views, but in general this isn’t an accurate indicator. Some things are just stuff everybody has to assign or they’re accused of not covering the material, and I’ve also had teachers assign things specifically to complain about how awful they were in the next class.
I’m pretty sure that our professor said we should read the Longino assignment twice, because we probably wouldn’t get it and it was very important. But that is of course extra information that convinced me that I didn’t provide, and I do see your point.