Day: March 1, 2012

“Why I Am A Male Feminist”

jennysaul20 Comments

I can’t find a record of us having linked to this before, but I have a feeling we may have done so. (If so, accept my apology!) If not, enjoy this excellent article.

The following day, I attended a workshop about preventing gender violence, facilitated by Katz. There, he posed a question to all of the men in the room: “Men, what things do you do to protect yourself from being raped or sexually assaulted?”

Not one man, including myself, could quickly answer the question. Finally, one man raised his hand and said, “Nothing.” Then Katz asked the women, “What things do you do to protect yourself from being raped or sexually assaulted?” Nearly all of the women in the room raised their hand. One by one, each woman testified:

“I don’t make eye contact with men when I walk down the street,” said one.
“I don’t put my drink down at parties,” said another.
“I use the buddy system when I go to parties.”
“I cross the street when I see a group of guys walking in my direction.”
“I use my keys as a potential weapon.”
“I carry mace or pepper spray.”
“I watch what I wear.”

The women went on for several minutes, until their side of the blackboard was completely filled with responses. The men’s side of the blackboard was blank. I was stunned. I had never heard a group of women say these things before. I thought about all of the women in my life — including my mother, sister and girlfriend — and realized that I had a lot to learn about gender.

(Thanks, Mr Jender!)

Call for participants: Irigaray seminar

Jender

Invitation to the Seminar of
LUCE IRIGARAY
10 – 16 June 2012

Since 2003, Luce Irigaray has held a seminar with researchers doing their PhD on her work. This way, they have the opportunity to receive personal teaching from Luce Irigaray and to exchange ideas, methods and experiences between them. The seminar was welcomed by the University of Nottingham during the first three years (see Luce Irigaray: Teaching edited by Luce Irigaray with Mary Green, and published by Continuum, London & New York, 2008), by the University of Liverpool the fourth year, by Queen Mary, University of London, the fifth year, by the Goodenough College of London the sixth year, by the University of Nottingham the seventh year, and was co-hosted by the University of the West of England and the University of Bristol the eighth year. The seminar will most probably take place at the University of Bristol in 2012.

The framework of the seminar is this: A group of at most fifteen researchers, doing their PhD on the work of Luce Irigaray, stay one week on the university campus. The timetable includes a presentation by each researcher of the aspect of their PhD which most focuses on the work of Luce Irigaray, the discussion of this presentation by the group, the comments of Luce Irigaray herself and her answers to the questions asked by each one, and also sessions devoted to an explanation of some key-words or key-thoughts chosen by the participants. Personal meetings with Luce Irigaray are organized on the last day. The participants pay for their travel, but receive, at least in part, hospitality from the university. The language of the seminar is English.

The participants in the seminar come from different regions of the world, they belong to different cultures, traditions and fields of research – Philosophy, Gender Studies, Religious Studies, Literature, Arts, Critical and Cultural Studies, etc. The themes of their research include, for example: the treatment of personal or cultural traumatic experience; the resources that various arts can offer for dwelling in oneself and with the other(s); the maternal order and feminine genealogy; the interpretation and embodiment of the divine today; the contribution of sexuate difference to personal and social development; new perspectives in philosophy etc. In each of these fields, diverse domains, approaches and methods are represented. To date, the participants came from Australia, Vietnam, Korea, China, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, Latvia, Spain, Italy, Ireland and from different regions and universities of the U.S.A. and of the U.K. Beyond the multicultural teaching which results from such a gathering, the participants learn to live together and to share in difference during the time devoted to the work, and during meals, walks, personal meetings etc. The atmosphere of the seminar is intense but friendly and joyful, and its outcome highly successful for both the research and the life of each participant.

If you are interested and would like to participate in such a seminar please send as soon as possible a CV, a PhD abstract (1 page) and a presentation of the issues and arguments of your PhD that most focus on the work of Luce Irigaray (5 – 6 pages) to Luce Irigaray (by mail: 15, rue Lakanal, 75015 Paris, France). After receiving this material, Luce Irigaray will tell you if you can participate in the seminar of 2012. You will be in contact, for further practical information, with an administrator in the Spring after the selection of the candidates.