"I also agree with Zooeylive that there are plenty of places in the USA or Europe (*cough* 'Western World' *cough*) where it's not safe for a person to walk alone at night or for women to have identities separate from their husbands. I feel like maybe if Paley spent some time in various parts of the USA she wouldn't be so sure that these empowered feminist women she speaks about are running around everywhere she thinks they are. That's a problem. I think it's a problem everywhere. I think the more places people start to notice that problem anywhere, the more can be done to make individual women feel more powerful and have more agency."
The argument against this kind of universalist approach to activism that has most resonated with me is the essay about the history of domestic violence activism in _Nobody Passes_; I forget the author, and can't go check the shelf since I'm at work. I'll have to go back to it myself, but I think reading it might be the best counterargument to "the more places people start to notice [a] problem anywhere, the more can be done to help individual women..." Community and cultural context is important, and "universalist" approaches often try to apply the community and cultural contexts of the people in charge (in the situation discussed in the essay, middle-class white femininst heterosexuals) to everyone, which wind up not being so universal after all.
no subject
or Europe (*cough* 'Western World' *cough*) where it's not safe for a
person to walk alone at night or for women to have identities separate
from their husbands. I feel like maybe if Paley spent some time in various
parts of the USA she wouldn't be so sure that these empowered feminist
women she speaks about are running around everywhere she thinks they
are. That's a problem. I think it's a problem everywhere. I think the
more places people start to notice that problem anywhere, the more can
be done to make individual women feel more powerful and have more agency."
The argument against this kind of universalist approach to activism that
has most resonated with me is the essay about the history of domestic
violence activism in _Nobody Passes_; I forget the author, and can't go
check the shelf since I'm at work. I'll have to go back to it myself,
but I think reading it might be the best counterargument to "the more
places people start to notice [a] problem anywhere, the more can be done
to help individual women..." Community and cultural context is important,
and "universalist" approaches often try to apply the community and
cultural contexts of the people in charge (in the situation discussed
in the essay, middle-class white femininst heterosexuals) to everyone,
which wind up not being so universal after all.