thestig, 4/30

The Last Discussion: a tribute to Cixous and Butler.

I am appreciative of the nature of our discussion, i.e. only the women in the room could speak. This provided the opportunity for something that men experience very seldom, if at all.

I have realized, from the discussion, how important it is to think before you speak. Even in normal discourse, both men and women may say things, which, unknowingly, may have an effect on someone. This is not reserved just for the topic of gender relations, but race relations, health related issues, and so on. We must be more critical of ourselves.

I think out of all the post modern critical theorists we’ve studied throughout the CMC program are those who suggest that we have to be more critical of ourselves as opposed to being critical of our society. Yes, our society is created by us, and therefore a critique of society is a critique of ourselves, but it’s not as direct. As we have learned throughout the year, there are many structures in place that prevent the critique of society to have an immediate effect on social outcomes; e.g. alienation and exploitation of laborers. People should not be making comments like, “You’re smart for a girl,” or, “You can’t do X, Y, and Z because you’re a girl” because these notions are based on ideologies that we’ve consumed through film, pictures, and popular magazines. It’s as if it is accepted in society.

Being critical of ourselves and of our discourse can have an immediate effect on our life and the people who live amongst us each day. That famous statement, we can change the world one small step at a time, may be realized. If we are all more self reflective of our actions and our words, than we can begin taking responsibility for the problems we face as individuals, as a culture, and as a human race: then we will be global citizens.

This is thestig, signing off.