I Don't Want to be Right

[kandrathe]

Yes, of course I would agree with the idea that these things are a vicious circle. I've been thinking quite a lot about this lately, from the standpoint of the liberal/radical divide in feminism. Is it enough to "respect women's choices," and let that be the beginning and end of one's feminism? Or is there some more structural problem, that forces us to say "no, some peoples' values are just wrong, shaped as they are by patriarchy"? What does one say to a feminist who accepts "patriarchal" views of what women want as her personal preferences, freely chosen? What about if that person was a man?

I would disagree that there is such a thing as a "natural" or "correct" impulse; humans are fundamentally social, learning creatures, and what we create in culture is not something alien or incorrect, nor is there a "real" self that somehow stands behind culture. Our real selves learn things from our social context, and reconstruct it for the next generation with a few changes. That's what "natural" humans do.

Well, I think that is what I was asking; for any individual, what level of femininity or masculinity is "correct"? I don't think we can fairly say. In other words, if I choose to do auto mechanics, no one would know if I'm doing it because I enjoy it, or if I'm doing it to fulfill societal expectations. And, therefore, I believe the same applies to female stereotypical roles. Only the individual can assess their own motives, but it seems even educating people about stereotypes in hopes of breaking the self-discrimination vicious circle introduces stereo type threat types of anxieties.

For TOS, sure. But Star Trek has examples of powerful women in commanding roles. I thought Janeway was a rubbish captain, but the fact that there was a woman in the big chair was a major step forward. Jadzia Dax and Kira Nerys were both strong characters, as was Beverly Crusher. Even Troi got better as the series progressed, and (as Marina Sirtis keeps pointing out) as her cleavage got smaller.

In TNG, I would say the counselor, and the doctor were "traditional" nurturing roles, in fact the Doctor also played the role of mother, and the counselor was frequently cast as daughter. The "Kirk" role was split into the more sensitive brainy Picard, and the suave and macho Rikker. I didn't watch much of DS9 -- so I can't comment.