This is just a small excerpt of Jay's message. I would like to
share some questions that came to mind while I was reading this.
First of all, he describes our society as "hellbent on controlling..."
when I think it could easily be argued that controlling is the function
of all societies--perhaps it is the defining characteristic of "society". The
fact that talking about control evokes such a visceral response in all of us
is relective of the fact that our society/culture has successfully
controlled/coerced us into a style of thinking that encourages autonomy
and characterizes any sort of infringement on this autonomy as immoral.
I can think of several societies that _appear_ to exert a much higher
level of control over their members--yet I doubt the members of these
societies generally think of it that way because they are not socialized
to put such a high value on personal freedom. So, yes, there is a question
somewhere in here...when you talk about inevitable constraints and unavoidable
coercions, I still don't know what you mean. These are always value judgements
that are culturally constructed--I do not believe there is some universal
standard for what is considered to be unavoidable or fair. There is no
objective "truth" here, only socially constructed norms. This is a notion
that does not seem to sit well with people for some reason...
perhaps some feel that if their "truth" is not universally shared, is not
etched in something called "reality", then it is invalid. I do not think
this is the case. But I DO think that, as people who study culture, we should
be aware of the power that our culture will _always_ have on our
viewpoints. Culture is not necessarily something soft and fuzzy,
it is coercion in its most extreme form.
Any thoughts on this?
-Pam Schulze
PAS94003 who-is-at UCONN.EDU