I've lurked on this list for almost a year and, in one exchange--the
one over Mary Daly's case--posted several messages. I voiced a fairly
conservative viewpoint -- certainly conservative vis-a-vis the
prevailing zeitgeist of this list.
With the distance of a month or so since that exchange, my reflection
on the experience has been instructive to me personally. It is
congruent with Eva's question of the safety of XMCA and similar
cyberforums. I experienced the exchange on the Daly case as one of
tremendous disempowerment. Why? Frankly, my postings were generally
ignored. I devoted a significant amount of time to formulating my
contributions to the discussion. I knew that I don't have the
familiarity I should with activity theory and can't use the language
of the theory with facility, but thought I had something to say. But,
I concluded afterward that I mustn't have had something to say here
since silence was the response I mostly received to these postings.
(I am not including a couple of off-list messages from others at xmca
who indicated they agreed with me but felt they couldn't contribute
more publicly.)
Indeed, this experience was instructive and beneficial to me as a
male since I felt I now have some knowledge about what women
experience when their own voice is simply ignored in patriarchal
venues. And, while I recognize that last remark might be judged too
clever by a mile, I am not being disingenuous. On any variety of
lists in the past, I've witnessed what sometimes feels like a kind of
intolerance when certain viewpoints are expressed which challenge the
thrust of the list. It feels like members of one culture saying to
someone new from another culture: these are our ways, these are our
thoughts, you should pay heed or leave. (I know I'm beginning to mix
some metaphors here.)
My conclusions: For now, it generally doesn't feel safe to post on
certain topics or to give certain kinds of responses here. I need to
learn more about the language and concepts which others employ at
xmca and see how much I can ally myself with them. And, every once in
a while, I'll post even if I suspect the majority of the list's other
posters may not feel comfortable with my expression. Hence, today's
contribution.
BTW, I'm off to Buffalo for the weekend and may not be able to read
this list for the next couple of days. If I can telnet back to my
account here, I'll try to follow what's posted.
Vinny Hevern
+==================================================================+
+ Vincent W. Hevern, SJ, PhD Reilly Hall 220 Office: 315 445-4342 +
+ Associate Prof. & Chair FAX: 315 445-4722 +
+ Psychology Department +
+ Le Moyne College Email: hevern who-is-at maple.lemoyne.edu +
+ Syracuse, NY 13214 USA +
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+ Homepage http://maple.lemoyne.edu/~hevern/index.html +
+ Narrative Psych http://maple.lemoyne.edu/~hevern/narpsych.html +
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