Dear all,
In the recent Women in Philosophy term card that was sent out a few days ago,
we mentioned that we would be in touch about arranging a discussion about the
name of the group. If you can join us Friday 8th November 12-1pm in Newnham
MCR, we would like to hear your ideas. This is intended to be quite an informal
discussion; please bring your lunches!
As the group's organisers this year, we have been discussing whether to retain
the name, or to change it to something like Gender and Philosophy. In this
email, we've briefly mentioned a few points for and against this change, to
help locate the issues that we feel surround the name of the group. We'd really
like to get feedback from a wide variety of people, including those who do not
currently attend the Women in Philosophy sessions.
If you would prefer to share your opinion via email instead of coming to the
discussion next Friday, please reply to this email.
-----------------
1. Some Reasons to Change the Name:
- Though the invitation emails specify that all genders are welcome, the
current name may reduce the appeal to men and make them feel unwelcome. Having
a wider mix of genders at the meetings could enrich the discussions.
- The current name can perpetuate the idea that there is a significant
difference between the sexes (that goes beyond current inequalities). It can
give the impression that women 'do philosophy' in a different way to men (i.e.
stereotyped different 'cultures' of philosophy), something that may generate
more problems in the long run if we want to make philosophy a non-gender
divided subject.
- The current name can imply that gender issues are - and gender philosophy is
- for women. This risks defining gender issues as women's issues.
- The current name can perpetuate unhelpful assumptions about gender
categories, encouraging a bifurcation of 'man' and 'woman' that ignores
intersexuality, for example.
2. Some Reasons to Keep the Name:
- It is important to promote specifically women in philosophy, given the
significant gender inequalities in philosophy as a profession. We should not
give the impression that we have reached gender equality.
- The current name provides an arena for women who feel 'outsider syndrome' in
lectures and seminars to engage more comfortably in discussion.
- Connected to this, the current name allows and encourages female philosophers
to network with other female philosophers working in diverse areas.
- The current name can provide a context more amenable to practical discussions
of strategies to deal with issues facing women in philosophy.
-----------------
The final thing that we will mention here is that the change of name may well
bring with it a change in the nature of the group. Keeping the name allows us
to bring women in philosophy from various philosophical areas not connected to
gender to speak, whilst changing the name means that the focus of the
discussions will be on the philosophy of gender, though it allows us to invite
male speakers too.
We would be very interested in, and appreciative of, thoughts that any of you
have on this issue.
Thank you in advance,
Ellen Judson, Magali Krasny, Lena Robaszkiewicz, and Ella Whiteley
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