Why Do We Care?

This reading really brought the class full-circle to the questions of why we are here in a women’s studies class thinking about women’s experience in the world. We were all a bit curious (or at least I was) about why gender-based oppression exists and what we can do about it, and the lack of an answer even at the end of this course should generate more curiosity (or cynicism in some). Curiosity usually results from intrigue and unrest (may include frustration with the status quo). So we become more curious, learning about how systems operate, how we can make an impact or change, being aware all the time, ready to consider, analyze, and question different ideas and practices. Curiosity battles complacency.

Enloe writes that we should be open to surprise and acknowledge what is complex and problematic and embrace indeterminacy, messiness, and slippages. Instead of engaging in belief perseverance and holding onto our views until the bitter end, we should be flexible (but not naive), modifying our beliefs with new developments that we discover through our curiosity, and admitting when we are wrong (because we are often wrong, and never seem to acknowledge it enough). This curiosity transcends feminism and includes caring about animal rights, educational rights, health care rights, and any other issue you might be passionate about.

I have fallen into cynicism more than a few times this semester, in this class (you may, or may not, remember a post from early February titled “Social Constructs and Symbol Systems: Why are they valued?,” in which I basically said that systems should not exist), regarding educational issues (what kind of measurable impact are nonprofits having in education, dismay at funding cuts and budget deficits across the nation for public schools), and regarding religion (that’s a can of worms for another day). Though I am nowhere near having things figured out, talking to other people and continuing to ask questions about important issues, like Enloe suggests, keeps me occupied, informed, and socially conscious.