Poliblog Perspective

When I read the first three paragraphs of this post by Lonergrrl, highlighted by Natalie in this week’s Britblog Roundup:

Stop telling me the body is nothing more than a ‘text’, merely ‘discursive’, nothing concrete, but fragmented, ‘engaged in performativity’.

What is that all about?
How is that helping?
What revolutionary purpose does it serve?

These insights of yours are purported to be groundbreaking, radical, cutting edge, liberating because they break down

‘binaries’,
‘dichotomies’,
‘totalities’,
all ‘essential’ and ‘universal’ notions.

I decided that it was an ancient manuscript written in some foreign language, that would perhaps be understandable after I purchased a copy of the Gale Sociology Thesaurus.

The Gale Sociology Thesaurus is a subset of the master Gale Social Science Thesaurus in the narrower domain of the practice of sociology and the study of complex human societies, social groups (from families to nations), and the institutions, processes, movements, issues, and behavior related to those groupings. It includes subfields and methods of sociology (e.g., political sociology). Also provides are terms for social arrangements like slavery, intergroup relations, and concubinage.

I hoped that the thesaurus would function as a modern Rosetta Stone, and perhaps contain the same material written in English.

In fact the article turns out to be written in the sub-dialect of “sociologese” known as “radical feminist“, and is a reply to postmodernism from this viewpoint.

After a brief look, one thing that I find interesting is that there is more than a hint of what looks like a secular version of the “material/spirit” duality of the Christian Science sect, i.e., a separation between body and person:

Listen here. Woman exists, woman’s body exists,
- when she is penetrated against her will by ‘man’-
- when her breasts are cut open & inserted with a man made substance -
- when she’s aborted because she is the female sex-
- when she starves herself to conform to the media images you postmodernists love so much-
- when she’s wolf-whistled at by man on the street for possessing a female body.

I find it fascinating that “woman” is split off from her “body”. Perhaps British RadFems also owe some inspiration to The Asphyx, which came out in 1973.

Perhaps Mary Baker Eddy was also RadFem? She was certainly empowered enough.

Have a look. I may post again later in the week when I’ve digested the whole thing. There are some interesting thoughts, as well as a whole regiment of straw men who need to be put on parade.

I will say now, however, that some ordinary-Joe or -Jane blog readers will sink without trace in those first three paragraphs.

An effective way to limit your readership.

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