We talk about cultural and national exceptionalism (I do, a lot) but other forms of thought are also exceptionalist. Any form of feminism that think women are "different" is exceptionalist.
Now what I mean here by different is: different in some mystical, mysterious way. A difference susceptible to romanticization.
Now for me, this is not really feminism at all. It is the exact same mechanism that gives a positive, magical value to a region of the world that is underdeveloped. They are closer to nature, more intuitive, and more mystical, etc... I just don't want to go there. It is just as imperialist to have a condescending (but naively admiring) attitude than a dismissive one.
I was surprised when my graduate students talked about an "incorrect" interpretation of an indigenous culture. as if it were so easy to be "correct"!
1 comment:
That "positive magical value" often gets given to regions that are not just "underdeveloped" but were actually totally exploited by European colonizers. So the condescension is even worse: a "naive admiration" that obscures the historical violence done by the admirer's culture to the admired culture.
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