Almost done the proposal (ie plea to the government for study money). Must. Procrastinate.
I got a mean email from a former internet stalker because I won't add him on facebook.
He said: "the only reason people put up with you is because you're good looking."
Harsh.
I kind of said the same thing to my boyfriend (whatever, I use the term loosely) a few days ago. That is the irony. Although I said it in a half-joking manner and apparently, according to him, its okay to say really mean things as long as you're joking. I just meant he's too good-looking for his own good.
Okay, enough drudgery, time for a survey:
Quote:
"Brothers Karamazov is supposedly about the human condition, but it is actually a study of male relationships written by a man, so, as a woman, you will not 'get' the same 'things' from it as a man would."
Questions:
True/False?
Sexist/Non-Sexist?
Is there a problem with men 'getting' something different from a text than women would and vice versa? Is this inevitable? Or old-fashioned? Can gender really determine the degree to which you "understand" the author's message (authorial intent is usually an illegitimate question but I don't give a fuck) or certain elements about the work?
I'm neutral here. Wondering what you think.
What's the study money proposal about?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's safe to say that men as a whole, or women as a whole, arrive at unified interpretations of texts just in virtue of being men or women. So, as a man I wouldn't feel comfortable saying "I can understand X as as woman would understand X" just because I have no idea what that means; not because I don't know what that would look like, but because I don't think there's any such thing as "the way women understand texts." And I don't think that a woman would necessarily get something from a text by being a woman that a man would not get by being a man, and vice versa.
"Brothers Karamazov is supposedly about the human condition, but it is actually a study of male relationships written by a man, so, as a woman, you will not 'get' the same 'things' from it as a man would."
ReplyDeleteI'm skeptical about that. I think that one's philosophical/theological orientation would influence the "things" that one "gets" a whole lot more than one's gender. For example, I think that Ivan is absolutely brilliant, and that Alyosha is a simplistic dweeb; I think that The Grand Inquisitor sums up the human condition very nicely. I'm sure that there are females who are as cynical as I am and would take a very similar "thing" from the text. On the other hand, a more affirmative/religious person may feel the exact opposite way, and that person may be a male.
Then again, since this comment is written by a male about a book about males written by a male it may not be relevant.
PS - Your former internet stalker sounds like a simplistic dweeb.
...You Cunt
ReplyDeleteTheres your subliminal answer.
"the only reason people put up with you is because you're good looking."
ReplyDeletePut up with WHAT exactly does this asshole mean? Does he know all YOU'VE put up with from people in your life? Such pompous, impertinent presumption!
"I kind of said the same thing to my boyfriend (whatever, I use the term loosely) a few days ago. That is the irony. Although I said it in a half-joking manner and apparently, according to him, its okay to say really mean things as long as you're joking."
Wow, yeah, that's deep...that's intense...that's real...that's...the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life!
"I just meant he's too good-looking for his own good."
Oh, the deep-seated, bottomless pit of sheer rancour that I have for the power that alpha males have over women! The fuckers can get away with infinitely more than the rest of us. Makes me consider doing steroids, honestly. Evolution by natural selection: It's a motherfucker! It's enough to make one want to stand on top of a building and scream, "Ladies, the rise of agriculture was over ten-thousand years ago; there are no more bears to kill, there are NO MORE bears to kill!" But what good would that do? That's idealism, not realism, and a resentment towards nature. And, unfortunately, nature ALWAYS wins.