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Unread 03-30-2012, 10:44 AM
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W.F. Lantry W.F. Lantry is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Quincy Lehr View Post
[Some things, even if clearly true, are best stated privately if at all.]
I don't know, Quincy. I don't question the wisdom of your restraint - although moderation is this case strikes me as a fairly masculinist viewpoint. And I'm all for peace and productive harmony, but again, I wonder about it in this case.

I remember asking a question about her aesthetics in the graduate student lounge. I thought the question occupied a kind of middle ground. But the room exploded. Women were (mostly) supportive of her work, but some of the men in the room said things that caused me to immediately distance myself from them. It struck me as odd: why would they be so passionately against her? It would be uncivil of me to speculate about their motivations, especially as they're not here to speak for themselves. And yet we see this kind of thing said about any number of women writers: "Oh, that's not poetry, it's politics." I wonder if it's intended less as an argument and more as a cultural marker, a means of identification, almost a badge of membership in a certain group. Or maybe it's worse than that: an attempt to silence a voice.

I suppose such attempts are often effective. Are they effective enough, in this case, to even silence *your* voice? Surely there's a measured way to speak your thoughts. Isn't that at least part of what her work meant?

Best,

Bill
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