lunde@casbah.acns.nwu.EDU (Albert Lunde) (04/26/91)
I want say more in defense of Susan Griffin. I also want to talk about
essentialism vs. constructionism which I see as a key question in the
prospects for men in feminism.
If men are by nature corrupt and women are by nature virtuous, then
egalitarianism is doomed. If the differences between men and women
are socially constructed, then a deconstructed future is possible.
Susan Griffin is a constructionist - her writing examines in detail
the social processes by which objectification and oppression develop.
She treats the problems caused by male socialization in our culture as
deeply rooted, but she does not say they are absolute or unchangeable.
(This would contrast with, for example, Sally Miller Gearheart, who in
"The Wanderground" suggests that men are doomed to be spiritual
cripples whose linear "energy" is by nature foreign to women's
spiritual strength.)
I am including some quotes from Susan Griffin - I think people are
reacting to some notion of what she represents without being familiar
with her work:
(On the relation of men and feminism:)
"Even though it has been necessary for women to meet separately from
men to forge our own ideas, I am not a partisan of separatism, in the
strict political sense which that word means to cut off all relations
with men. I have come to feel that forging coalitions and
understandings with groups that include men is an essential need, not
only for our survival, but to the quality of feminist thought...."
- Susan Griffin (writing in 1982)
in a footnote to the Introduction to "Made From this Earth: an
anthology of the writings of Susan Griffin"
"Is the air political today?
The air, my thoughts,
is this a political hour? did you
choose a political chair
to sit in;"...
- Susan Griffin
opening of a satiric poem:
"Is the air political today" written 67-73
Jym Dyer responded to my earlier posting:
>d> Think about the implications of [a Susan Griffin quote] for a
>d> minute. That the difference between a heterosexual man and a
>d> rapist is only one of degree.
>l> This statement is shocking; it may also be true. I believe the
>> line of argument supporting this is based on studies of men's
>l> attitudes.
>___
>__ No, the line of argument is based on the insular hypotheses of
>_ cultural feminists who avoid contact with men yet feel quali-
> fied to make generalizations about about us (and to declare
> that those generalizations are biologically inherent).
From the essay that started this thread - here is a a citation of one
of the sources, and evidence that Susan Griffin did not consider this
"biologically inherent":
"Yet, though the theory that rapists are insane is a popular one, this
belief has no basis in fact. According to Professor Menachem Amir's
study of 646 rape cases in Philadelphia, Patterns in Forcible Rape,
men who rape are not abnormal. Amir writes, 'Studies indicate that sex
offenders do not constitute a unique or psycopathological type; nor
are they as a group invariably more disturbed that the control groups
to which they are compared.'"
(In the next paragraph)
"Another canon in the apologetics of rape is that, if it were not for
learned social controls, all men would rape."..."But in truth rape is
not universal to the human species."
- Susan Griffin (writing in 1970)
"The Politics of Rape".
---------------------------------------------------------
Jym Dyer responded to my earlier posting:
>l> I would defend the body of either Robin Morgan's or Susan
>l> Griffin's work by humanistic as well as feminist criteria.
>___
>__ Both have mellowed in recent years, but I would be hard-
>_ pressed to call either of them humanistic. Griffin has
> embraced environmental concerns (in a "earth is a woman and
> men rape her" vein, of course) and waxes spiritual, but
> she has in fact drawn on Hitler as an inspiration for
> organizing cultural feminism!
Susan Griffin does not say that women are naturally connected to the
earth and that men are by nature rapists. Rather she says that there
are similarities between the ways men in patriarchal cultures treat
"women" & "nature" and alienate themselves from both.
Her two books "Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Here" and
"Pornography and Silence: Culture's Revenge Against Nature" explore
these themes at length, with many specific illustrations drawn from
other sources to support her ideas. (The second book is suggested for
the poetically impaired, as less metaphor and stream of consciousness
writing is used.)
I am annoyed by the reference to "Hitler" by Jym Dyer. I don't see how
this is anything other than name-calling. Nowhere does Griffin express
an inspiration for Hitler, and in fact the bulk of one chapter in
"Pornography and Silence" is a dissection and denunciation of Nazi
ideology and practice.
On another level, I would note that the term "cultural feminist",
while not without merit, seems to be used chiefly as a put-down by
those who do not consider themselves "cultural feminists". Susan
Griffin is an influential author - I would say she has inspired
people, not organized them.
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I would recommend "Made From This Earth" as a source for people
wanting to see the range of Susan Griffin's work, and to read her
later self-reflections.
I recommend her to men and women because I think she has something to
say to both. She writes poetry, prose and innovative mixtures of the
two. I think her work is Good Art and even when I am not sure I agree
with what she says, there is depth in her psychological insights.
Albert Lunde
--
Albert Lunde Albert_Lunde@nwu.edu
alunde@nuacvm.bitnet