NYMA:
Mother Always Said
Those that know me know that I am often silent; it takes me a great deal of time to navigate the conversation with enough ____ to speak, and even then I often speak with trepidation. For me, as a college student (and later, as a graduate student), the opportunities afforded me by writing networks in which I did not have to speak immediately were _____. In truth, without the advent of such writing technologies I probably would not have completed graduate school; I was too hesitant to “take the floor,” was often left aside in the in-class discussions. Perhaps that’s why I am a feminist, or why I run a feminist classroom, or why I choose student-centered learning. Language takes time; it cannot be easily unsaid; it carries weight. And we are remiss not to consider those gaps and silences.
“Bringing a feminist perspective to the technologies of the writing classroom prepares us to discover other discontinuities, gaps, and silences. It reminds us that there are no simple answers here.” (Billie J. Wahlstrom, 1994, p. 175)
Monday, February 22, 2010
Silences
