| Author | Subject: Weak argument necessitates discrimination |
| Rebecca | Posted At 09:35:39 01/16/2003
I am in the midst of reading through the first chapter (available online) and have found the following paragraph completely inappropriate: "Although some lesbians and radical feminists embrace Amazon myths, the various representations of Amazons through history have carried a mixed message because men use those myths to reinforce their own masculinity." Why does this argument necessitate a reference to scholars of a specific sexual orientation? What do heterosexual scholars have to say about Amazonian history? Completely unjustified in a 'scholarly' endeavour and misplaced and misleading. Are you referring to a specific lesbian or feminist? Who is it? What does this achieve? I sense that the terms ‘lesbian’ and ‘radical feminist’ were employed to dismiss the idea as something belonging to another, “topsy-turvey” (as you say) way of thinking; one that you obviously don’t agree with. Not only is your argument so poorly supported here that you had to resort to name-calling but it is very dangerous activity to dismiss people and their ideas on the basis of their sexuality, race, gender or religion. |
| Joshua Goldstein |
Re: Weak argument necessitates discrimination (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 20:22:43 01/22/2003 You know what, Rebecca, you are right. This is a sloppy piece of writing, not consistent with my argument in the book. It should have been edited out long ago, but in a big book mistakes do happen. Thanks for catching it. I have taken out the words "lesbian and radical" from the chapter online, and will ask that they also be removed if there is a future paperback reprint. |
| Rebecca |
Re: Weak argument necessitates discrimination (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 13:20:31 01/23/2003 Thanks for your response and I appreciate the action you have taken. |
| Stacyan |
Re: Weak argument necessitates discrimination (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 21:44:10 05/25/2003 Well done Rebecca!! Glad to see a fellow critical reader, keep on pressing. Hi Joshua, I am really impressed with the fact that you actually respond to critiques of your book. If in fact it is really you I commend your efforts. I am currently reading International Relations and I am finding the first chapter a little overwhelming with the many different arguments posed but also quite interesting as a learning tool towards really understanding some of the basic terminology and language necessary to understand IR. It does however get more interesting as you get more into the specifics. |
| Joshua Goldstein |
Re: Weak argument necessitates discrimination (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 14:03:41 05/26/2003 Yes, it is really me. [My textbook "International Relations" lives on the web at: www.internationalrelations.net ] |