How can you "realize womanhood"?
On 13-01-2022 23:59, Rachel Hayden wrote:
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> I couldn’t really get a clear read of that myself, hence my silly quip
> about Mind 2. However, this may be partly due to what I’ve been trying
> to express - the complexity of gender itself. As our Self arises
> partly from social justification on the Person-Culture Plane, as per
> UTOK and The Elusive I (Henriques/Vervaeke/Mastropietro), the
> trappings of gender on a cultural level (language, clothes, etc.)
> symbolically help us reflect on our Self as a gendered entity. Often,
> trans people engage in forms of “serious play” like drag shows in
> order to discover themselves via external objects. Often, like in my
> case, we recognize something profound when looking at ourselves in the
> mirror while wearing makeup for the first time (for example). It’s
> like we finally see ourselves. Over time, as the article also seems to
> me to suggest, such things usually lose some of their importance and
> one’s sense of gender internalizes, reintegrates.
>
> This view is not of a prefabricated Self simply projecting itself into
> the world, but co-creating itself and its world, developing by
> functioning. Neurobiology gets the biggest vote for gender behavior (I
> like that Sapolsky quote from the link), but that doesn’t mean things
> stop there. I think gender is also a developmental, aspirational
> process, going from girl to woman, etc. This is somewhat based on my
> own process of understanding that claiming a female neural gender
> identity wasn’t enough, I had to realize womanhood.
>
> Hopefully that made some sense and spoke to your question better!
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 13, 2022 at 8:09 AM Lene Rachel Andersen
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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>
> Rachel,
>
> It just seems that the person gets her sense of self from her
> clothes, rather than it coming from herself.
>
> / Lene
>
> On 13-01-2022 14:20, Rachel Hayden wrote:
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>> (At the risk of being too long-winded.)
>>
>> Corinne ~
>>
>> Thank you for the Sapolsky link! This is definitely the kind of
>> thing filling in the gap of the ToK's Mental Plane with regard to
>> gender, specifically related to the primate brain. It also points
>> out some complications at the biological level, when looking from
>> a nice neat binary point of view.
>>
>> One of the questions from a viewer indicates how often we fall
>> into a propositional/justificatory framework when trying to
>> understand gender - while Sapolsky uses the word "feel" to talk
>> about transgender people's experience, the questioner uses
>> "believe." Of course people do form beliefs about their gender,
>> on the Culture-Person Plane, but this is also riding on top of
>> the stream of the Experiential Self. There's this whole
>> underlying Participatory Knowing, to use Vervaekian terminology..
>>
>> Handedness might be a good analogy - does a left-handed or
>> ambidextrous person "believe" they're left-handed or
>> ambidextrous? Well, yes, depending on their culture, but this
>> syntactic justification emerges from their experiences at a motor
>> control level. (Interestingly, culture might influence handedness
>> at a functional level through training someone out of their basic
>> tendency, and likewise I have had to unlearn certain gendered
>> behaviors.) Transgender people don't simply believe we are a
>> different sex, which would indeed be delusional at the
>> propositional level; we are finding a mismatch at a deep level of
>> our optimal grip on our social environment. I would describe this
>> as a problem with Relational Recursive Relevance Realization, in
>> Vervaekian/Henriques-ian terms. (How do you spell Henriques-ian?
>> Ha.) This is something with tendrils running all the way from
>> genetics up to culture.
>>
>> Lene ~
>>
>> Not having access to this person's Mind 2, I would like to say a
>> few things. One might ask why this person can't just "be a
>> woman," within a broader framework of womanhood. I think what
>> we're seeing is a "Darwinian cultural engine" that has gotten
>> stuck. For a long time in Modernism, the selective constraint of
>> culture have held sway, and we had a rigid binary. Now we also
>> have a Post-Modern explosion of enabling constraint from various
>> individuals, pushing the engine in the opposite but still stuck
>> direction. My (limited) understanding is that this type of engine
>> requires opponent processing to function dynamically, and this
>> has not been happening, partly because we're locked into a purely
>> propositional understanding of things. A Metamodernist
>> sensibility might allow a bit of ironic detachment, while taking
>> seriously the complexification process of gender in culture. At
>> some point, then, culture would be required to do some data
>> compression and revise our categorical understanding as needed,
>> while still recognizing this as contingent.
>>
>> The ToK also comes in handy regarding this person's situation. We
>> have gender expression at the Culture-Person Plane, and one's
>> felt sense/experience of gender being contributed to strongly by
>> the Mental, but also recursively contributed to by
>> anatomical/physiological and cultural factors. So gender identity
>> cannot just be something one feels and then expresses, although
>> that is a big part of it. It doesn't exist in an individualist
>> Romantic vacuum. If our gender categories were different, like in
>> some societies, then this person's direct experience of gender
>> would be different to an extent, I believe. This is why the
>> simplistic arguments over whether clothing has gender are, well,
>> simplistic.
>>
>> This is why I personally seek a "line of best fit" with regard to
>> gender. I am not really a reductionist, not even at the Mental
>> Plane, and culture still matters. I could have come into this
>> conversation with, "As someone who identifies as a bigender
>> transfemme," and a list of pronouns and maybe a flag decal for
>> spice, which might be more accurate but needlessly
>> complicated, because my Participatory/Perspectival knowing only
>> demands that I find an optimal social grip to afford my agency
>> and aspiration. Socially speaking, womanhood works much much
>> better for my brain and me, and has enormously reduced the pain
>> of gender dysphoria. For some, a different fit may be needed. I
>> do share Corinne's amusement around the heavy moralizing of this
>> identity topic!
>>
>> I believe we are pretty far from truly understanding gender (I
>> certainly don't know what gender is after many years of
>> pondering). I think getting some structural clarity, and respect
>> for what seems like a complex issue, will go a long way toward
>> understanding.
>>
>> Thanks much! I really appreciate the conversation. My current
>> understanding has also been informed by direct conversations with
>> John Vervaeke and Gregg, which I also tremendously appreciate.
>>
>> Best,
>> R
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jan 13, 2022 at 12:26 AM Diop, Corinne - diopcj
>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Hi Lene,
>>
>> My read is that the discomfort is because being called
>> Camille or wearing a dress can be misunderstood as signs of a
>> binary feminine identity that doesn't encompass who she/they
>> really are, and that acknowledgement of her/their nonbinary
>> nature, by themself and by others, is considered as
>> important. (People nearing the end of their 20's think it
>> matters that other people know who they are, like it would be
>> /immoral/ to allow a misread, lol.)
>>
>> I heard about Robert Sapolsky somewhere in one of these
>> threads. I appreciate his no-nonsense approach to this kind
>> of discussion about sex/gender, as in this video:
>>
>>
>> Robert Sapolsky: Brain Gender
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.youtube.com_watch-3Fv-3D-2DnsQDX-5FOHNE&d=DwMFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=clpN0s8_Cj_VV9IiN7O6ZePg0b3eyn3KPNj961ANKWA&s=plZTE2HqAw2vOZxcbzG3tn5ubR_5XrhUUH2E9-eADOk&e=>
>>
>> Warm Regards,
>> Corinne
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *From:* theory of knowledge society discussion
>> <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Lene Rachel
>> Andersen <[log in to unmask]>
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 12, 2022 11:06 PM
>> *To:* [log in to unmask]
>> <[log in to unmask]>
>> *Subject:* Re: TOK Postmodernism Is Not Inherently Anti-science
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Here is a young woman who is struggling with her identity:
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.huffpost.com_entry_nonbinary-2Dgender-2Drepresentation-5Fn-5F61b8d864e4b06621e42b4b15&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=Q6HBJsbxveULlfppBt5tGOBilukFxSp6bnlhwdvtiSQ&s=KocERxW5jvzXu5U0HA7H0dJyLdw39jX4k2D5FZq7t0k&e=
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.huffpost.com_entry_nonbinary-2Dgender-2Drepresentation-5Fn-5F61b8d864e4b06621e42b4b15&d=DwMDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=Bgj_mtbPPMvqes5KOegAPm6mSIwm4GWOvZs8fz9dj78&s=aywA9susu-y8YuvtMrkQrvDEaK6ZhpG9FsmDxZ2ZP94&e=>;
>> can anybody tell what she is actually struggling with? It
>> almost seems like she gets her identity from her clothes
>> rather than her having an identity that she expresses through
>> how she dresses; how do you read it?
>>
>> Warmly,
>>
>> Lene
>>
>>
>> On 13-01-2022 01:23, Rachel Hayden wrote:
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>>> Hello T.R. ~
>>>
>>> Oh, taking estrogen along with testosterone blockers (and
>>> possibly progesterone) for a significant length of time will
>>> absolutely diminish muscle mass, especially upper body
>>> muscle mass, and add fat, along with a host of other changes
>>> no typical man would want, related I believe to what you
>>> refer to as 'sexy.' However, I share your concerns about
>>> unfair advantages from lingering muscle mass, along with
>>> bone mass, height, etc. in trans women, and I don't think
>>> it's okay to just say someone born male is a woman now and
>>> can compete with women, without serious examination of the
>>> issue, which I don't think has rightly been done. I
>>> personally think that raising these concerns is justified,
>>> and I have done so in other forums. I also share your
>>> concerns about a black-and-white mentality with regard to
>>> this issue. Of course, this also relates to issues of
>>> whether natal women or intersex women who have abnormally
>>> high levels of testosterone should compete with men, or
>>> vice-versa.
>>>
>>> I certainly don't have the answers, especially as a
>>> non-scientist. Fortunately, I find serious competition in
>>> sports kind of silly, so I have no skin in that particular
>>> game. My own wrists and arms are tiny compared to what they
>>> used to be, despite increased weight training, but for me
>>> it's all about the enjoyment.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> R
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jan 12, 2022 at 2:56 PM T.R. Pickerill
>>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
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>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.washingtonpost.com_sports_2022_01_10_lia-2Dthomas-2Dpenn-2Dtransgender-2Dswimmer_&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=Q6HBJsbxveULlfppBt5tGOBilukFxSp6bnlhwdvtiSQ&s=nDIF4J1YxtHzrwhRkDfyfW7AjCXnT1BBNiFifnQcFJA&e=
>>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.washingtonpost.com_sports_2022_01_10_lia-2Dthomas-2Dpenn-2Dtransgender-2Dswimmer_&d=DwMFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=svoMr-Eo1wttCRx9AehZmeE6DC4t7okRkuzKZr3Oy1M&s=v63p08n6a4Dhf-XayzWBwzJhyMyV1AasCh43GeZsXNo&e=>
>>>
>>> As a former athlete I would agree that this is very
>>> unfair to the women, changing your ‘sexy’ does not
>>> change your bone or muscle structure. I really don't see
>>> why trans rights, which I support, has to be something
>>> that hurts or infringes on women's rights. No reason why
>>> a man can't transition to a female and still compete in
>>> men's sports. The political and social climate however
>>> seems to insist on all or nothing, nuclear option, you
>>> are either with us or you are against us mentality with
>>> very little room for nuance, gray zones or attention to
>>> fairness and decency.
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jan 12, 2022 at 2:43 PM Nicholas Lattanzio
>>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
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>>> I second all of what Gregg said there. Not everyone
>>> may be ready for metamodernism, but you seem to be
>>> embodying it. Anything that you do in your life from
>>> a metamodern place of wisdom will be a tremendous
>>> accomplishment, and I hope you give yourself credit
>>> for that.
>>>
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> Nicholas G. Lattanzio, Psy.D.
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jan 12, 2022, 1:04 PM Henriques, Gregg -
>>> henriqgx <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>> This is brilliant stuff, Rachel. Really. I mean
>>> I so appreciate your capacity to take these
>>> really complex, arcane academic ideas and
>>> internalize them and apply them to real issues
>>> in the real world with real consequences. Warms
>>> my heart.
>>>
>>> And I love what you say here about your
>>> community and what kind of healthy leadership,
>>> vision and values is necessary to ensure,
>>> justice, dignity, and well-being with integrity.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> G
>>>
>>> *From:* theory of knowledge society discussion
>>> <[log in to unmask]> *On Behalf Of
>>> *Rachel Hayden
>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 12, 2022 1:52 PM
>>> *To:* [log in to unmask]
>>> *Subject:* Re: TOK Postmodernism Is Not
>>> Inherently Anti-science
>>>
>>> *CAUTION: *This email originated from outside of
>>> JMU. Do not click links or open attachments
>>> unless you recognize the sender and know the
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>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Nicholas and Gregg ~
>>>
>>> Thank you very much. I really appreciate that.
>>>
>>> I actually think I'd be terrible at writing a
>>> book about transgender science. This is because
>>> 1) I'm not trained as a scientist or clinician,
>>> and 2) I learned just enough about this issue to
>>> recognize that, while the specifics of the
>>> research may turn out to be wrong, there was
>>> enough convergent evidence to make a
>>> naturalistic case for some kind of
>>> neurobiological factor, and that I should
>>> proceed with transition on that basis. Having
>>> learned that, I also realized that this type of
>>> empirical knowledge couldn't tell me much about
>>> how to transition, a much more of an
>>> aspirational, developmental process which must
>>> include the Culture-Person plane of the ToK -
>>> finding a sort of "line of best fit" between
>>> biology, mind, culture, and the transcendent,
>>> similar I think to Gregg's wisdom stack. So I
>>> turned to John Vervaeke, who also pointed me
>>> toward L.A. Paul and Agnes Callard's work on
>>> transformation, which helped immensely in
>>> actualizing the real potential of becoming
>>> someone with a different set of values and
>>> salience landscape. Finding Gregg's work later
>>> helped to put all of my thoughts around this
>>> complex issue into a more organized format (go
>>> figure), which has become useful in guiding
>>> others toward greater reflectiveness.
>>>
>>> I would like to write some sort of book around
>>> this topic, however, perhaps in conjunction with
>>> someone with a science background. What I would
>>> want to do is create a better model for gender
>>> transition than the "decadent Romantic"
>>> projections of some kind of
>>> hypersubjective self, currently in vogue in the
>>> trans community, and related to general
>>> confusion, anger, and mental distress in the
>>> trans population, not to mention this
>>> "trans-trender" issue. I'm envisioning something
>>> like a Hitchhiker's Guide to Your Gender. I
>>> think that concepts like opponent processing
>>> machinery between the selective constraints of
>>> culture and the enabling constraints of
>>> individual neurobiology/mental idiosyncrasy
>>> could be very useful for some, as they have been
>>> for me, if they were explained in accessible
>>> ways. Hopefully this would help people avoid
>>> simplistic ideological dead-ends, for example,
>>> the tedious binary debate around whether
>>> clothing has gender or not. Of course, UToK has
>>> a lot to offer in terms of structuring one's
>>> understanding (Tree of Knowledge,
>>> Experiential/Private/Public Selves, etc.).
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> R
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jan 11, 2022 at 7:24 PM Nicholas
>>> Lattanzio <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
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>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> I got way more than I thought I would
>>> response-wise here.
>>>
>>> Lee and Gregg,
>>>
>>> Lee, too your point, there are brute facts
>>> that are still not clearly understood and
>>> distinctions unmade with clashing social
>>> constructs (e.g., Columbus statues being
>>> taken down being fought over because two
>>> sides are asserting competing narratives as
>>> if they are brute facts). So for me
>>> personally Gregg, I agree with JUST and the
>>> ToK metamodernism but I can only accept it
>>> as a theory of ontology until it actually
>>> happens, and to me it's pretty clear we
>>> aren't there yet culturally if we have this
>>> much apperceive baggage attached to all our
>>> narratives. To me its literally that we
>>> have not yet lost our ego on the culture
>>> plane, and non have truly transcended it
>>> until we all do.
>>>
>>> How we actually get there is a different
>>> discussion, and I like what Lee's doing and
>>> what Brandon N is doing. We are seeing the
>>> relative value of various theoretical
>>> systems with values and competing forces
>>> through that work (and I didn't mean to call
>>> you out in my OP Lee! I was moreso
>>> referencing undertones I've seen).
>>>
>>> Rachel,
>>>
>>> I hope you're doing some writing cuz you got
>>> some serious knowledge and being fortunate
>>> enough to possess information literacy, I
>>> appreciate the degree of brute facts you
>>> just dropped on us. That's the kind of stuff
>>> I want to know that helps me clinically work
>>> with my transgender clients. I need to know
>>> what's biological and what isn't because if
>>> anything is going to define any of my
>>> beliefs it's that, I can't hold someone
>>> responsible for their genes, after all. So
>>> please publish a book or something the
>>> market is raw and ready for a book like
>>> that! Or just write and send me info I can
>>> use, either is fine.😅
>>>
>>> TR,
>>>
>>> I'll have to read your response through a
>>> couple of times to better respond because
>>> you also pack a ton of knowledge into what
>>> you say. I'm just too disorganized of a
>>> thinker to really understand your writing
>>> style after just one pass.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> Nicholas G. Lattanzio, Psy.D.
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jan 11, 2022, 6:07 PM Henriques,
>>> Gregg - henriqgx <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Thanks so much for this, Rachel.
>>>
>>> Brilliantly stated.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> Gregg
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Jan 11, 2022, at 6:31 PM, Rachel
>>> Hayden <[log in to unmask]>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> *CAUTION: *This email originated
>>> from outside of JMU. Do not click
>>> links or open attachments unless you
>>> recognize the sender and know the
>>> content is safe.
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> I agree with Lee that the
>>> transgender issue often takes one
>>> side of the "brute facts" biology
>>> vs. social constructivist argument.
>>> This corresponds to the ToK's
>>> biological and culture/person planes
>>> of existence, and sort of a
>>> modernist vs. postmodernist cultural
>>> war. So you have binary biology
>>> (albeit with quirks), pitted against
>>> an understanding that various
>>> cultures across the world have
>>> exhibited what would be described as
>>> "transgender" by our culture,
>>> combined with a sort of critique of
>>> patriarchy, etc.
>>>
>>> What often gets left out in this is
>>> the animal/mental. I'm not a
>>> scientist, but in the interest of
>>> trying to understand how my own
>>> transgender nature came to be, I
>>> followed scientists like
>>> biopsychologist Dana Bevins,
>>> Alexandra Hall, Robert Sapolsky, and
>>> others. What I learned is that for
>>> transgender people, there are
>>> factors like genetic gender
>>> behavioral predispositions and
>>> non-interference of epigenetics
>>> which translate to changes in the
>>> brains of transgender people.
>>> Evidence for this includes genetic
>>> analyses, identical vs. fraternal
>>> twin studies, links between
>>> handedness and trans people, 2nd to
>>> 4th digit ratios, differences in
>>> sense of smell (prior to hormone
>>> treatment), and MRI studies. While
>>> there has been debate about MRI
>>> studies on the hypothalamic basal
>>> nucleus of the stria terminalis
>>> (BNST), due to possible interference
>>> from hormone therapy (not sure where
>>> this debate ended up), differences
>>> in transgender brains have been
>>> noted in other areas, such as the
>>> putamen, corpus callosum, the
>>> insula, and the corticospinal tract.
>>>
>>> I would hope that the inclusion of
>>> the mental plane would correspond to
>>> revised, somewhat
>>> metamodernist-linked understanding
>>> which could create some space around
>>> this and many issues.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> R
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jan 11, 2022 at 2:15 PM
>>> Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx
>>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Love this conversation and I
>>> will not add much, but let me
>>> just make a note that is very
>>> relevant to UTOK:
>>>
>>> JUST and the ToK System complete
>>> change this debate. That is,
>>> from a UTOK perspective, the
>>> modern versus postmodern debate
>>> about knowledge is woefully
>>> inadequate and poorly framed and
>>> unresolvable precisely because
>>> we were missing the necessary
>>> pieces.
>>>
>>> JUST gives an ontology, a
>>> metatheory of how knowledge is
>>> socially constructed. That is
>>> completely novel, and if you do
>>> not have that, everything is
>>> confused. So JUST is a game
>>> changer when it comes to the
>>> social construction of
>>> knowledge, because it is an
>>> ontological theory of that
>>> knowledge construction.
>>>
>>> Then, you get the ToK System
>>> advance, and that is a game
>>> changer also.
>>>
>>> So, UTOK clearly gives a
>>> metamodern sensibility that
>>> includes and transcends via
>>> fundamentally new theoretical
>>> advances that allow us to clean
>>> up, clear up and grow up from
>>> the modern versus postmodern
>>> confusions regarding the nature
>>> of human knowledge. That is, if
>>> you aren’t looking at the modern
>>> versus postmodern issues via
>>> JUST and the ToK, you are not
>>> looking at them clearly.
>>>
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Gregg
>>>
>>> *From:* theory of knowledge
>>> society discussion
>>> <[log in to unmask]>
>>> *On Behalf Of *lee
>>> simplyquality.org
>>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__simplyquality.org&d=DwMFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=LFM0nLSfbC-jXV8CctKjRFes9TMn1PHGgRkPUR0f2oE&s=fOU14EQBXub0HGDxbR0jYzZqWspViy1h5C81FEUcCew&e=>
>>> *Sent:* Tuesday, January 11,
>>> 2022 2:10 PM
>>> *To:* [log in to unmask]
>>> *Subject:* Re: TOK Postmodernism
>>> Is Not Inherently Anti-science
>>>
>>> *CAUTION: *This email originated
>>> from outside of JMU. Do not
>>> click links or open attachments
>>> unless you recognize the sender
>>> and know the content is safe.
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Nik,
>>>
>>> Thanks for this.
>>>
>>> Here is my simplistic
>>> explanation of how I see
>>> postmodernism. (And yes, I am
>>> aware I included column “A” in
>>> the spreadsheet, and shared my
>>> ontology on this list).
>>>
>>> When I was in grade school we
>>> learned that: 1) Christopher
>>> Columbus discovered America, 2)
>>> He was a hero for doing so, and
>>> 3) The world is a much better
>>> place as a result of his
>>> discovery. This is a (coherent)
>>> narrative that is comfortable
>>> for European Americans to hear.
>>> A valuable postmodern
>>> contribution is to recognize
>>> that this is only one of many
>>> possible narratives emerging
>>> from the interpretation of
>>> events, and this particular
>>> narrative is advanced by those
>>> in power as a way of maintaining
>>> power. All of this is true. I am
>>> critical of postmodernism
>>> whenever it suggests that “all
>>> we have is stories, these are
>>> all made up, go make up your own
>>> story, they all have equal
>>> veracity and value.” This is not
>>> true.
>>>
>>> A key skill in navigating this
>>> territory is to keep in mind the
>>> distinction between “brut facts”
>>> and “Social Constructs”.
>>>
>>> See: Exploring Social Constructs
>>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__en.wikiversity.org_wiki_Exploring-5FSocial-5FConstructs&d=DwMGaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=IdYu726FU31tcbpPR-eYYDI1T0vDDXcZZFFi9fPRw-g&s=uvx2rmxjXluyPk37bfZmFxTWeVovqwVRe7xfPLdShw0&e=>
>>>
>>> With respect to Columbus, the
>>> brute facts are: 1) A person
>>> know as Christopher Columbus
>>> existed at the time. 2) He was
>>> on one of three ships that
>>> travelled from Europe to
>>> Hispaniola in the year 1492. 3)
>>> This was a big deal to his
>>> European sponsors. 4)
>>> Colonization began soon after,
>>> 5) Perhaps millions of
>>> indigenous people died, 6) Many
>>> people in North America claim to
>>> own land, 7) Various history
>>> books tell selected portions of
>>> this story using various
>>> narrative themes.
>>>
>>> Both brute facts (as described
>>> above) and a variety of social
>>> constructs (celebrating Columbus
>>> Day, various celebrations (and
>>> protests), many stories, books,
>>> and text books, …) exist.
>>>
>>> This distinction between brute
>>> fact and social construct is in
>>> play now in transgender discussions.
>>>
>>> Gregg was very helpful in
>>> reminding us that (the brute
>>> facts of sex) sex (at birth) is
>>> bi-modal, not binary.
>>>
>>> Transgender advocates are
>>> correct in observing that many
>>> customs and traditions we
>>> associate with gender (e.g. pink
>>> is for girls, …) are social
>>> constructs, likely advanced by
>>> those in power to stay in power.
>>> The discussion gets heated when
>>> either the brute facts or the
>>> social constructs are denied or
>>> distorted.
>>>
>>> Thebirther theories
>>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__en.wikipedia.org_wiki_Barack-5FObama-5Fcitizenship-5Fconspiracy-5Ftheories&d=DwMGaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=IdYu726FU31tcbpPR-eYYDI1T0vDDXcZZFFi9fPRw-g&s=ggAEXDUHHyRoVzQMvM_szoumfkaKMQ5FfDruqSA_2bY&e=> (and
>>> now the “big lie”) are other
>>> examples of how narratives can
>>> be advanced by powerful people
>>> to gain power, test loyalty, or
>>> for some other personal gain.
>>> (And I hope it goes without
>>> saying that I don’t consider
>>> Trump to be a postmodern theorist.)
>>>
>>> I hope this is clear, accurate,
>>> useful, and respectful.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Lee Beaumont
>>>
>>> On Jan 11, 2022, at 12:01
>>> PM, Nicholas Lattanzio
>>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>> hat mode
>>>
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>>>
>> --
>> *Lene Rachel Andersen*
>> Futurist, economist, author & keynote speaker
>> President of Nordic Bildung and co-founder of the European
>> Bildung Network
>> Full member of the Club of Rome
>> *Nordic Bildung*
>> Vermlandsgade 51
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.google.com_maps_search_Vermlandsgade-2B51-3Fentry-3Dgmail-26source-3Dg&d=DwMFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=fMskJaaoS5kY_6GOs26hgT119FV_8ESf9vSNqTMHFIQ&s=B9KdAbTRmMaPezYPi1cRZtFyYGyA1mDjrwtbmlbF--s&e=>,
>> 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark
>> www.nordicbildung.org
>> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nordicbildung.org&d=DwMDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=Bgj_mtbPPMvqes5KOegAPm6mSIwm4GWOvZs8fz9dj78&s=7Y2wC9B0HZny66oih6LjohohEVqcMchSa4fD0NgGkY4&e=>
>> +45 28 96 42 40
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>> <http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1>
>>
> --
> *Lene Rachel Andersen*
> Futurist, economist, author & keynote speaker
> President of Nordic Bildung and co-founder of the European Bildung
> Network
> Full member of the Club of Rome
> *Nordic Bildung*
> Vermlandsgade 51
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.google.com_maps_search_Vermlandsgade-2B51-3Fentry-3Dgmail-26source-3Dg&d=DwMFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=fMskJaaoS5kY_6GOs26hgT119FV_8ESf9vSNqTMHFIQ&s=B9KdAbTRmMaPezYPi1cRZtFyYGyA1mDjrwtbmlbF--s&e=>,
> 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark
> www.nordicbildung.org
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nordicbildung.org&d=DwMDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=P268DJn4g6ezLcqpFbrIaPDXjKjRwGFtJ4_CqUkqLUI&s=naAw0OPOdgUNz5txYEARzPK0ueWyd89GqVonQCZrtMw&e=>
> +45 28 96 42 40
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>
--
*Lene Rachel Andersen*
Futurist, economist, author & keynote speaker
President of Nordic Bildung and co-founder of the European Bildung Network
Full member of the Club of Rome
*Nordic Bildung*
Vermlandsgade 51, 2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark
www.nordicbildung.org
+45 28 96 42 40
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