I have noticed a disturbingly Eurocentric theme to the classes I’m enrolled in this quarter.
I’ve been disappointed by the way they reiterate the idea that ‘normal’ is Western–more specifically, ‘normal’ is white/capitalist/patriarchal.
That’s one of the founding ideas behind these theories, and it’s perpetuated by the fact that we devote zero class time to talking about, y’know, why that might be, or how it should impact our analysis of these theories..or how to begin to deconstruct what is useful from these theoreticians from what is not, in light of the obvious racism on display in the conclusions these individuals came to.
I’m just sayin’–how can I feel comfortable sharing my personal experiences, as one class asks of me, when I’m constantly asked to pretend the experiences/values/cultural norms of the several cultures which comprise my own mixed identity are unimportant/unworthy of analysis, or at least, are not AS worthy as these Western white dudes’ ideas are?
– Catherine Telluride
DVC student