総合英語レベル８

第 11 回 フェミニズムについて

予習課題：次の英文を読んで、内容を理解しなさい。
Feminists are made, not born. One does not become an advocate of feminist politics simply by having theprivilege of having been born female. Like all political positions one becomes a believer in feminist politics
through choice and action. When women first organized in groups to talk together about the issue of sexism andmale domination, they were clear that females were socialized to believe sexist thinking and values as males,
the difference being simply that males benefited from sexism more than females and were as a consequence
less likely to want to surrender patriarchal privilege. Before women could change patriarchy, we had to change
ourselves; we had to raise our consciousness.
Revolutionary feminist consciousness-raising emphasized the importance of learning about patriarchy as asystem of domination, how it became institutionalized and how it is perpetuated and maintained. Understanding
the way male domination and sexism was expressed in everyday life created awareness in women of the ways
we were victimized, exploited, and, in worse case scenarios, oppressed. Early on in contemporary feminist
movement, consciousness-raising groups often became settings where women simply unleashed pent-up
hostility and rage about being victimized, with little or no focus on strategies of intervention and transformation.
On a basic level, many hurt and exploited women used the consciousness-raising group therapeutically. It was
the site where they uncovered and openly revealed the depths of their intimate wounds. This confessional
aspect served as a healing ritual. Through consciousness-raising, women gained the strength to challenge
patriarchal forces at work and at home.
Importantly though, the foundation of this work began with women examining sexist thinking andcreating strategies where we would change our attitudes and belief via a conversion to feminist thinking and acommitment to feminist politics. Fundamentally, the consciousness-raising (CR) group was a site forconversion. To build a mass-based feminist movement, women needed to organize. The consciousness-raisingsession, which usually took place in someone’s home (rather than public space that had to be rented or donated),
was the meeting place. It was the place where seasoned feminist thinkers and activists could recruit newconverts.
Importantly, communication and dialogue was a central agenda at the consciousness-raising sessions. In
many groups, a policy was in place which honored everyone’s voice. Women took turns speaking to make sureeveryone would be heard. This attempt to create a non-hierarchal model for discussion positively gave every
woman a chance to speak out but often did not create a context for engaged dialogue. However, in mostinstances, discussion and debate occurred, usually after everyone had spoken at least once. Argumentative
discussion was common in CR groups as it was the way we sought to clarify our collective understanding of thenature of male domination. Only through discussion and disagreement, could we begin to find a realistic
standpoint on gender exploitation and oppression.
(注) sexism：性差別、patriarchal privilege：父権制的特権、consciousness-raising：意識向上（特に差別問題に対して意識を高めること）、victimized：犠牲になる、exploited：利用される、oppressed：抑圧される、unleash：解放する、pent-up：鬱積した、therapeutically：治療的に、via：～を経て、conversion：
回心、commitment：参加、seasoned：訓練の積んだ、agenda：行動指針、take turns：交替で～をする、
non-hierarchal：非階層的な、