Having Maria Lugones visit our campus to give a lecture was a really amazing event. Getting to have breakfast with her in an informal setting of a few students and faculty the next morning was even more special. But just when I was feeling lucky in terms of getting to interact with amazing feminist scholars, I got luckier (well, WE did). Last week we were lucky enough to have feminist/sociologist author, professor, and scholar, Kathy Davis visit the HWS campus to give a lecture on her book, The Making of Our Bodies Ourselves. The book (or I should say, meta-book) tells the fascinating and complex story of the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective’s (BWHBC) journey through making, revising, and adapting Our Bodies Ourselves (OBOS). Davis focuses particularly on the challenges the BWHBC faced in translating the book into over 26 different languages, as well as how the members confronted issues of privilege in their own ranks.
But some of us got even luckier than just getting to here Kathy Davis lecture about this book. She was generous enough to agree to meet with two Women’s Studies seminars and discuss her work—and ours! As I am a student in both seminars, I was able to talk with Davis about the challenges she faced in writing about the flaws of a project (OBOS) that she so clearly admired. Having to take this constantly critical stance is something I have long struggled with as a feminist. How can I always look at something with a critical gaze without halting or diminishing progress? Davis shared her thoughts with me on the subject, saying that she believes the answer lies in framing criticism as a positive activity instead of a negative one. Thinking about criticism as a way to build an idea up and make it stronger rather than tear it down is not only a way to ensure that any positive effects it might have won’t be hindered, but also a way to reframe “critical perspective” so that it doesn’t become such a burden, especially when you examine something you admire and/or enjoy.
I also had the opportunity to describe the project I had worked on throughout the semester to Davis. She listened as all of us went around and described the various projects we had been working on and reacted very positively and supportively (Yay!) We especially wanted to share these ideas with her because the prompt from which all of our ideas stemmed necessarily concerned OBOS. All in all, it really was a singular experience. Being able to talk with someone as intelligent, insightful, kind, and witty as Kathy Davis was one of the highlights of my senior year.
But some of us got even luckier than just getting to here Kathy Davis lecture about this book. She was generous enough to agree to meet with two Women’s Studies seminars and discuss her work—and ours! As I am a student in both seminars, I was able to talk with Davis about the challenges she faced in writing about the flaws of a project (OBOS) that she so clearly admired. Having to take this constantly critical stance is something I have long struggled with as a feminist. How can I always look at something with a critical gaze without halting or diminishing progress? Davis shared her thoughts with me on the subject, saying that she believes the answer lies in framing criticism as a positive activity instead of a negative one. Thinking about criticism as a way to build an idea up and make it stronger rather than tear it down is not only a way to ensure that any positive effects it might have won’t be hindered, but also a way to reframe “critical perspective” so that it doesn’t become such a burden, especially when you examine something you admire and/or enjoy.
I also had the opportunity to describe the project I had worked on throughout the semester to Davis. She listened as all of us went around and described the various projects we had been working on and reacted very positively and supportively (Yay!) We especially wanted to share these ideas with her because the prompt from which all of our ideas stemmed necessarily concerned OBOS. All in all, it really was a singular experience. Being able to talk with someone as intelligent, insightful, kind, and witty as Kathy Davis was one of the highlights of my senior year.