January Blog Post

            Through this semester, the most influential quote that I found most important was a quote from our reading Between Speech and Silence: Reflections on accountability that states that “it is not speech or silence that are laboratory on their own, but awareness of how both can undermine and reproduce the unequal divides that we are working to dismantle” (Russo, 47)

            This article was specifically influential for me because it depicts many feminist ideals that I take very seriously and support. Through this article she discusses the importance of speaking out and supporting a cause in which you believe in, but she also explains the practice of listening and embodied silence and how we often just sit back and let the big talkers take the storm of the movement in which is being brought about however being an active listener can be equally or even more effective than speaking out. This can bring a balance between those two types of people, she states that “one of the most profound, and yet consistently difficult practices that disrupts the automatic entitlement to hegemonic speech is active listening.” By doing this it undermines the presumed entitlement to be at the center off conversation, this can bring more attention and critical thinking to the problem at hand.

            As being a white woman who tends to speak out about their opinions often I took the authors view as very interesting and have really taken it to heart because it has helped me see a whole other way to view how to argue and support a cause that means a lot to me. The sentence that states the importance of awareness as to not reproduce the unequal divides I took to heart because I never realized that by speaking out I could possibly be oversimplifying or undermining the important things that people who are not in the same living situation as I have to say. This article made me think more outside of myself and helped me realize it’s important to step back and listen and consider stepping inside of another’s shoes.