Yay, mid-terms!
When we think of knowledge, we think some profound truth that, once taught, is seen as fact. Fact carries the connotation of infallibility: a true fact has been proven, it happened, there is no denial of its existence. Sometimes history is our most valuable teacher and in this instance it could hardly be more true. It is common knowledge that the earth was once seen as both flat and the center of the universe. It may seem like a laughable notion in today’s society, but one could see the reasoning behind this logic. We smirk and assume an air of superiority over the ignorant people who believed such an outrageous claim, but the fact (and I use that term loosely) remains that our knowledge is based in perception. That the earth is flat was fact. With the advent of physics, space-travel, and the lack of falling off the flat edge of the earth during global travel, we have shifted our perceptions: we have also shifted our knowledge. The negative connotations associated with the term “know-it-all” seem to linger in my mind when discussing knowledge: what was seen as a profound truth has been proven to be a malleable subject before. Who is to say that we are not over-looking some integral part that makes up the truth, today? Without the understanding that knowledge is socially constructed, we become society’s know-it-alls. As history has a tendency to repeat, perhaps in the future a school-aged child will laugh at what we consider to be fact or knowledge today. Perception is key to understanding knowledge, but perceptions change. It is safe to assume that knowledge changes with it.
Feminists and other Women and gender studies scholars tend to approach knowledge with an open mind and the concept of critical consciousness. Being critically conscious simply means approaching information knowing that knowledge is dynamic and often subjective. It also means questioning assumptions, their origins, and how they affect information that is taken in by an individual. Scholars such as bell hooks use critical consciousness to analyze gender, race, and class roles in society. For example, she makes a point about how domination experienced in a family setting has a tendency to alter one’s perception about the acceptability of domination in other settings. We believe that good children are raised with a strict and loving hand, but is this the absolute truth or an assumption that the majority of society makes? Once this ideal child-rearing standard has been questioned, it clears the way for questioning other things: does domination in the home ease the acceptance of domination in “other institutionalized relations of power”? Analysis of truths that seem small allows for exploration into other potentially problematic areas of society that are inextricably linked to our assumptions.
Feminists and other Women and gender studies scholars tend to approach knowledge with an open mind and the concept of critical consciousness. Being critically conscious simply means approaching information knowing that knowledge is dynamic and often subjective. It also means questioning assumptions, their origins, and how they affect information that is taken in by an individual. Scholars such as bell hooks use critical consciousness to analyze gender, race, and class roles in society. For example, she makes a point about how domination experienced in a family setting has a tendency to alter one’s perception about the acceptability of domination in other settings. We believe that good children are raised with a strict and loving hand, but is this the absolute truth or an assumption that the majority of society makes? Once this ideal child-rearing standard has been questioned, it clears the way for questioning other things: does domination in the home ease the acceptance of domination in “other institutionalized relations of power”? Analysis of truths that seem small allows for exploration into other potentially problematic areas of society that are inextricably linked to our assumptions.