SHENANIGANS
I’ve been having some deep thoughts, and I need to sort them out. They are not related.
There was a time, not too long ago, when Western Psychology drew heavily from Freudian psychoanalysis-in ways that are rejected today.
But in that time period, a woman could go to a therapist and say she was unhappy in her marriage. She could receive a legitimate doctor’s analysis, backed by textbooks and the endorsement of peers, that she was a frigid woman, who would never be fulfilled because she was still lusting after her own father.
Clearly, this diagnosis would be SHENANIGANS. I hope that every woman diagnosed as frigid was skeptical as hell (HELLO, Freud was down on clitoral stimulation/orgasms), though I suspect this was not the case. (PS: I heart Kinsey.)
Here’s the scoop on Freud: Some well-published case studies revolutionized the way a chunk of people saw themselves, each other, and the nature of humanity. Students and practitioners of this way of thought then had power to control and manipulate others. It took generations for some of the more batshit theories to be reevaluated and thrown out.
And if, say, a young, left-leaning lady like myself had tried to call out a shrink who was labeling people based on a flawed, inaccurate school of medicine, she’d be silenced. There’s research to back this up, you know. The scientific community buys it. Who are you to question it? What are your credentials? Oh you’re a woman and that’s not your experience? But I have a PhD!
It makes me ill. But I haven’t come across any good alternatives.
Going with gut reactions and instinct ALONE can be just as dangerous:
I don’t know that Iraq has WMDs, but I feel it. Let’s invade!
I don’t have proof that Japan, or Japanese Americans are planning another attack (after Pearl Harbor) on the U.S. But it could happen, so let’s round up all American citizens of Japanese descent and force them into internment camps.
The medical community has recently rejected all research that suggested vaccines cause autism in children, that but I am sure vaccines do. I will send my children to school without immunizations.
All of these terrify me. But that doesn’t mean that research can’t be manipulated, or common wisdom can’t change.
I don’t have a conclusion.
Cooking locally-grown vegetarian cuisine has been a passion of mine for the last three years, and I’ve been very happy to see a recent thriving in things like farm-to-school programs, CSA shares, and awareness of the dangers of processed foods.
But I can’t STAND that some people on the periphery of this movement take it as a pass to place more shame and derision on “fat” people, or to be far too involved in the food decisions of others.
Case in point: Bill Clinton was hospitalized for heart problems this week. I was in a hotel lobby when the news broke on TV, and heard someone say, “Jesus! What has he been eating?!”
Ugh. So now, because we’ve all read Michael Pollan, every time a person is sick it’s their fault. They should’ve known better! Let’s forget about genetics, and stress, and the very real process of aging!
Bite me. (Hiyo!)
There was a time, not too long ago, when Western Psychology drew heavily from Freudian psychoanalysis-in ways that are rejected today.
But in that time period, a woman could go to a therapist and say she was unhappy in her marriage. She could receive a legitimate doctor’s analysis, backed by textbooks and the endorsement of peers, that she was a frigid woman, who would never be fulfilled because she was still lusting after her own father.
Clearly, this diagnosis would be SHENANIGANS. I hope that every woman diagnosed as frigid was skeptical as hell (HELLO, Freud was down on clitoral stimulation/orgasms), though I suspect this was not the case. (PS: I heart Kinsey.)
Here’s the scoop on Freud: Some well-published case studies revolutionized the way a chunk of people saw themselves, each other, and the nature of humanity. Students and practitioners of this way of thought then had power to control and manipulate others. It took generations for some of the more batshit theories to be reevaluated and thrown out.
And if, say, a young, left-leaning lady like myself had tried to call out a shrink who was labeling people based on a flawed, inaccurate school of medicine, she’d be silenced. There’s research to back this up, you know. The scientific community buys it. Who are you to question it? What are your credentials? Oh you’re a woman and that’s not your experience? But I have a PhD!
It makes me ill. But I haven’t come across any good alternatives.
Going with gut reactions and instinct ALONE can be just as dangerous:
I don’t know that Iraq has WMDs, but I feel it. Let’s invade!
I don’t have proof that Japan, or Japanese Americans are planning another attack (after Pearl Harbor) on the U.S. But it could happen, so let’s round up all American citizens of Japanese descent and force them into internment camps.
The medical community has recently rejected all research that suggested vaccines cause autism in children, that but I am sure vaccines do. I will send my children to school without immunizations.
All of these terrify me. But that doesn’t mean that research can’t be manipulated, or common wisdom can’t change.
I don’t have a conclusion.
Cooking locally-grown vegetarian cuisine has been a passion of mine for the last three years, and I’ve been very happy to see a recent thriving in things like farm-to-school programs, CSA shares, and awareness of the dangers of processed foods.
But I can’t STAND that some people on the periphery of this movement take it as a pass to place more shame and derision on “fat” people, or to be far too involved in the food decisions of others.
Case in point: Bill Clinton was hospitalized for heart problems this week. I was in a hotel lobby when the news broke on TV, and heard someone say, “Jesus! What has he been eating?!”
Ugh. So now, because we’ve all read Michael Pollan, every time a person is sick it’s their fault. They should’ve known better! Let’s forget about genetics, and stress, and the very real process of aging!
Bite me. (Hiyo!)