Re: Jumping into the Middle of a Conversation

Alessandra Iantaffi (A.Iantaffi@reading.ac.uk)
Wed, 1 May 1996 10:21:05 +0100 (BST)

William,
I was not too sure about answering your remarks, as I find them
patronising, however I decided to send a quick note(maybe childishly, but I
can forgive myself as I am only young!)

On Mon, 29 Apr 1996 BillJanie@aol.com wrote:

> Alessandra,
>
> Thank you for your chastisement and clarion call to poltical correctness.

It was not a chastisement at all (or I did not intend it to be), but a
genuine remark, coming from a genuine feeling of rage at seeing someone
who keeps addressing the 'old boys network' for his conversation, and nut
us humble mortal women.

You
> being a PhD student, I am sure you have heard of the word "dialectic". It
> concerns the development of events, including meanings, through processes
> like conversations.

I have heard the word and know the meaning, but I
see that in your 'I know it all' behaviour you have given me a sketchy
definition. Oh, I am sooooooo grateful :-)

When I said "Boys" I was not referring to Gary. I assume
> that he is a man.
I never thought you referred to Gary, he assumed so, I knew exactly (my
turn to be smug ;-) ) what and who you whre reffering to, and still did
not like it!

I was refering to the Old Boy System that has choked the
> advance of construct theory and enriched itself with tenure and trips around
> the world to vacation conferences.

This has not only happened in construct theory, but in academia in general
where this kind of system still belongs to the selected few.

I suggest that if you care to understand
> this ongoing conversation that you look back at the PCP Net archives for the
> last three months.

Pat, pat, pat... now since am a newcomer, I can't understand the
conversation of the grown-ups, can I? I though this network was for open
and ongoing discussion, and not just another bastion of power and authority

If your PhD program is more concerned with the pursuit of
> truth than with the flattery of PhDs, then you may be amused by what you read
> in the archives.

I could say ' what is truth?' but this one is already 2,000 yrs. old :-)

Mean time, there are plenty of old boys on this net who will
> be glad to cradle your oh so avante garde tenderness in their big masculine
> arms, and tell you how to be come as one of the bandwagon.

Excuse me, but no offense taken, I don't want to be cradled in nobody's
masculine arms, on any side! And reffering to my remarks as ' avnte garde
tenderness' is just a nice way of putting me, and any other women out
there who might feel similarly, down... This game has been going on for
centuries, aren't people like you tired yet?

I personally do
> not care if you are a man or woman.

Well, you should, since it is a fundamental division in our world (I
thought you were not a relativist, so, for you, this biological
difference should be objective truth, isn't it?). I am a woman, and I
think that sets me and another 50% (more or less) of the population in a
completely different setting from yours.

Are you interested in truth and in
> helping students and patients, or in just being treated like a politically
> correct princess?

See above re: truth... I help students as I can, but I have no patients
as I am not a psychologist, or counsellor, or anything of the sort... Do
I have to be one to be on this group? About the sentence "pc princess'
I think by now you know what I think of remarks like those... just
another convenient put down to shut me up right?

>
> Have you got any thoughts on construct theory?

Many, but I needed to clear the air first, and see if it is a good idea
to share my views on this group, what I have seen so far has put me off I:-I

Have you collected any data?

Not yet, as I said, I have started recently... Anyway is that another way
of saying: 'have you got anything serious rather than those bollocks
about pc?'

> Are you above the world of pain and truth?
>

It seems like you are... ;-)

> William Chambers, PhD and Noble Pig Farmer
>

No offence taken.... take care

Alessandra

P.s. I would prefer to talk about PCT, but I really could not resist the
temptation to answer this!

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