Reading Analyses ( Previously Marked)

Danae Martin

September 7, 2017

Week 1

Readings:

Smith, G. M., “’It’s Just a Movie’: A Teaching Essay for Introductory Media Classes,”   Cinema Journal, 41, 1 (Fall 2001): 127-134

Alcott, L., “The Problem with Speaking for Others,” Cultural Critique, 20 (Winter 1991- 92): 5-32

Your “takeaway” – this is the author’s central argument from the assigned reading, or the prominent theme that linked 2 or more readings

From the assigned readings this week, Alcott’s “The Problem with Speaking for Others” allowed me to acknowledge and understand the complications of speaking for others. In my opinion, the author’s central argument was to develop an argument to construct why speaking for others is a problem, which often results in mass amounts of rejection and criticism[1] (Alcott, 1991). Alcott explains how rejection and criticisms exist because people are speaking for groups that do not posses the same intersectionality, social location, and epistemologies (Alcott, 1991).   From this reading I learned why speaking for others can be a problem because when people of privilege speak for another group they are taking that groups voice and power away resulting in oppression and a less equitable group.

A new theme or concept from the assigned reading, defined in your own words

A new concept I noticed from this assigned reading is social location. In my opinion, the term social location includes many important factors. Social location is defined by many other important terms. Social location is how a person or group can be defined based on their gender, privilege, sexual orientation, and race. How I defined social location has allowed me to connect other important terms we discussed during the first class such as intersectionality. This article has connected how intersectionality and social location are both theoretical concepts that effect how we view privilege and oppression. This connection has created a greater understanding of why speaking for others can become extremely complicated.

How you might use the material in your own research/everyday life

            Completing this reflection I discovered that speaking for others creates a major power imbalance. From connecting other concepts I have come to the conclusion of the danger of speaking for others because this can lead to oppression and inequitable relationships between different groups. In my opinion, I think being aware of how speaking for others is an issue is a good first step in creating equity. I believe educating my friends and family about this will help them be aware of how different their epistemology, social location, and intersectionality are from other people.

To further my learning in my own research I would like to examine how to develop better equitable strategies. An example of this is to speak to the equity committee at TRU and discuss how they work with staff and students to provide a more equitable community on campus.

Question: Sometimes speaking for other groups is necessary to achieve social justice in hopes of a more equitable society. So, is it more beneficial to speak for others or is it more beneficial to not say anything at all?

[1] L. Alcoff, “The Problem of Speaking for Others,” Cultural Critique, 20 (Winter, 1991-92), p. #5-32