March 8, 2003 Special Episode: Of the Female Persuasion
In her now classic book, The Everyday World as Problematic: A Feminist Sociology, Dorothy E. Smith calls for a sociology from the standpoint of women. Her argument, though much more elaborate and theoretically developed, boils down to an understanding about the nature of power. Those who rule control discourse, including sociological study, and to assert that research is objective often hides the fact that it is privileging the dominant class, in this case the patriarchal perspective. By asking questions about everyday life from the point-of-view of the people being studied, Smith asserts that a better understanding of social relations can be achieved. Sociologists who happen to be of the female persuasion have an important contribution to make because they have experienced life in patriarchy from this standpoint. Thus, Smith calls for a study of everyday life for and by women. During the 10 months that First Person, Plural has been on the air here at CFUV, we have interviewed many women, among them three sociologists. As part of the celebration of International Women’s Day and the Women’s Radiothon, we have pulled out three excerpts from these interviews to demonstrate how sociology can be done by and for women.
Connie Shehan, is Professor of Sociology at the University of Florida, author of Marriages and Families: Reflections of a Gendered Society, and editor of The Journal of Family Issues. Christine Bobel is Assistant Professor of Women's Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and author of the book, The Paradox of Natural Mothering. Diane Vaughan is Professor of Sociology at Boston College and author of two books, Uncoupling: Turning Points in Intimate Relationships and The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture and Deviance at NASA.
Connie Shehan joined us on October 10th to help us celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary on the air. Giving us an overview of how sociology contributes to the understanding of families she describes how such a study is more meaningful than simply in the contribution it makes in determining policy or in how it adds to academic understanding of family life. Family sociology draws from and contributes to the everyday life of ordinary people working through family issues.
Chris Bobel joined us on January 30th in a discussion about how a group of mothers are choosing to devote their time and effort to their children by choosing natural methods of birthing, feeding and care, homeschooling them and providing a space for them to learn a different way of approaching the world than is provided in the larger culture. As part of our discussion, Chris points out the greater context to these women’s experiences, especially considering the points of privilege upon which many of them stand. This is especially evident when looking at the everyday concerns of some of the women in her sample who did not have the privilege of a working spouse who could provide for the family. What Chris describes is a perfect example of how taking a different standpoint changes the understanding of the social relations at work in a given situation.
Diane Vaughan took the time to talk to us for our February 13th episode after the Columbia tragedy of February 1st. Diane’s examination of the organizational culture of NASA led to much different conclusions that the official explanation of the Challenger launch decision. Understandably, her book received renewed interest in light of the second shuttle accident. Most of this excerpt was cut from the original airing because of time considerations. However, Diane has talked about the similarities between her conclusions in the book on the shuttle launch decision and her book on the breakdown of marital relationships. She is not the first sociologist to note that smaller social organizations often behave similarly to larger organizations, but her discussion of the two works points to how her experience as a sociologist helps inform her analyses. In the words of Dorothy Smith, a sociologist is “Like the astronomer, she is of and inside the cosmos she seeks to understand.”
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