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Roger Scruton Triggers Women’s Studies Fans
Professor Scruton is a brave man for daring to criticise the sacred feminine and comparing it unfavourably with medieval theology. For those whose French is rusty, he’s not swearing at the 3:47 mark but saying Foucault, which of course sounds like a Gallican corruption of an epithet from the Anglo Saxon netherworld.
Fake news, fake views. The full talk from which this is excerpted can be found here.
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Published in Religion & Philosophy
Scruton is absolutely right in describing Women’s Studies as a discipline requiring adherence to an ideology. No true academic discipline does that.
If only we could clone Roger. Create an army of Roger’s, then unleash that army on every progressive institution that Satan has ever made.
Women’s studies was a little bit interesting back in the day. That is, the idea of looking at a historical event or period through a different lens was fascinating. ( A good example—A Midwife’s Tale.)
But that isn’t what Women’s Studies actually is.
I remember taking W.S. in the early 80s. Even then, I noticed that you were never allowed to actually critique the women being studied, or treat them as actual human beings. You just read them (or read about them) and then discussed them with a very particular look on your face—half reverence and half unconfessed condescension. Blech.
I read about a woman, in California, I think, who told her daughter, when she was leaving for college, that she’d pay for her education, but not for any course of which the title ended in “studies.”
So does that mean that if a woman (man, trans, otherkin, whatever) writes a great book you have to treat the great book the same as a bad book?
It makes me sad that he said we couldn’t have this discussion in America. He’s right of course-for anyplace but Ricochet. But it still makes me sad.
Yes. I think it does mean that.
Roger? Scruton? I’m triggered.
I’ve seen it before.
All conservative parents should probably start doing that. This is a sad confession from a Political Science major, but I don’t think “Liberal” Arts degrees can be salvaged at this point, outside of maybe 5% of universities.
I applaud the sentiment, but the rule is too strict. For example, an Asian Studies major at my school is required to take three years of an Asian language, study history, politics, and economics, complete either an internship or study abroad, and do a major research project. There’s nothing soft or inherently political about the major. Now, Asian American studies, on the other hand, has mostly turned into a forum for political organizing.
That’s a good point; the previously mentioned policy can include an appeal process wherein the child can make their case that any particular ‘studies’ major is not an indoctrination camp. That should accommodate any special circumstances, and prepare the child for the college experience as well.
I’m with Camille Paglia on this one. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the idea of offering subjects like Women’s Studies, per se, if they’re designed to be academically rigorous. The real problem is that they aren’t intended to be academically rigorous fields.
Paglia often mentions, for example, how ludicrous it is that no Women’s Studies program requires any credits in human biology. If you really want to study, honestly and rigorously, how women comprise a distinct group within society it would seem to be imperative to include at least one class on human biology!
I could easily imagine a Women’s Studies program that is designed to be academically rigorous and scientifically useful. It’s just that none of the programs out there actually do it.
I agree. Following this rule would eliminate things like Russian Studies, which is a pretty vital subject for military, intelligence, and foreign relations careers.
(Also, my degree is in Communications Studies, which was actually a very practical program that taught me genuine skills I’ve used in my career!)