I read a few pages of the Crenshaw article you linked. I’m not sure I see the two authors disagreeing. Every time Crenshaw talks about “structure”, she’s referring to the structure of society as a whole, which she sees as oppressive. Freeman’s point is that just because society at large has an oppressive structure doesn’t mean we should give up on the idea of structure altogether.
Re: silencing, the “Tyranny of Structurelessness” essay presented a mechanism by which this might occur under structurelessness that seemed pretty plausible to me. But even if it is actually the result of too much structure, I’m not sure that invalidates Freeman’s arguments either. If what Freeman says is true, and structurelessness also has serious downsides, that means you want to strike a balance.
Like Michael_PJ, I see the outcome feminism arrived at as one we should work to avoid. So if structurelessness is popular among feminists, I don’t see that as a very strong recommendation.
A nice balance is probably best overall, good point. Although, I do think it may be worth looking into replicating the intellectual diversity that feminism developed over time (while avoiding the pitfalls, inshallah) - it might be something that could benefit the movement going forward.
I read a few pages of the Crenshaw article you linked. I’m not sure I see the two authors disagreeing. Every time Crenshaw talks about “structure”, she’s referring to the structure of society as a whole, which she sees as oppressive. Freeman’s point is that just because society at large has an oppressive structure doesn’t mean we should give up on the idea of structure altogether.
Re: silencing, the “Tyranny of Structurelessness” essay presented a mechanism by which this might occur under structurelessness that seemed pretty plausible to me. But even if it is actually the result of too much structure, I’m not sure that invalidates Freeman’s arguments either. If what Freeman says is true, and structurelessness also has serious downsides, that means you want to strike a balance.
Like Michael_PJ, I see the outcome feminism arrived at as one we should work to avoid. So if structurelessness is popular among feminists, I don’t see that as a very strong recommendation.
A nice balance is probably best overall, good point. Although, I do think it may be worth looking into replicating the intellectual diversity that feminism developed over time (while avoiding the pitfalls, inshallah) - it might be something that could benefit the movement going forward.