Saturday, February 07, 2004
"Morality" is a bad word.
So is "Ethics."
In my theory class the other day, we read a theorist from the 1970s who used the words morality and ethics a lot. What was the near unanimous opinion of the class?
In the words of one of the students, to which the teacher and others agreed "That was creepy."
I asked why, and they gave me odd looks (I'm so used to that, I wonder if they can really be considered odd anymore) and patiently explained how morality is a word that functions as a tool of the patriarchal hegemony (or some such nonsense) and that anyone who talks about morality in the 21st century must be a Jesus Freak of some sort.
Some days I really wonder why I put up with this abuse, day in and day out. But I'm a bit perverse that way. I refuse to give up just because I seem to be fighting a losing battle.
When I was in High School, I was never a very good athlete, but my favorite sport was Wrestling. I won a few matches and even placed (or won) at a few tournaments, but my reputation (such as it was) was that I was unpinnable.
To explain to the uninitiated to collegiate style wrestling - a pin is when you hold the back part of both shoulder blades of your opponent on the mat for three seconds. If you do that, regardless of the score, the match stops and you win. Otherwise, the match must go the full six minutes (which seems like forever in wrestling - and there is the exception of a technical pin that ends the match if you are a certain number of points ahead of your opponent).
State and nationally ranked wrestlers got very frustrated because even when I was clearly outmatched by them, because I refused to be pinned. I made them work for every second of that match. They couldn't pin me, no matter how hard they tried. I would not stay on my back.
That's how I spent my freshman and sophomore years in high school. What was interesting was that my junior and senior years, I started winning more than losing. I was even headed for the state tournament when I broke my ankle in a freak accident and was unable to compete.
That's how I feel in this PhD program. I refuse to let them pin me. I will make these liberals earn every inch. Then hopefully, after a while, I will start winning some small victories here and there. By the time I graduate and get a job, I hope I will be actually considered formidable instead of just unpinnable.
As long as I don't break my ankle before I get tenure, I guess.
So is "Ethics."
In my theory class the other day, we read a theorist from the 1970s who used the words morality and ethics a lot. What was the near unanimous opinion of the class?
In the words of one of the students, to which the teacher and others agreed "That was creepy."
I asked why, and they gave me odd looks (I'm so used to that, I wonder if they can really be considered odd anymore) and patiently explained how morality is a word that functions as a tool of the patriarchal hegemony (or some such nonsense) and that anyone who talks about morality in the 21st century must be a Jesus Freak of some sort.
Some days I really wonder why I put up with this abuse, day in and day out. But I'm a bit perverse that way. I refuse to give up just because I seem to be fighting a losing battle.
When I was in High School, I was never a very good athlete, but my favorite sport was Wrestling. I won a few matches and even placed (or won) at a few tournaments, but my reputation (such as it was) was that I was unpinnable.
To explain to the uninitiated to collegiate style wrestling - a pin is when you hold the back part of both shoulder blades of your opponent on the mat for three seconds. If you do that, regardless of the score, the match stops and you win. Otherwise, the match must go the full six minutes (which seems like forever in wrestling - and there is the exception of a technical pin that ends the match if you are a certain number of points ahead of your opponent).
State and nationally ranked wrestlers got very frustrated because even when I was clearly outmatched by them, because I refused to be pinned. I made them work for every second of that match. They couldn't pin me, no matter how hard they tried. I would not stay on my back.
That's how I spent my freshman and sophomore years in high school. What was interesting was that my junior and senior years, I started winning more than losing. I was even headed for the state tournament when I broke my ankle in a freak accident and was unable to compete.
That's how I feel in this PhD program. I refuse to let them pin me. I will make these liberals earn every inch. Then hopefully, after a while, I will start winning some small victories here and there. By the time I graduate and get a job, I hope I will be actually considered formidable instead of just unpinnable.
As long as I don't break my ankle before I get tenure, I guess.
