As today I prepare for a virtual meeting of feminist bloggers, I finally organize and write thoughts on a topic I have been pondering for a long time. As we push for public sociology, particularly feminist public sociology, what are we aiming for?
I have heard about some feminist research being covered in the media and in the public. Great! We do great research and it should be publicized. But sometimes I wonder if this is not a discipline war. Are we trying to say our research is just as good and needed as, for example, psychology? Is this a way we are trying to professionalize our discipline?
Yet, here is why sometimes I don't blog like a researcher. In my own life, I feel that I walk a fine line, especially in my new location, between those who are highly educated folks and those who are not. I'm surrounded by PhDs and MA/MS in various subjects. But I also interact with folks with Bachelor's degrees and less. Even my educated partner in the "hard sciences" tells me I talk to much to him like a professor.
So, my point being how do we make sociology interesting? Accessible? How do we make it feel not like sitting through one of our classes (which is great, but I'm figuring not everyone one wants to).
Who is our audience? Do we only want other academics to read our blogs, which would be similar to publishing without the peer review. Do we want educated folks to read our blogs? Great, but who and why? Why can't we also reach out to those who lives are affected by our research and teaching.
Let me give you an example from different students and institutions I have taught at. At one prestigious private school, where the students had cultural capital and means to attend the school (usually generations had attended the school), they got theory. They got the big theoretical ideas. Yet, they didn't get how theory applied in everyday experiences as well. The kids were smart and privileged. When I taught at a community college with first generation or older students, they struggled with theory, but they could get the examples of everyday life in terms of demonstrating sociological concepts. They were smart also, but experience resonated with them more and I made assignments, from a feminist pedagogical perspective, in which they could examine their own lives. The point was that their lives mattered and they could be the analyst.
I have PhD in Sociology. I have a Masters in Social Work. With the PhD in Sociology, I should be reading every newspaper and research study. But I don't. With my MSW, I need think about Evidence Based Practices, but I also have to think and realize what the lives of my clients are or maybe beyond what is said on a piece of paper about them.
So, back to a point. Who do we blog for? What is feminist blogging? Does feminist sociological blogging have to cite every important research study using concepts the general public may not know or care about (I'm being a realist). Or can we blog about the everyday experiences, even if we have our own privileged stance, to increase understanding of the value of sociology to our own lives?
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