That Lesbian Speaks for Me
I haven't had much to say for myself lately, probably because I've been preoccupied with personal problems. Gasp. But here's a quote that I found; it's by Sarah Hoagland talking about her truly excellent book, Lesbian Ethics, and it pretty much speaks for itself.
When I think about ethics, I think about individuals making choices, that is, making judgments and acting. I think about our ability to interact, to connect, to be intimate, to respond. I think about our ability to perceive and judge, our ability to attend and gain information. I think about constraints on our choices, limits on our options. I think about our integrity and about transformations we undergo as a result of our choices - how we grow and change. When I think about ethics, I think about choice under oppression, and I think about lesbian moral agency.
In stressing a focus on choice and moral agency, I do not mean to deny that factors affect us which we do not control. Rather I mean to defy the masculine myth that says we must be in control of a situation to make choices. A moral or political theory useful to anyone under oppression must not convince the oppressed that we are total victims. While we do not control situations, we do affect them. In focusing on choice and moral agency, I mean to invoke lesbian ability to engage, to act in situations - that we move here now makes a difference. And I mean to suggest that whatever limits we face, our power - ability and agency - lies in choice.
What we need, among other things, is a notion of moral agency under oppression. This includes developing ability within a situation without claiming responsibility for the situation. It involves resisting de-moralization under oppression. It involves resisting the belief that if we cannot control a situation, our actions make no difference and we are powerless. Moral agency involves the ability to go on under oppression: to continue to make choices, to act within the oppressive structure of our society and challenge oppression, to create meaning through our living.
