WEEK 5 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
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University of Notre Dame *
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Apr 3, 2024
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WEEK 5 QUESTIONS
Question 1:
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What is phenomenology? In what way or ways is considering feminine motility and spatiality a "phenomenological" issue (in this case)?
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The word phenomenology derives from phainesthai is the study of experience, embodied experience, consciousness, the situatedness of the human being within a
cultural and social milieu. Considering feminine motility and spatiality as a "phenomenological" issue means that feminine experience of the body is determined by the opinions of others and the critiques of a woman. Question 2:
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Young claims that we ought not fall back into "nominalism" in describing the differences between men and women, but that we also should not rely on a "mysterious feminine essence to explain it" (138-9). What does nominalism mean here? In what sense has Strauss's example of throwing like a girl relied on this "mysterious feminine essence"? ➔
Nominalism is the idea of subjectivity and how giving something a name validity's its existence (universal experiences are not real). Feminism cannot be explained by this as it is not ahistorical. Feminism is more than just a sentence or a completion of words, being a women is much more than that. Throwing like a girl relies on the mysterious feminine essence as female bodies and the way women fulfill their actions is universally limiting due to society's perception of women.
Question 3:
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Young critiques de Beauvoir's approach to the "orientation of the woman's body" in terms
of how this body relates to "its surroundings in living action" (139). What is the critique? What is Young's suggestion to improve upon de Beauvoir's argument (139)?
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Young critiques the biological aspects of Beauvoir's work, and states that feminine essence is a result of society, and not all women are those who have a uterus. Young suggests we stray away from the idea that the woman's body is a burden and that it is not free due to its nature, and rather focus on bodily movement and spatiality. Question 4:
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Young tells us she focuses on "movement in which the body aims at the accomplishment of a definite purpose or task," and leaves out other kinds of bodily existence, such as sexual being, or other kinds of movement without (necessary) aim, such as dancing. She indicates, following Merleau-Ponty, that "it is the ordinary purposive orientation of the body as a whole toward things and its environment which initially defines the relation of
a subject to its world" (140). Why are "ordinary" movements considered to be revelatory for Young of something approximating the "structures of feminine existence" (140)? ➔
Ordinary movements are revelatory as the first idea of how a woman wishes to pursue her actions is not actually how she fulfills them, due to "structures of feminine existence".
Question 5:
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How does Young understand the term "feminine existence" (140)?
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Feminine existence is one that is constantly being analyzed and judged by others. It is one that lacks fluidity and has a form of discontinuity between what a woman
wishes to do and what she actually does. Question 6:
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Describe the difference between immanence and transcendence, as Young is using it to describe the differences ascribed to men and women, and how it relates to the "contradiction" that women experience as they enact both perspectives (141). You can also, if you'd like, draw from page 145 and the description of "ambiguous transcendence."
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Immanence is solely the existence of an individual (the body), whereas transcendence is the recognition of the full potential of the body and fulfilling this
possibility. Women lack the transcendence as they are stuck in their immanence. They perceive their bodies as objects and are scared to perform their full potential.
Question 7:
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Give one example of feminine bodily comportment and motility from Young and describe it (also give the page number). What do you think about it? Is this a compelling example (142-144)? You might also draw on the idea of "discontinuous unity" on p. 147.
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One example of feminine bodily comportment is "throwing like a girl". This example explains the limitations of women's actions and how she isolates her whole body except for the one part which performs the task (page 138). Question 8:
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"In asking how there can be a world for a subject," Young writes, "Merleau-Ponty reorients the entire tradition of that questioning by locating subjectivity not in mind or consciousness, but in the body" (145). Explain this quotation. How does this relate to issues of feminine bodily comportment?
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This quote explains the possibilities of bodies' possibility of transcendence as it has the chance to serve as the subject rather than the object. This relates of feminine bodily comportment as women are unable to fully reach their potential of bodily movements and has a negative subjectivity towards her body. Question 9:
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What is the difference between inhabited intentionally and uninhabited intentionality (146)?
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Inhabited intentionality is the idea that "I can" is followed by "I cannot". This idea
explains that the body is limited when one believes they cannot fulfill a task. Uninhabited intentionality is the idea that the thought of doing something is fulfilled with actually completing the task. There is no lack of continuity with uninhabited intentionality.
Question 10:
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Discuss the idea that "feminine bodily existence is self-referred to the extent that the feminine subject posits her motion as the motion that is looked at" (148). This idea is also
returned to on p. 154. How does the gaze inculcate a self-reference that we might say "divides" the feminine subject (think transcendence vs immanence, or any of the 3 modalities)? *
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Feminine subject is determined based on the perception of others. Women bodies represent how others expect them to do. They are forced to be quiet and take up as
little space as possible, which causes they to be seen as and acted upon like an object.
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