[Smt-talk] Gender Terminology in Music Theory

[Jennifer Bain]

Dear Dimitar,

I think you have entirely missed the point of the majority of the comments
that have already been posted in relation to this thread.

I am not suggesting--nor did I or anyone else suggest--that historical
literary works be purged of sexism; that would be like painting clothing
on all of the nudes in national galleries around the world.

What I thought we were talking about is: whether or not certain terms or
use of language is (and was) sexist, and what we should do about current
usage. In my first post I mentioned 1991: that was the year that Susan
McClary published her landmark book, Feminine Endings. Her work followed
decades of literature on relationships between gender, language, and, yes,
sexism, and it was that same literature that had prompted the Society for
Music Theory one year earlier in 1990 to adopt its statement on inclusive
language, published for the first time in the note to contributors in the
spring issue of that year. The astonishment that I conveyed in a later
post was that so many contributors to the list were seemingly completely
ignorant of this literature and yet thought it appropriate to post
unsubstantiated opinions on the topic to an academic list-serve.

My statement about being "offended" seems to have triggered the whole
issue about people getting "emotional". I can assure you all that I was
neither in hysterics nor in a puddle of tears when I made that statement,
and in fact the statement did not stem at all from a physiological
response to annoying posts on the list. I was engaging with Dimitar's line
of argument: he stated that it was ok to use sexist language because it
didn't actually bother anyone. I wanted to communicate that this wasn't a
good line of argument because actually it does bother at least one person.

Jennifer


Jennifer Bain, Ph.D.
Chair, Dept. of Music

bainj at dal.ca
902-494-1142

Dalhousie University
6101 University Avenue
Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2










On 14-05-01 11:05 AM, "Ninov, Dimitar N" <dn16 at txstate.edu> wrote:

>Dear Colleagues,
>
>Thank you for your input. I also received privately some letters of
>agreement and some of criticism (and beyond).
>
>I would like to kindly reassure those who feel personally offended by my
>reflections, that Armageddon is not here yet - I simply expressed my
>opinion. If, for some colleagues, democracy meant uniform thinking and
>fear of expressing one's opinion on something invaluable like literary
>language, I can only regret.
>
>If some are ready to openly denounce thousands of contemporary writers
>and authors (some of them being Nobel prize laureates) for personally
>offending the wonderful female community, I would be impressed. Until
>then, I will continue to think that technical restrictions and cyclical
>turns undermine the fluency of thought, and are a result of an imposed
>political line in the world of creativity and original thinking. This
>world in question has nothing to do with discrimination, and no one shall
>be condemned for preferring this style of writing. For one, my wife does
>not condemn me (:).
>
>Finally, and very seriously. If some are ready to edit the bible and
>purge it from mentioning slavery, hinting that woman is inferior to man,
>and all other kinds of discrimination (as they are conspicuously present
>there!) I would be the first to congratulate this man or woman! I cannot
>imagine how a religious person who has subscribed to the so-called "non
>sexist language" puts up with a Gospel which spreads discrimination on
>almost every page!
>There is no joke here - I would like to see such a bible one day.
>
>Best regards,
>
>Dimitar
>
>
>
>
>
>Dr. Dimitar Ninov, Lecturer
>School of Music
>Texas State University
>601 University Drive
>San Marcos, Texas 78666
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