Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Hegemony and Agency
I gave the example of feeling like I desire a skirt and puzzling over whether the desire was merely an operation of hegemony. Choosing to resist hegemonic images of femininity, I refuse to purchase the skirt. As a result, I am left feeling deprived on the one hand and autonomous on the other. My question was whether there can be agency independent of hegemony. Louise Antony suggested there are 2 questions here: whether there can be agency without hegemony, and whether there can be autonomy within hegemony. I may have misunderstood Sally's response, and if I did, I apologize in advance. I believe it was suggested that agency can enter where there are breaks in hegemony. I am wondering if more can be said about such breaks. What might a break in hegemony consist in? How might one recognize such a departure in order to realize the opportunity to exercise agency?
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Sarah, my comments keep getting lost and after the fifth time refreshing the post, I noticed you wrote:
ReplyDelete"As a result, I am left feeling deprived on the one hand and autonomous on the other."
Before I try and re-write what I originally intended (about the breaks in hegemony) I now find myself wondering "what does Sarah feel deprived of?" What is this feeling all about? Why do you feel this way, if you are also feeling autonomous?
Can you shed some light for me so I can better respond?
Sorry - I hope to articulate this better:
ReplyDeleteI feel autonomous in the sense that I exercised a choice - not to respond to desires that may be based on hegemonic images of femininity. I feel deprived in the sense that I do not have this material thing that I desire, no matter what that desire is based on.