Surprise and Patriarchy

The latest readings from The Curious Feminist took a very interesting stance on surprise.  Enloe characterizes surprise as an undervalued feminist attribute, suggesting that many feminists would be better off if they were able to accept more surprise in their lifestyle.  Rather than accepting that something that surprises you in an attempt to hold onto your “bedrock of status” and “hard-earned credibility,” Enloe suggests that we should step back and be surprised because there is a certain amount of benefit to accepting surprise (Enloe, p. 13).  Going along with the theme from her introduction, the idea of stepping back and asking yourself why something surprised you can be crucial to reforming your argument.  Rather than trying to fit the new knowledge into the evidence or argument that you already had formulated, thinking about how the new knowledge can shift or alter what you previously thought can do a lot more good and cause a lot of growth, learning, and change.

Much of Enloe’s commentary on patriarchies mirrored what Johnson had to say in the article we read earlier this semester.  The focus on patriarchy existing all around us, regardless of voluntary acknowledgement, stands out the most to me, especially since it’s something I’d never really focused on prior to this class.  As the class winds down, I think what we’ve learned about patriarchies will be the one thing that I will remember the most, especially when trying to be curious about events around me like Enloe suggests.  Both of my newsflashes have had elements of patriarchy incorporated into the explanations of the issue, which has really shown me how much of an influence it has everywhere.  As I’ve noted in my newsflashes, spreading awareness about the fact that our society is a patriarchy will make a big difference, as more people learn to see its influences.