Authority

What gives me (or anyone) the right to write on gender? I recently bought "The Gender Knot" by Allan Johnson at the recommendation of a Metafilter contributor (or "Mefite"). I couldn't stand it actually (review to follow) but the discussion that followed was interesting. A different feminist Mefite dismissed me (and others) because we haven't read the "hundreds of relevant books or articles available in libraries and online."

Are there qualifications to even join this discourse? Do you need academic credentials, two X-chromosomes, or familiarity with the history of feminist discourse?

Let's look at Allan Johnson, whose book is apparently very popular. Academic credentials? He "lectures at Hartford College for Women," doesn't list a degree, and his book isn't based on social science (either his own studies, or others'). In any case, Metafilter the blogosphere is all about intelligent people trading ideas in good faith without the need for formal qualifications. I have some credentials myself -- even did some quantitative social science research back in the day -- and Olga has more, but people who brandish them always look like asses, I think.

Is it his personal experience, then? Fine by me. I think we are all qualified to share our experiences, if we stay specific and personal and admit the limits of our knowledge. But, aside from listing his personal psychotherapy as a credential, Johnson avoids sharing his personal story (in the part I read anyway) and fires off ringing, absolute generalizations about American society as a whole.

No, he bases his work on ideology and the opinions of writers who are not social scientists either, just strongly opinionated and often colorful polemicists (Andrea Dworkin, Marilyn French, etc.) And like that one Mefite, he dismisses anyone who has not read all of his favorite writers on the subject.

Yes, there are hundreds of books like that, both conservative and feminist. And it's true that I have not read the vast majority of them. I doubt that Johnson or the dismissive Mefite have read many of the conservative ones; I'm not that interested in either kind of polemic. I am open to any original, well-written book based on either personal experience or social science though, and would love to hear more recommendations.

Olga found the perfect word for the writer's only qualification: authority. That was how she described this quote in which Ursula Le Guin, who I'm increasingly amazed by, discusses the lectures she is sometimes invited to give.

"I try to limit myself to topics on which, without claiming expertise or wisdom, an effort to think honestly and feelingly might do some good..."

THAT I think, is the authority (and the only authority) that anyone who writes on gender needs.