woman intellectual

the figure to which my post title refers is an endangered being!!! see if you can spot her--you'll think you can, but she will always elude. she is a weird chimeric effect of the heyday of "the personal is political," coined to reflect common interests among women that might be represented in public settings and policies. but now, there is a reversal, where the political is personal--that is, human work and goal-driven interaction seems to have alighted upon the persons of women.

in different ways, mind you. it might be the woman staying late working on the task for which she is hugely overqualified because she felt like she couldn't say no. it might be the woman who believes her bodily experience (with chronic fatigue syndrome, Deafness, travel, whatever) qualifies her to treat said experience as an object of scholarly inquiry. it might be the woman whose qualifications are under suspicion because she is well-dressed or -made up. if you find one of these creatures, hold on to her! do not talk to her about clothes or think about her sex life! just try it.