Ethnographic Feminisms: Essays in Anthropology

313 Pages·1995·12.87 MB·English

by  Sally Cole

Ethnographic Feminisms
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Ethnographic feminisms
E S S A YS IN A N T H R O P O L O GY
edited by
Sally Cole & £ynne Phillips
Carleton University Press
© Carleton University Press Inc., 1995, 1996
Printed and Bound in Canada
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Ethnographic feminisms : essays in anthropology
(Women's experience series ; 7)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-88629-248-4
1. Feminist anthropology. I. Cole, Sally
Cooper, date . II. Phillips, Lynne P. (Lynne
Patricia), date . III. Series: Carleton women's
experience series ; 7.
GN33.8.E83 1995 305.42 C95-900225-1
Cover Illustration: Detail from Reticent Red, by Marcelle Blanchette (acrylic on
paper, 1994).
Cover concept/execution: Carleton University Press/Coach House Printing
Interior: Cover to Cover Design Corporation, Ottawa
Carleton University Press gratefully acknowledges the support extended to its
publishing programme by the Canada Council and the financial assistance of the
Ontario Arts Council.
The Press would also like to thank the Department of Canadian Heritage,
Government of Canada, and the Government of Ontario through the Ministry
of Culture, Tourism and Recreation, for their assistance.
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities and
Social Science Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Dedicated to the memory of
Melissa Knauer
d.June 16, 1985
and
Illah Patricia (Trish) Wilson
d. December 16, 1994
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CONTENTS
Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
1 The Work and Politics of Feminist Ethnography
An Introduction 1
Sally Cole and Lynne Phillips
PART I FIELDS OF DIFFERENCE AND UNITY
Introduction 17
2 Difference, Indifference and Making a
Difference: Reflexivity in the Time of Cholera 21
Lynne Phillips
3 Feminism From Afar
or To China and Home Again 37
Ellen Judd
4 From Women's Point of View: Practising Feminist
Anthropology in a World of Differences 53
Marie-Andrée Couillard
5 Thank you, Breasts! Breastfeeding
as a Global Feminist Issue 75
Penny Van Esterik
PART II EXPLORATIONS OF GENDERED WORK
Introduction 93
6 "Trading is a White Man's Game"
The Appropriation of Navajo Women's Weaving 97
Kathy M'Closkey
7 "A Little Free Time on Sunday"
Women and Domestic Commodity Production 119
Max J. Hedley
8 "Working at Home is Easy For Her"
Industrial Homework in Contemporary Ontario 139
Belinda Leach
9 "I Know Now that You Can Change Things"
Narratives of Canadian Bank Workers
as Union Activists 157
Patricia Baker
PART III EXPERIMENTS IN ETHNOGRAPHY
Introduction 179
10 Taming the Shrew in Anthropology:
Is Feminist Ethnography "New" Ethnography? 185
Sally Cole
11 Engendering the Mask: Three Voices 207
Rae Anderson
12 New Voices on Fieldwork 233
Clara Benazera, Elizabeth Houde,
Marie-Helene Bérard, and Renée Ménard
13 Conversation between Cultures: Outrageous Voices?
Issues of Voice & Text in Feminist Anthropology 245
Judith M. Abwunza
14 Reading the 'Montreal Massacre': Idiosyncratic
Insanity or the Misreading of Cultural Cues? 259
I. P. (Trish) Wilson
15 By Way of Conclusion 279
Sally Cole and Lynne Phillips
Resource Bibliography 287
Some Questions for Discussion 294
Notes on Contributors 296
ILLUSTRATIONS
1 "Pound" Blanket, circa 1905 100
2 Navajo Rug, circa 1975 104
3 The Dance of the Scarecrow Brides 212
4 Snake bird and Egg 216
5 Belly Belly 218
6 Mende sowei mask 220
7 Volva Volva 222
8 / Sing. No One Hears Me 224