Wow, that was intense.

I agree with the general premise of Alcoff’s article; that speaking for someone, if one is not a part of that group, can have dangerous consequences and is generally looked down upon. I think she brought up some good points; that if speaking for an oppressed group is bad, should I, as a white american, not do it? But then, does that go against whatever percieved societal duty I have to help those who are oppressed? She also raises the very valid question- can we ever seperate speaking about from speaking for? should we?

The discussion of audience is an important one, especially for this class as it relates to our service learning. We need to be very aware, both when we are at the clubs, talking to the kids, and when we are doing our projects, of who our audience is, and how much they will take what we say as truth, and what kind of credibility we have in their eyes. This ties into another point of Alcoffs, that we can never speak solely for ourselves, that our words will always be affecting someone. To be aware of our audience is to be more aware of the effect our words have, even when we think we are speaking only for ourselves.

I must dispute her claim that “in many situations when a woman speaks the presumption is against her”. I think that in today’s society, womens’ opinions are often as respected as men’s, especially when it comes to the kinds of things Alcoff is talking about, namely, speaking for the oppressed.