Editor's Note
What is the state of philosophy these days, especially for women? If this is in part a question about how women are doing in the discipline, I’d say things are not so bad, at least for middle class white women outside of religious colleges, and at least in comparison to other male-dominated disciplines in the arts and sciences. Of course the current relationships between the state of women and the state of philosophy are not just about how female students, apprentices, and professors are faring or advancing within a particular academic discipline. We may wonder how females are faring overall in relation to systems scientific knowledge (always bolstered by various philosophies), or in relation to the historical and complex global world of critical thinking and abstract intellectualizing. We could ask who are the great Women Philosophers of our cultures, living and dead, and how are their works being taught, reproduced, and put to use these days? We could ask if girls in societies x, y, and z are suitably trained to be philosophical. Are they engaged in critical thinking, skilled in reading and analyzing texts of all sorts, and suitably aware of the legacies of female intelligence from all around the world? What is this question about the state of Philosophy? What would be the most useful and meaningful interpretation of a question about the state of philosophy for women, for us here and now?
Since the inception of the American Philosophical Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in 1986, there has been some serious attention to ratios of men and women (and racial groups) in philosophy departments. Things have improved by some counts, but the numbers are still pretty dismal. A 2006 Committee report suggests that “although women currently make up nearly 27% of the available labor pool in philosophy, recent data suggests that women are closer to 21% of professionally employed philosophers (Fourteen years earlier, in 1992, between 13% and 18% of professional philosophers were women. See Kathryn Norlock, “Status of Women in the Profession Report 2006,” and Anita Superson, “Changing the Climate: Why Philosophy Needs More Progressive Women Than It Has,” both available online here). Life is still difficult for women (and people of color) in philosophy departments, especially for graduate students and untenured or otherwise disempowered faculty members. The disciplinary hierarchies of “the profession” are constructed so as to reproduce (white) male privilege and upper-class elitism, and smart scrappy women and blacks don’t always fare so well in those contexts (for more on this see Margaret Walker, “Waiter, There’s a Fly in My Soup! Reflections on the Philosophical Gourmet Report,” Hypatia 19(3): pp. 235-39). Many of the most powerful people in the discipline seem to hold sexist views about female intellectualism, and many also seem threatened by the sort of work that women in philosophy gravitate toward (such as feminist theory)...
...But although a minimal commitment to equality and to creating more supportive environments involves bringing more women into the profession, the “right” gender ratio among personnel is no panacea. Having a lot of women around does not make a department or university a good place for women (there are lots of women in women’s jails, after all). Women can be very mean to each other, and “boys club” sensibilities can dominate even when men are in the minority. If professors outside the medical and professional schools continue to become more and more underpaid, philosophy departments are sure to become increasingly “diverse” and “woman-friendly.” If men began to flee the humanities due to low pay, would that be good for women? Would it be good for philosophy?*
The next issue of SWIPnews will be published in Spring 2008. We always welcome your submissions, feedback, and questions. Contact us at swipnews@yahoo.com.
*From "Women's Work," published in The Philosopher's Magazine, Issue 39
