Philosophy Colloquium: Feb. 22, 2016

[Vicki Brett]

The next Philosophy Colloquium will be held on Monday, February 22, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. in HH 373.
I apologize for the short notice.

Kristin Rodier<https://kristinrodier.wordpress.com/about-2/>
University of Alberta

Hold a Mirror up to Habit?: Feminist Failure, Félix Ravaisson, and Temporality

While feminist resistance to gender oppression is most often and perhaps most effectively a collective political project, there is an important individual dimension as well. Examining and changing our habits is thus an important political project, but it must be taken on carefully. I argue that in the absence of an appropriate appreciation of habit, the self-focus involved in individual resistance can lead to a pervasive feeling of self-reproach and guilt for “failing” to self-liberate, a problem I call “feminist failure.” I outline Félix Ravaisson’s work on habit because it offers ways of thinking about the time and attention that go into habit formation, which changes the form that feminist resistance takes. To illustrate this view, I focus on mirror-gazing as a feminine practice that attracts feminist critique. I analyze the resistance strategy of mirror fasting as an illuminating practice of habit disruption that allows for resisting differently and avoiding the trap of feminist failure.

Vicki Brett
Undergraduate Coordinator
Philosophy Department – HH 365
University of Waterloo
vbrett at uwaterloo.ca<mailto:vbrett at uwaterloo.ca>
Tel: 519-888-4567 (x 32449)
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