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Conversations Among Women is an adjunction to the Ancestresses & Wise Women project. I like to hold the circles of conversations within the larger circle of the Ancestresses & Wise Women sculptures - the larger-than-life symbols of women who have mentored me creating the space within which we can share our stories. Below is the Conversations series as it occurred in Billings, Montana spring and summer of 2008. Conversations may be adapted to individual community wishes.  Conversation at Betty Feves Memorial Gallery, Pendleton, Oregon
Framework
My purpose in these conversations is to bring women with experience in the selected topics together with younger women, for each to share their perspectives and what has worked for them, to make connections, to increase our collective wisdom and to enjoy the art of conversation in a positive, supportive environment.
In his article, Conversations Pieces: The Role of Dialogue in Socially-Engaged Art, Grant Kestor reminds us of some basic skills and assumptions which facilitate successful conversation. He references Jürgen Habermas' Model of Subjectivity and Mary Field Belenky's Women's Way of Knowing:
-The opportunity to express and the need to listen are equally important. Each particpant is encouraged to be mindful of leaving room for and encouraging others to speak. -Every participant with the competence to speak is allowed to take part in the discourse, question an assertion, introduce an assertion and/or express attitudes, desires and needs. -Every participant is encouraged to recognize the social embeddedness and context within which others speak, judge and act, the speaker's history, and social/political/cultural power positions and tries to see beyond this. In other words, everyone comes to a conversation with personal baggage and issues which may color the way he or she expresses his or her thoughts, but we all agree to make an effort to see the message behind the words. -Each participant tries to let go of any goal of advancing an agenda of already formed opinions and judgments (both personal and career based) and, instead, leaves room to identify with and listen to other participants. -These conversations do not have a specific outcome goal, but empathic insight between particpants may occur and new ideas may be generated. ____________________________________________________________________
Session 1: Women and Communication Tuesday, April 22nd, 5:30 p.m. Toucan Gallery, 2505 Montana Avenue, Billings, Montana Participants include: Patricia Vettel-Becker, Professor of Art History, MSU-B, Allyn Calton, Marketing Manager/Editor, Magic City Magazine, Billings Gazette Communications; Kris Carpenter, owner, Sanctuary Spa & Salon; Stella Fong, writer & culinary educator; Tami Haaland, Assistant Professor of English, MSU-B, poet; Michelle Hippler, marketing & sustainability consultant, writer; Lisa Kemmerer, Assistant Professor, Philosophy, MSU-B; Shari Nault, Member Investor Relations & Public Relations, Big Sky Economic Development Corporation; Robyn Peterson, Executive Director, Yellowstone Art Museum & environmentalist; Sharon Peterson, Associate Director, Leadership Montana, Executive Director, Montana BioScience Alliance, Former State Director, U.S. Senator Max Baucus,
Consider: How do your communication style, skills and the way you express your thoughts and opinions as a woman contribute to the success or challenge of one-on-one conversations, networking, problem-solving, brainstorming, group projects, conversations with older and younger women, older and younger men, women and men of difference cultures and backgrounds?
As stated in the Winter issue of Ms. magazine, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Lvini has "argued that women offer traits needed to resolve such conflict [as in the Arab-Israeli conflict]: the ability to explore common interests versus viewing conflict as a zero-sum game, the capacity to multitask as opposed to narrowly focusing on one strategy, and the tendency to show increased empathy for others' suffering...The problem is that the perception of women and of the above-mentioned characteristics of dialogue is one of weakness"
According to feminist and language scholar Cheris Kramarae, there are "qualities that tend to characterize the world created by women to reflect their perspectives and ways of interacting." These are: interconnection (not only among themselves but with all forms of life), safety (a place where difficult questions can be asked, where uncomfortable issues can be discussed, and where 'critical self-analysis' can occur), holism (includes attention to dimensions of women's live such as spirituality, play, the nourishing of hearts, mind and bodies and social justice), trust (participants trust one another with their ideas, feelings, dreams, and material possession), mutuality (relationsihps among individuals are democratic, equal and reciprocal), adaptability and equal access to information. __________________________________________________________________ Sesssion 2: Ethics of Care Tuesday, May 6th, 5:30 p.m. The Shed Exhibition Space at Level 504 (directions above) 504 North 20th Street Patricipants include: Kris Carpenter, owner, Sanctuary Spa & Salon; Sister Mary V. Maronick, AIDSpirit Montana; Sherry S. Matteucci, Matteucci Law Firm & former U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana; Robyn Peterson, Executive Director, Yellowstone Art Museum & environmentalist, Sharon Peterson, Associate Director, Leadership Montana, Executive Director, Montana BioScience Alliance, Former State Director, U.S. Senator Max Baucus,; Patricia Vettel-Becker, Professor of Art History, MSU-B
Do you think values such as care, trust, benevolence and interdependence should be considered in ethical discussions? Should they have equal value with more masculine considerations of reason, independence, and the need for aggression? In your life, do you see support for exhibiting a morality based on care or do you feel you have to sublimate these more feminine values? Caveat: Not all women are empathic and not all men focused on the abstract. Feminist critic Sandra Lee Bartky contends that women lose touch with their emotional base and their moral integrity when in service-oriented occupations or when continually caring for others is not a choice. On the other hand, maternal thinkers like Sara Ruddick believe that qualities such as preserving (life), fostering (children's growth) and training (children to become committed and concerned citizens) result in an "attentive love" which allows women (and men who nurture) to see the difference between such things as abstract war (about power) and concrete war (the killing of sons and daughters) or bottom-line manufacturing and environmental impact. Virginia Held believes that mothering persons (men as well as women) must balance maternal ethics with more traditional ethics - fairness and compassion, rationality as well as emotionality, the ability to make generalizations as well as recognizing uniqueness. Eva Feder Kittay wants public policy to recognize the importance of "dependency workers" (those who care for and/or are responsible for those less able, be they children, elderly or the sick) by taking care of them, providing more support for these important members of society. ____________________________________________________________________ Tuesday, May 20th, 5:30 p.m. (directions above) Participants include: Cindy Butler, president, Rimrock Opera, former Community Member of the Billings Gazette Editorial Board & retired Registered Nurse; Jean Lemire Dahlman, National Committeewoman since 2000, past Humanities Montana chair; Lisa Kemmerer, Assistant Professor, Philosophy, MSU-B; Sherry Matteucci, Matteucci Law Firm & former U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana; Margaret McDonald, Democratic candidate for Montana HD 54, Sarah Nigh; Robyn Peterson, Executive Director, Yellowstone Art Museum & environmentalist, Sharon Peterson, Associate Director, Leadership Montana, Executive Director, Montana BioScience Alliance, Former State Director, U.S. Senator Max Baucus; Patricia Vettel-Becker, Professor of Art History, MSU-B;
What has motivated you to take stands on issues? What methods have you found successful in making a difference? Are there specific skills that women need to develop or inherently have to be heard? Do you feel supported for speaking out or do you feel alienated and/or denigrated? How do you deal with "bullies" who try to silence you? Bishop Desmond Tutu: "Our earth home and all forms of life in it are at grave risk. We men have had our turn and made a proper mess of things. We need women to save us." Nita Yawanarajah, a political affairs officer at the United Nations, believes that charm (the ability to make other people feel good about themselves) and empathy are just as important as the skills of networking, analysis, patience and a commitment to continued learning when working with oppositional groups. ____________________________________________________________________ Session 4: Diversity of Feminisms Tuesday, June 3rd, 5:30 p.m. The Shed at Level 504 (directions above) Participants include: Vicki Coffman, Theater Professor Emeritus, MSU-B; Joy Honea, Assistant Professor of Sociology, MSU-B, Carolyn Ostby, United States Magistrate Judge; Sherry Matteucci, Matteucci Law Firm & former U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana; Robyn Peterson, Executive Director, Yellowstone Art Museum & environmentalist, Sharon Peterson, Associate Director, Leadership Montana, Executive Director, Montana BioScience Alliance, Former State Director, U.S. Senator Max Baucus,
It is obvious to us now that not all women are alike. There is no universal voice. The diversity of the female experience can be seen in different ages, different religions, different cultures, different languages and different ways of expressing ourselves in art, literature, and movement. What do you find unique about your life as a woman? How do you relate to women who are different than you? What can we learn from others' beliefs, practices? Can we break down stereotypes within us? What do we have in common? What is your definition of feminism? ____________________________________________________________________ The Shed at Level 504 (directions above) Participants include: Val Jeffries; Danell Jones, writer, Virginia Woolf scholar and author of Virginia Woolf Writer's Workshop: Seven Lesson to Inspire Great Writing; Sherry Matteucci, Matteucci Law Firm & former U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, Robyn Peterson, Executive Director, Yellowstone Art Museum & environmentalist,
Were you adequately taught about women's contributions to the world? Have you ever stood up to correct a historical misperception about women? How do historical perceptions - right or wrong - color the present world for women? Do you feel knowledge of women's history assists you in navigating the world? In the 1970s, Judy Chicago, among others, launched an effort to reinstate women into history books, especially ones of art history. This effort continues today. For example, The Women's Media Center was founded in 2004 by Gloria Steinem and others to "assure that women and women's experiences are reflected in the media just as women are present everywhere in the world; that women are represented as local, national and global sources for and subjects of the media..." Feminist rhetorical theorist Barbara Biesecker, " While we may have managed to insert women into the canon (and, again, this is no small thing), we…have not yet begun to challenge the underlying logic of canon formation and the uses to which ti has been put that have written the rhetorical contributions of collective women into oblivion." Virginia Woolf: "Indeed, if woman had no existence save in the fiction written by men, one would imagine her a person of the utmost importance; very various; heroic and mean; splendid and sordid; infinitely beautiful and hideous in the extreme; as great as a man, some think even greater. But this is woman in fiction. In fact, as Professor Trevelyan points out, she was locked up, beaten and flung about the room. A very queer, composite being thus emerges. Imaginatively she is of the highest importance; practically she is completely insignificant. She pervades poetry from cover to cover; she is all but absent from history. ____________________________________________________________________ Tuesday, July 1st, 5:30 p.m. The Shed at Level 504 (directions above) Participants include: Robyn Peterson, Executive Director, Yellowstone Art Museum & environmentalist, Sharon Peterson, Associate Director, Leadership Montana, Executive Director, Montana BioScience Alliance, Former State Director, U.S. Senator Max Baucus,
How do you see the current status of women in Billings, this country, and/or the world in terms of equality, violence against women, right to food and basic necessities, education and having a voice? Are our existing rights supported? What positive changes have influenced your life? What still needs to be done?
Link to the Fourth World Conference on Women Beijing Declaration http://www.5wwc.org/conference_background/Beijing_Declaration.html
From the NGO World Forum on Women: We are women poised on the edge of the new millienium. We are the majority of our species, yet we have dwelt in the shadow. We are the invisible, the illiterate, the laborers, the refugees, the poor. And we vow: No more! We are the women who wear broken bones, voices, minds, hearts but we are the women who dare whisper: No. We are each precious, unique, necessary. We are the daughters of longing. We are the mothers in labor to birth, the politics of the new millenium... ___________________________________________________________________ |
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