Well, the first round of HUHO is closed and has been compiled, I think this was an ingenious idea put together by Lauren of Faux Real. *applause*
The idea is to get everyone to share what they can about areas of their interest/knowledge, in order to fit a shoestring budget. A skills database essentially, brought to you by feminists of ALL stripes and their allies. I think this idea is especially brilliant because of it's potential to share both personal and emotional knowledge so seldom reproduced in society. You might get a 'distanced' kind of learning from self-help books, magazines, etc...but it's depersonalized, removed and authoritarian (usually facilitates to reproduce the status quo not to counter it). It's really quite ironic that despite so much "self-help" and so many make-over shows and shit available, we're all a bit more miserable and always need more self-help and make-overs and shit.
IMO - it's precisely this distancing from personal experiences that allows for this. The personal has transformed from being a source of "knowledge" into being a "spectacle". We take the personal to be distrustful and so we laugh at it, but then we trust some dickwad who's great at dispensing cracker-jack philosophy and trust him (usually someone who's trying to sell us a something) - while we distance ourselves from each other...Coming from an Indian background - I can attest that what my grandmother says isn't assumed to be 'quackery', but rather needs to be 'respected', cherished and believed. When I say this, I'm not talking about 'traditions', I'm talking pragmatically about 'experiential knowledge'.
Okay, I've rambled too much.
Anyways - check out the great tips from everything to child-rearing, tasty recipes to how to take advantage of public transport.
From now on, I'm adding a HUHO category to my blog - anything that is 'accessible, affordable or useful' will be put into this category.
Read more here. (My contributions so far: Cheap Cough Syrup and Depression Advice)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
This is a very good idea you know. If everyone just gave a little thought to what knowledge they have and share it. Somewhat like a feminist free cycle energy exchange.
Hey AD,
Skill share? Let me think about that for awhile. There are so much...oh I know! Internet/computer skills! Stylesheet skills, hardware skills, troubleshooting...the list is endless.
This is a great idea, Aradhana. :-)
Yolanda - def. check out the Faux real site, a whole bunch of things are already up! I hope Lauren does a volume 2 of HUHO.
The vast underestimation of experiential knowledge appears to go back to Descartes, although it appears in Kant and other Western philosophers -- I think even in Wittgenstein to some degree. Descartes determined that the foundation of knowledge should be absolute, and so he disregarded knowledge that was merely relative or personal.
Thank you for the info Unsane, I will definitely read up on this trajectory in due time. I think this kind of rejection really keeps 'minority' voices out of dominant discourses. I also find it very interesting how television/reality shows/talk shows/or even experiences of people you are 'acquainted' with - are looked upon with a sense of ridicule.
PS - I love the photos on your blog, very empowering!
Post a Comment