How does silencing work? It robs people of ideas and stifle their voices. Silencing can be expressed in many ways. The worst way to silence someone is by not taking their speech seriously. The author draws a comparison with the experience of professors in a classroom and that of political actors in a country, particularly Asian democratizing countries. One of the central themes revolve around the idea that what is personal becomes political. For instance, a woman giving a public discourse challenges the so-called authority of gender-policing concept. Because of her gender (personal), a woman’s ideas on political issues cannot be taken seriously given that it is not respectable for a woman to participate in the public spheres. The question to ask is, what is respectable? Who decides what is respectable? Do you think that women nowadays still feel in some extents, silenced because their actions might still be deemed “unrespectable” or “undesirable” in the eyes of the public? Only by understanding to what degree our opinions and voices are silenced can we finally realize what are the things we trivialize - such as with violence against women.
I think Shanshan asks a lot of good questions in this post. I have been trying to figure out how to respond to the point she makes about women being thought to talk about personal things when they speak in the public. I think this is really challenging because earning rights for women is mainly a women's issue. Therefore, it is very personal and important to them. Although men have been included in the fight before, the people who really care are the women who are trying to earn these things for themselves. I find that women have been placed in a really difficult position because even though women may be able to detach themselves, they still have a very vested interest in the results they achieve. It seems to me that we either need to find a way to accept the fact that women deserve these things and are fighting for all women and allow the personal to be involved in the political or we need to unite with men who agree and can stand up for women as a back as well. However, having men back women is exactly what women are generally fighting. The reliance on men to do things that women can't do would nullify the point of the fight. We come to a standstill because women can't stand up for themselves without the fight being personal, yet if men are included as a backing, it makes it seem like women couldn't do it themselves.
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