Development of Self, Voice and Mind: The Knowing Women

A certain book came out and it tackled the way thathave the capability to think.
women acquire knowledge. This book is a product ofOn the other hand, subjective knowledge is the way
an al woman team of surveyors/ researchers whoof knowing wherein women have acknowledged their
focused on the way that women think or acquiresense of worth and they are aware of their brain.
learning and knowledge. The book is called AThe development of self, voice and mind is apparent
Women's Ways of Knowing. The researchershere. The women separate themselves from their
interviewed 135 women about their gender,sense of obligation to follow and obey other people's
relationships with other people, their ways ofideas and opinions. These women have learned to
accepting or acquiring knowledge and their variousvalue and respect their own voice. But despite finding
moral dilemmas. As we learn about these, improvetheir voice, they are oftentimes too rooted in the
our chances for development of self, voice and mind.feeling of insubordination that they cannot and will
These interviews yielded five ways of knowing.not try to rock the boat just for the sake of voicing
These ways of knowing delve into how womenan opinion. The women have difficulty-seeing things
perceive themselves and how they approach thethe other way even if the other way makes sense.
world at large. It was gleaned from the in-depthTe feeling of self-doubt is very strong and the
interviews that the way women think regardinginterviewees are not so confident in stating their
education and knowledge affect self-perception andideas.
self-perception also affects the way we acquireIn this way of knowing, the women have their
knowledge.voices of reason. There are two kinds of Procedural
One of the ways of knowing or acquiring knowledgeKnowledge, the connected knowing and the
is silence. In silence, one perceives the authorityseparated knowing. The connected version is
figure as the ultimate source of learning anddescribed as where women delve into a certain
knowledge. This type of learning or way of learningsource or author or theory and they dissect it with
encourages blind obedience to authority figures.gusto. This way of knowing is non-confrontational
According to philosophers, the women do not evenand very enjoyable to most women. They share
question or try to analyze the why and how of thetheir ideas and opinions without any conflict and they
information imparted by the authority figure, theyalso get to know each other through this way. Te
just accept it as the truth. Incases like these, theidea or theory or author is well chewed out and
women perceive themselves in stereotypes whichdiscussed in any way which satisfies the women in
are lower than authority figures. Again, according tothe forum without any debate. This way of knowing
philosophers, they have difficulty defining themselvesis in a way, gossiping which can be very enjoyable to
as individual thinkers and thus they accept what issome of the women.
feed to them without any resistance for fear ofThe separated version relies more on objectivity.
rejection or conflict.There is a sort of confrontational attitude towards
The next way of knowing is received knowledge. Inother people with other opinions, which may not
this way of knowing, some of the interviewedconform to theirs. The discussion could turn heated
women listen to the views and opinions of otherand may end up in a debate among the people
people. These women have difficulty forming theirsharing or expressing their opinions. Constructed
own ideas and opinions. The have self doubtknowledge is the last way of knowing. Here women
regarding their capabilities and even if they want tointegrate their own voices and their own sense of
ask or doubt anything, their self-doubt is palpable andself with reason. They accept that subjectivity and
brings them down. It is the same as the way ofobjectivity are essential elements in knowledge. For
knowing stated above, they also have this idea thatthe knowledge to be gained these two must be
authority figures are sources of facts and truth.conquered and made to work for the acquiring of
They do not even seem to acknowledge that theyknowledge.