Article
Feminist Review (1995) 51, 94–112. doi:10.1057/fr.1995.35
Imagining (the) Difference: Gender, Ethnicity and Metaphors of Nation
Maureen Molloy is a senior lecturer in Women's Studies at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. She has published one book, Those Who Speak to the Heart, a study of kinship and community change among Highland Scots migrants to New Zealand. She is currently working on a book on popular culture, social policy and professional discourses in New Zealand.
I would like to express my gratitude to the women who over many years have shared their knowledge and friendship with me, in particular the late Millie Witana and Hera Motu, and Anna Baker and Hemo Henare. Nite Fuamatu, Sailau Suaali and Pepe Purcell challenged me to think again about the complex interactions between gender and ethnicity, kinship and community. Meremere Penfold, Judith Binney, Doug Sutton and Heather Worth provided useful commentary on earlier drafts.
Maureen Molloy
Abstract
This article critiques the way in which three feminist authors reinscribe traditional liberal values when seeking new ways of thinking about the nation. It suggests that in rejecting affective or embodied metaphors, such as community or kinship, the authors fall into the trap of reinscribing values which have historically excluded women and ethnic or racial minorities from full participation in the polity. The article argues for a rejection of the affect/rationality model which underpins these arguments and suggests that new metaphors for the nation will emerge as those who have been excluded claim a place in the polity.
Keywords:
difference, gender, ethnicity, politics, nation, body
