Knowing Otherwise: Restorying Intuitive Knowing as Feminist Resistance

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size

Notes

¹ We wrestle with our own use of binaries, such as masculine and feminine, in this article but conclude that the words themselves are not the problem, rather it is the socially constructed values attached to them.

² We use the term more-than-rational as an inclusive term to refer to intuitive, instinctual, emotional, affective, embodied, connected, relational and rational ways of knowing and being. More-than (opposed to other-than) indicates an expansion as well as inclusion of the rational (Gorman).

³ Country is vital, living and dynamic. It is both a place and a living entity with its own agency. We use the term Country to pay respect to the traditional custodians of the stolen lands where we work and live and to honor Country itself.

⁴ Barcan’s feminist examination of intuition also seeks to recover its social value through situating it as a form of embodied knowledge. Significantly, her attention to medical clairvoyance blurs Blanchard’s distinction by showing that some medical practitioners see their clairvoyance as “otherworldly” while others experience it as a grounded form of intuition available to all (Barcan, “Intuition and Reason;”, Barcan, Complementary and Alternative Medicine). As such, we focus on the lived experiences of our research participants to guide our understandings and acknowledge that there are multiple readings and nuanced meanings available. We present a particular view to highlight the relational nature of intuition.

⁵ Many mystical and spiritual traditions view intuition as an essential part of self-knowledge and spiritual health. While modernity witnessed the advance of rationality discourses and associated ontologies, it also marks the rise of secularism that relegates religion and spirituality to the non-essential private realm. Thus, representing a further binary marginalization of intuition.

⁶ We note that First Nations scholars have also contributed significantly to these ends (see Carnes; Kwaymullina and Kwaymullina; Langton; Martin and Mirraboopa; Yunkaporta and Kirby).

⁷ The ways of knowing study and its findings have been critiqued, refined, and extended over the years (Barbour, “Embodied Ways of Knowing”, Barbour, “Revisiting Embodied Ways of Knowing”; Goldberger; Hayes; Khine and Hayes; Tedesco). However, when taken as contextual, flexible, non-linear, and not exclusive to women, this foundational study retains epistemological significance.

⁸ In short, a feminist standpoint understands the production of knowledge as political and therefore, privileges the voices, experiences, lives, and subjugated knowledges of women. We too, adopt a feminist standpoint.

⁹ Estés draws from her Native American/Mexican Spanish/Hungarian heritage to retell cross-cultural mythological stories to empower women. WWRWW made the New York Times bestsellers list in 1992 and stayed there for a record-breaking 145 weeks (Henley). It has since been published in 37 different languages and is considered Estés’ most far-reaching and influential work (‘Maven Productions’). While some have criticized Estés for attempting to create a work that speaks to all women and problematize the retelling of cultural stories out of context (Donaldson); others see her attempt as a necessary corrective to the pervasiveness of patriarchy and the marginalization of feminine intuitive knowing in late-modern neoliberal societies (Knudson-Martin; Schmidt).

¹⁰ Here is a full version of the story that is close to the account told in WWRWW https://www.clairephilip.com/blog/2018/1/31/stories-vasalisa-the-wise-a-russian-fairy-tale-rewritten (Philip).

¹¹ We too, draw on Baba Yaga’s wildish energy. The initial plotting and planning of this paper were done while sipping pomegranate-apple iced-tea at a local Turkish café named after her.

¹² Murri is a self-identifying term used by Aboriginal people to indicate that they are from areas in the North West of New South Wales.