A standpoint is “a place from which to critically view the world around us,” and “whatever our vantage point, its location tends to focus our attention on some features of the natural and social landscape while obscuring others. The social groups within which we are located powerfully shape what we experience and know as well as how we understand and communicate with ourselves, others, and the world.” This concept reminds me many scenes from the Titanic movie in regard to the social differences between Jack and Rose’s family. The conversations at the dinner table especially display the different standpoints of the two socially opposite parties. (Jack vs. Rose’s family/ poor vs. rich) The link of a scene during dinner on the ship provides a good example of the different ways in which each side represented communicates and how their viewpoints are so differently shaped by their social economic status and cultures. This scene comprises a conversation between a socially marginalized individual and a socially prominent group of people and shows the conflict that results from the different perceptions of the two groups represented due to their conflicting standpoints.

vi3180306457

According to theorists Sandra Harding and Julia Wood, our “social groups within which we are located powerfully shape what we experience and know as well as how we understand and communication with ourselves, others, and the world.” In other words, how we view and think about the world around us is affected by our standpoint, a place from which to critically see the world. Our peers and social groups help develop how we perceive the world as well as how we function in it. Theorists believe that the inequalities of gender, race, class, and sexual orientation can be used to see how distinct perceptions and accounts of the world are created. In some cases of power and hierarchy, one does not necessarily need to have actual power over another, but there simply needs to be a perceived power among people. For example, children listen to their parents whenever they are told to do something. The option of not obeying the parents is always available; however there is a perceived power that the parents have over their children. The parents have the ability to punish them, such as grounding, but the children could ultimately rebel and not take the punishment. They have been raised to listen to their parents and to accept punishment, if given.

In their discussion on gender and communication, Harding and Wood overview the Standpoint Theory saying that “marginalized people provide less false views of the world than do the privileged perspectives of the powerful.” In other words, people who are born and raised in affluent sub-societies innately have a more biased view of the world and are less objective than someone who is not an upper class white male. Although they concede that not everyone within a social group has the same preferences and viewpoints, the theory seems to hold true in defining society on a macro scale. One example that perfectly illustrates the Standpoint Theory is the show South Park through the relationship of characters Cartman and Kenny. Cartman has been raised by a lenient mother and is fat, spoiled, and at many times diabolical. Though he is greedy, selfish, and intolerant of all races as a satire by the creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, their “big boned” protagonist is especially mean to his friend Kenny. Kenny is poorer than most of the children at school which nobody besides Cartman seems to care about; Kenny is funny and popular, while everyone hates Cartman. In one episode, Cartman gets his mother arrested and himself placed into a foster home because he does not understand how lucky his life is, assuming that foster children are better off since they don’t have any parents to tell them what to do. However, Cartman’s plan quickly backfires, and he realizes how difficult life is for those less fortunate than him-but only because he fears that others will make fun of him in the same way. In the end, Cartman does not learn a lesson, which is a recurring theme throughout the series; however, Parker and Stone make a strong statement and exemplify the Standpoint Theory, helping viewers reflect on their own perspectives of the world.

Cartman and Kenny

The Standpoint Theory of Harding and Wood claims that “one of the best ways to discover how the world works is to start the inquiry from the standpoint of women and other groups on the margins of society” (447). Further, a “standpoint is a place from which [one can] critically view the world” (447) around them. These theorists focus on women and minorities because they believe that “people at the top of the societal hierarchy are the ones privileged to define what it means to be” (451) a certain part of a culture. Thereby, Standpoint Theorists claim that marginalized groups such as women have much different concerns or experiences (Standpoints) than non-marginalized groups, and that these views are often ignored. Such claims of the Standpoint Theory are evidenced in the opposing views of American citizens and Amish people today. Many Americans believe that Amish peoples’ refusal to adopt new technologies makes them ignorant and stubborn in their opposition to change. However, the Amish themselves view their refusal to adopt technology as their commitment to their faith and an ability to refrain from evil temptation that will distract them from their responsibilities to God. Thereby, the American Standpoint represents the non-marginalized group, and fails to take into account the marginalized group’s beliefs. As well, this non-marginalized group has dismissed the Amish’s own views, as evidenced by the government’s legislation imposing rules on the Amish that they do not want, such as social security and mandatory schooling for children. In the documentary below, it is clear that the U.S. government and Amish leadership have significantly different standpoints, and that the marginalized group’s desires and beliefs have been ignored. Although long, the documentary is moving, so I strongly recommend it.

The Amish – A People of Preservation

Harding and Wood developed ‘Standpoint Theory,’ which explores how one’s knowledge and perspective is shaped by their individual, subjective experiences. The context determines how you see the world and yourself in relation to it. There are three primary tenets to this theory:

1. Knowledge is socially and societally determined

2. People in marginalized groups are more aware of marginalization than those who are not marginalized

3. It is necessary to consider and probe the marginalized experience in order to take all perspectives into account on a given topic or scenario

Those who implement ‘Standpoint Theory’ are trying to avoid bias and exclusion when approaching a certain issue or discussion. Some marginalized groups include women, slaves, and the poverty-stricken.

This theory is an attempt to make discourse more well-rounded, as opposed to the Have’s speaking on the Have-Not’s without consideration of their experience beforehand. Advertisements for orphanage and lost children foundations on television are exemplary of the Standpoint approach, as the view and positioning of the camera along with the scenes shown (a sad, wide-eyed child in rags with a malnourished frame) try to thrust the viewer (most likely more fortunate since they have access to television) into a small dosage of the poor child’s everyday view. This creates empathy and forces those who aren’t in that marginalized, ‘poor orphan’ group to see things from the child’s perspective.

Harding and Wood’s Standpoint Theory focuses on the concept that an individual’s standpoint, or viewpoint, affects their worldview. Furthering this claim, Standpoint Theory is the idea that our social groups immensely shape our experiences and knowledge in addition to how we communicate with ourselves and those around us. Harding and Wood put an emphasis on the connection between the specific times and locations in which our observations occur and the values and attitudes associated with them. An essential point within this theory is that the perspective from those who are less powerful are often more objective than the perspectives from those who are more powerful. Essentially, this is claiming that the standpoints of people in marginalized groups are often less partial than those in more dominant positions. For instance, in the movie Trading Places, two men, one from the streets and the other from a wealthy, high class business lifestyle, trade lives on a bet. Eddie Murphy’s character, the poor and uneducated man from the streets, is placed into a high voltage business environment and brings his “street smarts” to the job. At first, he was out of place and his past knowledge of life were not able to contribute to his brokerage job or new lifestyle because his prior social group shapes his communication skills and knowledge in a different direction. However, as the character became more accustomed to the ways of this lifestyle, his past experiences were able to positively contribute to his new job and the lifestyle of the wealthy elites, in a more partial manner than those he worked with.

Sandra Harding and Julia T. Wood are standpoint theorists who claim that “the social groups within which we are located powerfully shape what we experience and know as well as how we understand and communicate with ourselves, others, and the world.” They focus on the feminists standpoint and how previous theories have created a ready-made framework for advocating women’s way of knowing. Women are not a monolithic group but rather a marginalized group. Men tend to want more autonomy while women tend to want more connection. The differences in gender is not attributed to biology, material instinct, or institution of women, rather it is a result of cultural expectations and the treatment that each group receives from the other. Harding continues to show the importance of standpoint, claiming “the social group that gets the chance to define the important problematics, concepts, assumptions, and hypotheses in a field will end up leaving its social fingerprints on the picture of the world that emerges from the results of that field’s research process.” I appreciate Harding and Wood’s example of slavery for achieving a less false view of reality. As a marginalized group, the slaves would have a much more different “standpoint” on slavery than that of a slave owner. An example that comes to mind is a scene from Remember the Titans. Here we see the black football players refusing to go into a diner because they know they will be rejected because of their skin color and be publicly humiliated. The white football player has a different standpoint about going into the diner because he is not black and is quickly proven wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SpBYvVbjog

Standpoint Theory makes three key claims. The first claim is that knowledge is socially situated. The second claim states that marginalized groups are socially situated in ways that allowed them to be more aware than non-marginalized. The third pillar states that we need to examine the lives of the marginalized. Harding and Wood use the example of women as the marginalized group. By starting research from the lives of women and other marginalized groups, we can get a less false view of reality. They also use the example of slavery. Slaves, being the marginalized group, would have a radically different viewpoint on a book about slavery over a slave owner. Another example could be welfare. The marginalized groups, or welfare recipients, utilize welfare such as food stamps to survive. The people who structure welfare, however, have probably never used any type of welfare. By understanding the viewpoint of welfare recipients we can gain knowledge on the issue.

Genderlect Styles is defined as “a term suggesting that masculine and feminine styles of discourse are best viewed as two distinct cultural dialects.” Tanner believes that masculine and feminine communication styles differ in that females seek connection whereas men seek status and independence. To further explain her theory, she breaks down communication into rapport tall and report talk. Report Talk, characterized by men, look to give information and seek control over the conversation. Rapport Talk, associated with women, tries to seek emotional connection with others. The popular film Billy Madison demonstrates this theory. Billy starts yelling when his maid won’t give him his snack pack. He dominates the conversation by yelling.

Snack Pack

Standpoint Theory is a theory about the cultural context claimed by Sandra Harding and Julia T. Wood. Standpoint is a place from which to critically view the world that determines what we focus on as well as what is obscured from us. One important argument within this theory is that the perspective from the lives of the less powerful can provide a more objective view than the perspective from the lives of the more powerful. In other words, standpoints of marginalized groups are less partial, distorted, and false than those in dominant positions. One example I come up with is the movie Dallas Buyers Club. In this movie, we could view a big contrast between the standpoint of FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and members of “Dallas Buyers Club”, who are all AIDS patients. The FDA restricted the official use of AZT, an antiretroviral drugwhich is thought to prolong the life of AIDS patients, because they think it still needs more test. However, all AIDS patients starved for this medicine, because they want to live longer, even though it is not guaranteed.