Hypatia Redux: Three stories of silencing academic women

Abstract

I want to tell the stories of three women who believed they had freedom they didn’t have. Together, their stories show us something about freedom of speech and academic freedom-that these are not disembodied, universally available rights, but forms of social power, a “power to”-available to individuals depending on their perceived acquiescence or resistance to those in possession of political “power over.” A number of factors can determine an individuals access to these powers: the persons ascriptive characteristics (race, gender, gender conformity, sexuality, religion); the degree to which their ideas seem politically threatening; and whether their social position grants them authority that amplifies the threat their ascriptive characteristics and ideas pose to the social order preferred by those in positions of greater power. Each of these stories shows how when a regressive political faction is seeking to expand its political control, women who resist its agenda are removed from positions of influence.