[lbo-talk] Feminism and the False Memory Syndrome

[Stephen E Philion]

J Brown wrote: 
“I agree with Jesse that this is all getting very abstract.  In order to say 
that Bettina is having 'false memory syndrome' you'd also have to claim that 
she's lying that as an adult she spoke to her father about the abuse, and he 
apologized--was sick with shame, actually, is the feeling you get from her 
account.  So it's not just false memory syndrome she'd be being accused of, it's 
also a wholesale fabrication of her adult interaction with her father about it.  
“

----It’s not abstract at all (Just ask Damon Nichols --      http://www.wm3.org   -- on death row because of fears of and ‘memories’ of Satanic Ritual Sex Abuse).  One can be completely convinced their accusations are true and be filled with all kinds of grizzly details.  Think of how many countless vets tell tales of horrors they encountered fighting in war, completely disproportionate to the actual number of soldiers who actually have been on battle lines.  Or think of the huge number of Vietnam Vets who ‘recovered’ memories of being ‘spat on’ during the Vietnam War --  http://counterpunch.org/philion10132006.html

And James is right, the mythology based 'repressed memory syndrome' and the general sense of panic around issues sexual in the US are used to primarily bolster the power of an anti-working class police apparatus. 

Steve

Stephen Philion
Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
St. Cloud State University
http://www.stcloudstate.edu/sociology/faculty/philion.asp

 
http://tcalsc.blogspot.com/

Stephen Philion
Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
St. Cloud State University
St. Cloud, MN

http://stephenphilion.efoliomn2.com/