Feminist Ethics

Abstract

"There are some phrases in common currency among pastoral counsellors: 'He's intellectualizing; 'She's speaking from the head'; 'You were retreating into the cognitive'. The words the pastor was hearing may have been true in the sense that they refer with some accuracy to external events. They may be rational and moral, summarizing conventional wisdom. They may be relevant to the current situation of the speaker. But the counsellor is aware of a mismatch. The words are in deep contradiction to the feelings of the speaker about the situation. The real response appears to be something like panic, rage, naked grief or unholy glee, feelings possibly so frightening to the speaker that he or she is barely conscious of them. Words which express them are being censored out of the conversation and yet the feelings leak through. From bodily signals or verbal hints the listener deduces what is being said does not ring true. It is not coming from the heart; the client is not being real"