We began class by doing a Mood Check and going over some course business. Quiz 3 on Manne and Misogyny is due by midnight on Monday, November 11. Blog 3 is due by midnight on Wednesday, November 13. Blog 3 comments are due by midnight on Wednesday, November 20. Three comments as usual! Dr. Gallegos also reminded us of our guest speaker, Michelle Maiese, who spoke in class on Thursday, November 7. I unfortunately missed that class. But for preparation, we were to read one of her articles and come to class with one question. Then, we got into Sara Ahmed and The Promise of Happiness.
On page 1, Ahmed establishes that happiness is whatever it is that people want. Happiness is not one specific thing, everyone wishes to achieve happiness. Many even believe that happiness is what you desire or the end game. But Ahmed takes a more Aristotilian approach to happiness and says that it is about getting more than substance- what does happiness do?
Happiness is used to redescribe social norms as social goods. Ahmed does not give a direct definition of social goods but I likened it to Kate Manne’s idea of female-coded goods and male-coded goods. Something in a certain situation is expected to be given. So, you’re expected to give happiness, a social good, to be a part of a social norm. Everyone should be happy. Everyone should want the good life. Laura brought up the example of the diet industry. The diet industry has this appeal to them, but in order to achieve the look they are selling (happiness), you have to put yourself through misery, and no one wants to do that.And ultimately, the loss of weight by misery does not equal happiness.
Dylan then lead us into Ahmed’s goal and project in the book. Which is ultimately, if we dismantle the system of happiness, people will be hurt and still unhappy, to make a more just world, although that does not mean a more just world, and often times we do not know how we feel. Our attachment to the good life is a site of ambivalence. We never want to see the bad.
Finally, Dylan closed our discussion with the question of, “What is the point of a just world if there’s less happiness?” Dylan said that we see justice as a way of flourishing, which is ultimately happiness. I suggest that maybe we take an ameliorative approach to how we view happiness. What do we get from it? What’s the point of this term? Maybe we need to create a new concept of happiness in order to pose solutions.
