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Women, “False” Memory, and Personal Identity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2020

Sue Campbell
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Abstract

We contest each other's memory claims all the time. I am concerned with how the contesting of memory claims and narratives may be an integral part of many abusive situations. I use the writings of Otto Weininger and the False Memory Syndrome Foundation to explore a particular strategy of discrediting women as rememberers, making them more vulnerable to sexual harm. This strategy relies on the presentation of women as unable to maintain a stable enough sense of self or identity to be trustworthy testifiers to their own harm.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Hypatia , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , Spring 1997, pp. 51 - 82
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 by Hypatia, Inc.

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