one more, then I'll leave the blog to you.

http://webs.wofford.edu/hitchmoughsa/Writing.html

Today's class follow up

I wanted to follow up a bit on Sosi's great question -

why does Butler want to dismantle the notion of "sex" as a fact or truth -why does she want to think of identity, at this very fundamental level, as also constructed rather than innate.

I think that when we consider men and women as stable entities, even if we layer "constructed gender" over them, we maintain an idea of there being a "norm" on top of which there can be deviation or disruption. Butler wants to argue that when we consider people or behaviors that fall outside of the norm as "disruptions" or "deviations" we do so as a way to STABILIZE, rather than truly dismantle, the concept of the norm to begin with. If transgendered or otherly-gendered, or non-normatively gendered (or non-normatively desiring) people are not to be considered as "other," as merely "disruptions," then we must get rid of the whole notion of there being stable norms from which some might deviate.

The very radical notion at the base of her theory is the that any faith we have in a stable immutable identity is false. All aspects of identity are constructed, or better, in the process of being constructed. Thus, we perform selves at all times. This allows for a kind of agency, but it also does not allow for a concrete self who is "doing" the performance. Very destabilizing indeed. And very different from, say, playing a part, or pretending.

Also, I'm going to the experts with the question about the difference b/w Cixous and Irigaray. I will let you know what I find out, if anything, from my colleagues. If you wish to read further on either of these thinkers, you might begin by going to JSTOR where you will find essays that date from the mid 70s to the present. From our reading, Irigaray is more concerned with redefining female sexuality and female subjectivity, in rethinking Lacanian theory from a feminist perspective. Cixous's work includes a this as well, but presses forward into thinking about writing itself, thinks about how feminine writing can work to express feminine subjectivity and in doing so become a site of liberation. We will understand this idea more deeply as we read into Kristeva.

Julie

Wiki Fa'afafine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fa'afafine

Here's what wiki has to say about Fa'afafine.  More later.

The Relevant Medusa

While reading the assigned material for tomorrow's class, I found this small part particularly interesting:

Besides, you’ve written a little, but in secret. And it wasn’t good, because it was in secret, and because you punished yourself for writing, because you didn’t go all the way; or because you wrote, ir- resistibly, as when we would masturbate in secret, not to go further, but to attenuate the tension a bit, just enough to take the edge off. And then as soon as we come, we go and make ourselves feel guilty – so as to be forgiven; or to forget, to bury it until the next time.

A close friend of mind also explained to me how she felt that the purpose of woman is fundamentally to do things for others, rather than to enjoy what it is she is doing. The concept of the masturbation and the idea of guilt and what is acceptable in those realms of our society reminded me(strangely) of the film industry. A perfect example is the recent release of the movie Bridesmaids. Essentially, this movie is the women's version of the movie the Hangover, and a resounding majority of my friends enjoyed the Hangover more than Bridesmaids. Just to be more statistically correct, I checked rotten tomatoes review as well, and while 80% voted they enjoyed Bridesmaids, 87% voted that they enjoyed the Hangover. This concept of dirty humor and what is acceptable for the woman still remains in our society years after these theorists and feminists wrote about it. Women are supposed to feel uncomfortable in the presence of crude humor-it's a guy thing. Even Roger Ebert thinks so:

Yet the movie has a heart. It heals some wounds, restores some hurt feelings, confesses some secrets, and in general, ends happily, which is just as well, because although there are many things audiences will accept from women in a comedy, ending miserably is not one of them. That may be sexist, but there you are.

Supplemental Notley (that won't cause you to think in quotes and a strange cadence for the rest of the day)

Since we're reading Alice Notley this week I wanted to share one of my favorite poems of hers, which can be found in her book Mysteries of Small Houses. It's markedly different from her writing in The Descent of Alette, but I think that it's still relevant to our class. Enjoy!

As Good as Anything

I don't see the point of

remembering you; you're too boring,

Iowa City, Iowa,

much duller topologically than

Needles, California. I'm here

in the Rebel Motel, with

my grape-colored sweater

and maté tea, whose smoky odor's

bound up with first rooms and foods here

sex and snow I

write about Needles

Herman and rocks, the story's called

"As Good as Anything," and in it

daft Herman--true local

of Needles--says

"Rocks is as good as anything."

I figured that out summer after

first love affair in New York:

hung out, home, at a rock shop

inspecting geodes and thunder eggs

Arsenic samples and petrified

dinosaur dung.

What can I say about Iowa City

everyone's an academic poetry

groupie, I haven't yet written a poem,

there's a bar where for 25 cents a

meal of boiled egg and tiny beer

Really I don't know what kind of poetry--

what's the name of the make they

use here--or what kinds of

poetry live people write in the world.

Is there a right and wrong poetry, one might

still ask as I patronize,

retrospectively, the Iowa style,

characterized, as I remember,

by the assumtion of desperation

boredom behind two-story houses

divorce, incomes, fields, pigs

getting into pants, well not really

in poems, well no "well"s and all

in the costive mode

of men who--and the suicidal women--

want to be culpable for something,

settle for being mean to their wives

and writing dour stanzas. God this is bitchy

I modeled for art class

that's rather interesting

the hypocrisy nobody needs

to paint nude women

they just like to. So here I am

naked for art, which is a lot of

dumb fucks I already know,

same with poetry

Written and judged Those befoibled guys

who think--you know--

the poetic moment's a pocket in

pool; where I can publish it; what can

I do to my second or third wife now

Nothing happens in Iowa, so

Can I change myself here? Yes

I can start to become contemptuous

is that good or bad, probably bad.

In New York I'd developed a philosophy

of sympathy and spiritual equality

out the window, easily, upon

my first meeting of real assholes.

"A rock's as good as anything"

there are no rocks in Iowa

shit black soil, a tree or two,

no mountain or tall edifice

University drabs, peeping Tom's, anti-war

riots, visiting poets

treated like royalty, especially if

they fuck the locals or have a record

of fighting colorfully with their wives.

You can go to the movies once a week,

like in Needles. You can fuck

a visiting poet; you can be paraded before

a visiting poet as fuckable but not fuck.

You can write your first poems

thinking you might as well

since the most stupid people in the universe

are writing their five hundredth here.

I'm doing that now What

difference does it make.

I like my poems. They're

as good as rocks.

-Alice Notley

As a precursor to the video posted below: the girl making these videos appears fairly young as sounds pretty rehearsed. However, she raises some interesting points and this one in particular (Tropes vs. Women: #6 The Straw Feminist) ties particularly well to a lot of our earlier conversations from this class.

My best friend from forever ago was home two weekends ago so we met for breakfast one morning to catch up. I started explaining to her about this class and she responded by telling me about these videos. She told me that one of her friends from college is, what she would describe, as a textbook definition of a "feminist". This led to an interesting conversation about what exactly it means to be a "feminist" and societal problems regarding this taboo term (our conversation essentially mirrored a lot of what was said during the first week of school in class). Anyway, she said that her "radically feminist" friend from back home had introduced her to these videos and, while they are nothing particularly impressive academically, the creator of the videos (FeministFrequency) does have some interesting statistics and information regarding the other side of society, the side where women are still struggling with minor (and sometimes major) everyday oppression and where feminism therefore is a necessity.

I skimmed all the videos and they were interesting enough, particularly the one about "The Smurfette". However, when I went back over the weekend to check it out again, she had posted a new one (which is the one I attached below) that I found to be particularly relevant to our class so I thought I would share. Her point about Hollywood's creation of television societies where gender inequality is nonexistent was actually something I had not previously considered. Her best example of this, I think is when she analyzes the 90s television show "The Powerfuff Girls" and highlights the character "Fem-fatal", the villain in this particular episode, who is a radical feminist, with the scientific sign for woman as the primary feature of her costume and with some realistic points about women in society.

Another character she highlights as a "straw feminist" is Phil and Lil's mom from "Rugrats" who also has the scientific woman sign radically displayed on her sweatshirt. This something I completely missed as a child but what does it say about society that we let Hollywood and others who control these major media industries display women in these tainted lights?? If anything, the video shows an interesting clip at the very end where an older woman delicately lectures a younger woman about the real definition of feminism after the younger woman states: "I'm no feminist."

For TOmorrow!!

Hi all

I noticed an error not he syllabus. I want you to read "The Laugh of the Medusa" as well as the Judith Butler in your anthology (pg. 278). The Cixous is here:

http://lavachequilit.typepad.com/files/cixous-read.pdf

The link on your syllabus is for Firestone. We'll tackle that later.

And thanks Kevin for the post and Sosi for the Plath poem. Keep posting everyone!

I guess that I've had my head buried in the sand for the past while ... I've hardly even heard of most of the products and services written about in the links from the "how not to to talk about vaginas" post below. I find this quote from the first article quite compelling, in a good way ...

"Yet Nancy Jarecki, founder of pubic hair dye producer Bettybeauty Inc., insists her company is doing women a favor. "When I came out with it, there was this kind of burst of 'Oh my god, you solved our problem. I didn't realize how much gray hair was down there,'" Jarecki said.

"Jarecki didn't solve our problem—she created it. Before vaginal hair dye, these women hadn't previously considered potential flaws in the color profile of their pubic hair. That's a good thing"

This brings me back to our reading from the first chapter of the feminine mystique, especially where Friedan talks about the ridiculous content of media aimed at women. With the female body it seems as though no area of it is sacred, as every square inch has some special product or service that can be bought to 'enhance' it, or better yet, to 'correct' it.

And so, products are invented, and suddenly the problems follow, conjured out of thin air.

The video above is pulled from the second link mentioned from the same post below. The commercial is for some sort of soap or perfume, though even that isn't immediately clear. The ad looks like a promo for an upcoming movie or video game, targeted at young adults, but it is not. While the men battle it out, the women passively look on as though they are trophies to be won. In this I see some of what Luce Irigaray is talking about in This Sex Which is Not One where she writes, "Woman ... is only a more or less obliging prop for the enactment of man's fantasies. That she may find pleasure there in that role, by proxy, is possible, even certain. But such a pleasure is above all a masochistic prostitution of her body to a desire that is not her own". This commercial looks as though it speaks right to that.

Pursuit

I know we have already gone over a good deal of Sylvia Plath's work, but I find her to be such a beautiful writer, that I can never leave her work unread for very long. I was thumbing back through our Collected Poems book and found an early poem of her's called Pursuit.

Dans le fond des forêts votre image me suit.

RACINE

There is a panther stalks me down:

One day I'll have my death of him;

His greed has set the woods aflame,

He prowls more lordly than the sun.

Most soft, most suavely glides that step,

Advancing always at my back;

From gaunt hemlock, rooks croak havoc:

The hunt is on, and sprung the trap.

Flayed by thorns I trek the rocks,

Haggard through the hot white noon.

Along red network of his veins

What fires run, what craving wakes?

Insatiate, he ransacks the land

Condemned by our ancestral fault,

Crying: blood, let blood be spilt;

Meat must glut his mouth's raw wound.

Keen the rending teeth and sweet

The singeing fury of his fur;

His kisses parch, each paw's a briar,

Doom consummates that appetite.

In the wake of this fierce cat,

Kindled like torches for his joy,

Charred and ravened women lie,

Become his starving body's bait.

Now hills hatch menace, spawning shade;

Midnight cloaks the sultry grove;

The black marauder, hauled by love

On fluent haunches, keeps my speed.

Behind snarled thickets of my eyes

Lurks the lithe one; in dreams' ambush

Bright those claws that mar the flesh

And hungry, hungry, those taut thighs.

His ardor snares me, lights the trees,

And I run flaring in my skin;

What lull, what cool can lap me in

When burns and brands that yellow gaze?

I hurl my heart to halt his pace,

To quench his thirst I squander blook;

He eats, and still his need seeks food,

Compels a total sacrifice.

His voice waylays me, spells a trance,

The gutted forest falls to ash;

Appalled by secret want, I rush

From such assault of radiance.

Entering the tower of my fears,

I shut my doors on that dark guilt,

I bolt the door, each door I bolt.

Blood quickens, gonging in my ears:

The panther's tread is on the stairs,

Coming up and up the stairs.

It is a much more overt poem than the other work we have read, but the power of the language really captures me. The panther as an image for patriarchy is frightening. It makes me think of the battle against, as Plath puts it "ancestral fault". The feminist struggle has such deep roots, so as to be traced back to the way humans were in pre-civilization. The panther is a terrifying predator (any thoughts on an essentialist argument at play here?) At the end, the speaker has a tragic acceptance when the voice "waylays me, spells a trance". Her "dark guilt" is within her submission to the panther's predacity. But still it wants more. It wants to puncture the room in which she has locked herself in. The last line is chilling and foreboding. What do you think of this poem? Any readings that differ from mine?

Also, does anyone know what the quote at the beginning means?

Poetry Reading

Hey All,

In my google search to learn more about Barbara Guest, I stumbled upon a sound archive of her poetry, and thought maybe you all would like to hear one of the readings:

http://mediamogul.seas.upenn.edu/pennsound/authors/Guest/Red-Gaze/Guest-Barbara_21_Red-Gaze_4-7-04.mp3

this is the link to the actual archive

http://jacketmagazine.com/25/guest-red.html

Enjoy!

"How Not to Talk About Vaginas"

Came across these articles today. Thought it would be interesting to share with the class. It is interesting how something can be, at once, viewed as both a step forward and a step back for women. Any thoughts?

I found this article--"How Not to Talk About Vaginas"--on a general news blog:

http://www.good.is/post/how-not-to-talk-about-vaginas/?utm_content=headline&utm_medium=hp_carousel&utm_source=slide_3

This is the article that it is referring to. Also worth checking out.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hTvcpw5KATBbvC7WXcvDsWXb53RQ?docId=26f0e8c4fa2d44a589f0afcdeea2dd3d

Tide: Then and Now

I enjoyed reading Ana's post and watching the videos below. I've studied sexism in Disney movies before and it's incredible to see how children can learn about men and women's roles through films.

I'm also glad that she mentioned commercials. I've been thinking about how men and women are portrayed in advertisements since starting this class and I think it is and has been one of the main perpetrators of sexism in our society. I've been glad to see some companies employing men in the "traditional women's role" like in cleaning commercials, etc. However, the harder I study these the more I am realizing that women still dominate the role of homemaker in these ads.

Check out these two Tide detergent commercials, one from the 1950s and one from 2011.

The image of woman being a homemaker is maintained throughout 60 years of advertisements. With all the work the feminist movement has done to get women out of this role, or at least to stop them from being portrayed to society in this limited way, it seems that she should have grown out of this illustration by now. Yet, even today, Tide continues to perpetuate the image of a perfect mother, wife, and homemaker though their commercials.

Even worse is the way the little girl is depicted in the 2011 commercial. The mother, clad in a conservative pink sweater and skirt, complete with a brown bob, is ashamed that her daughter has not followed in her footsteps into "femininity." Instead of pink skirts, the girl opts for hoodies and camo and building car garages out of blocks. The ad portrays her in such a way that she is wrong for wanting this, that she is not feminine enough like she should be--like her mother is.

My question is, is our society actually advancing with advertisements? Are women being portrayed any differently than they were 60 years ago? Are we at a standstill? Or are we, in fact, moving backward?

Thank You, Disney.

Reading all these feminist texts, not to mention listing daily instances of patriarchy has really made me take notice all the implications of gender in society. I knew it existed, but never really thought about how deeply ingrained it is within society. I've begun to notice it more than anything in the media. As "modern" as we are in the western world, there are still many, many gender stereotypes and stigmas all over the place.

Lately, I've noticed every commercial for cleaning products or food preparation is targeted at middle-aged women with children while every car commercial or fast food chain is highly masculinized.

Then there's the TV shows themselves, movies, magazines (both men and women's seem to be equally exploitative), music (rap, obviously) and the list goes on. So if anyone thought before this class that sexism and gender politics didn't have a impact on daily life, then you may have never turned on a TV, read a magazine, a book, or turned on a computer.

As were learning to talk and walk, and tie our shoes just barely beginning to learn the ways of the world and we were left unattended by our parents under the watchful eye of our favorite Disney movie. These movies made us believe the world was a happy place where animals talk and genies and fairy godmothers exist, you can learn to fly all the while singing in tune, we were being molded and influenced by the ideas of gender.

If you grew up on Disney movies like I did, you can probably relate to this.

This one's just for fun:

Guide to Finding a Man according to--no not Cosmo, Disney.

Disney has ultimately taught us the ways of life. to find a prince "pretend you don't care that he's a prince", "Act scared of him" ,"befriend animals" "trust EVERYONE" , "pretend like your dead" and most importantly "Save your first kiss in case of an emergency".

To sum up,

if you can’t sing, are a bad sewer, or hate animals, you may die alone.

Kathleen Hanna to the rescue

Confession: Even though I identify as a feminist (or perhaps because I identify as a feminist), thinking about feminism as much as I have been lately really gets me down. I find the opposing discourses within the feminist movement confusing at best, and oftentimes downright discouraging. One minute I'm reading bell hooks and completely agreeing about the necessity of feminist theory as the foundation of the feminist movement, but next thing I know I'm out in the world and I find that theory is of little use to me in my daily life, despite the fact that I am actively participating in a struggle to end oppression. And what about the women who advocate feminism without ever having access to theory - working class women for instance? Is a woman who works to support her family and who advocates for her rights daily in the face of patriarchy not a feminist if she never went to college or heard of bell hooks? This is the kind of thing that wears me down.

Whenever I feel discouraged about feminism (or just about anything, really) I listen to Le Tigre's song "Hot Topic." I think it addresses both of the issues I mentioned above - that is, conflicting feminist viewpoints as well as the practical matter of the accessibility of theory. The lyrics are essentially just a list of writers and artists who have influenced feminist discourse throughout its various permutations over the course of time. To me, Le Tigre seems to be acknowledging the tension between different generations and factions of feminists, and then dismissing it. That's not to say that they are dismissing the individual viewpoints of any of the feminists mentioned; to the contrary, Le Tigre is confirming the validity of feminist thought across a broad spectrum. Everyone on the list is influential in her or his (or their) own way. And as a third wave feminist band shouting out the names of notable feminists, Le Tigre exposes its (younger) feminist audience to its foremothers and encourages fans to learn more.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9z0bUK-gQk

I've just finished reading Jean Rhys' Good Morning, Midnight and i'm finding it incredibly interesting especially in the context of this class. The main character has undergone many internal battles that directly replicate what we've discussed as instances of patriarchal dominance. I found one quote towards the end of the book particularly interesting," The corners of his mouth go down when he says 'femme' (Hatred or fear?) Les femmes - he doesn't trust them, they are capable of anything."(Rhys 138) I feel as though we haven't really addressed this issue since the first day of class when we discussed the 'general aversion' to feminism. I suppose it's hard to 'put feelings into other peoples heads', however I wonder what most of our theorists/feminists would say when asked where they think that patriarchal dominance comes from: hatred or fear or both? Or maybe neither?

The Egg and the Sperm

http://www.visibleworld.net/cupajane/articles_people/martin.pdf.

In The Egg and the Sperm, Martin deconstructs scientific discourse, which has caused stereotypes between men and women. Martin argues that stereotypes between sexes are created before the sperm and egg meet in the uterus, therefore before a human is even created. This is because of the discourse used by science to describe the process of conception. Science has constructed the passivity of females and activity of males through cultural stereotypes. The way we talk about conception is that the sperm penetrates and the egg takes. Martin questions this "process" and argues that the egg actually allows the sperm to come in rather than to completely dominate. 

Hello. I was wondering if anyone would be on campus later tonight (after 830) or tomorrow morning (before 930) and would allow me to either borrow or photocopy the Iriragay. It would help me out considerably!

Last night I watched the film "Fat Girl" that Winn recommended in an earlier post. In doing some light research (that is, a few google searches) it seems that the writer and director, Catherine Breillet, has faced controversy over the way she depicts sex within her films, particularly the violence involved. Since most people haven't seen the film I won't detail the content here, but I'd rather like to address it's depiction of sexual violence. Throughout the film I kept thinking of Lorde's distinction between the erotic and the pornographic. Catherine Breillet's film is not categorically a pornographic film, and while it still includes explicit sex, it really doesn't go beyond any untraversed boundaries (at least not for a European film). I think the controversy lies in the films overall thematic bent towards focusing on the violence that's connected with sex. Breillet draws attention to the violence and this takes all the fun out of the way sex in film is typically enjoyed by viewers. And now the film is controversial because people feel a slightly unnerving implication that they may in fact enjoy something they principally reject.

I suppose this thought doesn't directly segue into Lorde's articulation of the erotic, but her essay was on my mind during my viewing of the film. I think the controversy that surrounds a work that is explicitly sexual, but deviates from our standard depiction of sex in such a way as to call attention to that standard, illuminates an unspoken line society draws between what is hot (for lack of an ability to use erotic in it's colloquial sense now) and what is profane. And it seems the drawing of that line has a lot to do with the thinking about sex. Which reminds me of the part of Lorde's essay that talks about the necessary "looking away" that those of the european-american tradition need to do when satisfying their erotic needs. She writes: "To refuse to be conscious of what we are feeling at any time, however comfortable that might seem, is to deny a large part of the experience, and to allow ourselves to be reduced to the pornographic, the abused, and the absurd." I think that "Fat Girl" puts the viewer in the uncomfortable position of either thinking of their own relationship to sexual violence in film, or of refusing to consider it and feeling reduced to the absurd.

It's a great film, I definitely recommend it to everyone too.

Hannah Weiner.

I just discovered an awesome archive of one of my favorite female poets, the seldom-mentioned Hannah Weiner. HERE. Hard to find this stuff in book form.

I especially recommend the Clairvoyant Journals. Basically Hannah going crazy in paginated form. She had hallucinations of words floating around on peoples faces and on buildings, etc. She called it clairvoyance, I think the doctors called it schizophrenia, but really it's just poetry.

Jessica Valenti, author of _Full Frontal Feminism_

I couldn't help but share this disheartening article that I ran into this week while researching.  The article, entitled "How the web became a sexists' paradise," sheds light on some of the issues of anonymity on the web.  In many areas of the internet, responsibility for one's opinions is limited or non-existent, which is enough motivation for people to write whatever they want, no matter how harmful or ignorant.  This article does a great job of laying out some of the extremes of such a notion in relation to feminism.

The Guardian "How the web became a sexists' paradise"

Feminism and Art

Anyone interested in pursuing this topic for a paper perhaps -here's a bunch of info and links, curtesy of my sister, an art historian:

I am pretty sure the Guerilla
Girls are still at it on and off. See their recent
work:http://www.guerrillagirls.com/posters/index.shtml

The Sackler Center for Feminist Art is also an excellent resource. They have a
terrific digital slide library. You might give them a call and let them know
your situation and questions, and see if they can help.
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/about/staff.php

There's 2 key moments in feminism as it's been theorized art-historically:
"feminist art", associated with the 1970s (read as "essentialist" by its
critics); and its critique in the later 1970s and 80s (from a
deconstructionist/post-structuarlist perspective)

There are a few key texts that articulate this shift:
Lucy Lippard, a key figure initially associated with the former, wrote a great
retrospective discussion of changing ideas: see her, . “Both Sides Now: A
Reprise.” in The Pink Glass Swan: Selected Essays on Feminist Art (Routledge,
2003)
Helen Molesworth's amazing essay, “House Work and Art Work.” October vol. 92
(Spring, 2000): 71-97, which talks about (and shows important connections
between) the two works often upheld as the key examples of "essentialist" and
"poststructuralist" feminism: Judy Chicago's "Dinner Party" (visit the Sackler
Center for Feminist art website for pics), and Mary Kelly's "Post-Partum
Document"

A more challenging essay from the poststructuralist point of view, see the essay
by Craig Owens (one of my favorite art historians, who died of AIDS) “The
Discourse of Others: Feminists and Postmodernism.” In Hal Foster, The
Anti-Aesthetic (Bay Press, 1983).

Another awesome resource for images and some texts is the major exhibition
catalog "Wack!: Art and the Feminist Revolution" (MIT Press, 2007).

For more recent perspectives see:
Global Feminisms: New Directions in Contemporary Art. (exh. cat) Brooklyn
Museum, 2007
and the book by Catherine de Zegher and Carol Armstrong, Women Artists at the
Millenium, MIT Press, 2006

Hope this helps!

some less graphic films.

Since y'all expressed distaste for my movie suggestions, I thought I'd quickly mention a couple great films by female directors.

Vagabond (Sans toit ni loi). http://www.criterion.com/films/245-vagabond

Agnés Varda's best known film, probably because it is not only her best film, but probably the best film of the late/post-Nouvelle Vague. A really dense study of a female drifter and enfant terrible. It's poetry, it's great, I swear.

other good movies by her: Cleo From 5 to 7, La Pointe Courte, The Gleaners and I.

Sweetie. http://www.criterion.com/films/749-sweetie

Seriously dysfunctional domestic situations ingeniously crafted by Jane Campion. The incredible jump cuts and highly sophisticated compositions are worth it alone if the hilarity isn't.

1977 poetry

You all must watch these! If you really want to know what poetry and feminism was like in the seventies, these videos will give you some clues. Watch especially Eileen Myles, Alice Notley, and Bernadette Mayer. And COUNT - how many men in these films, how many women?

http://poetryproject.org/history/public-access-poetry

Feminist Art Movement

The post about the Guerrilla Girls piqued my interest in the role that feminism has played in the arts. Here's another example of the group's work:

It is true that one of the many arenas of patriarchal society where women are oppressed is the arts. I personally think that women have a lot of potential to overcome oppression in this area. Like Audre Lorde wrote in her essay, "Poetry Is Not a Luxury," women need to be able to express themselves and, more importantly, have the ability to be heard.

I did a little research on the Feminist Art Movement that started in the U.S. in the 1970s. It was mostly a reaction to the underrepresentation of women in the male-dominated Art Workers' Coalition (AWC). From this resistance, various protests and rallies emerged, as well as the first Feminist Art program at Cal State Fresno. Feminist Art questioned the universality of the male experience in art. There has been a lot of controversy over what exactly Feminist Art is and what it has done for feminism. Some female artists even rejected feminist readings of their art.

One of the main questions that has arisen from this movement is: Does Feminist Art criticism further marginalize women in the art world? I think this is an important question to address, especially in the context of this class that critiques poetry in light of feminist politics.

To read more about the Feminist Art Movement, click here.

Guerilla Girls

Asked in an interview to name some active feminist role models, Kate Millet names the "Guerrilla Girls", who are responsible for producing the poster above.

"The Guerilla Girls are feminist masked avengers in the tradition of anonymous do-gooders like Robin Hood, Wonder Woman and Batman. We use facts, humor and outrageous visuals to expose sexism, racism and corruption in politics, art, film and pop culture. We undermine the idea of a mainstream narrative in visual culture by revealing the understory, the subtext, the forgotten, the overlooked, the understated and the downright unfair."

-- (from http://www.guerrillagirls.com/press/ourstory.shtml)

When asked about "blatant sexism in the arts", Kate Millett's response "why do we have the Guerrilla Girls? There's a lot of sexism in the arts, especially in the United States" provides a viewpoint that, at least from my perspective, I would say I am "aware of", but when I thought about a recent visit to the Met, in truth it wasn't even something that I had considered (likewise in other venues as well).

Under the "Posters/Actions" link from the "Guerrilla Girls" website, it is clear that this phenomenon occurs worldwide. Groups like the "Guerrilla Girls" provide an interesting perspective on this topic through their unique activism.

Freud's penis envy

Everyone, as you will be reading Irigaray soon, next week, please take a moment to familiarize yourself or review Freud's theories of psychosexual development. Penis envy, the Oedipal Complex, the Electra Complex. You can find ample material online- or if you have a general anthology of theory, you'll find material there. I'm assuming you all have been exposed to Freudian theory before - but if not, please take the time to educate yourself.

Black Feminism

Sorry I know this is past the deadline for tonight's post but I really wanted to share this. Last semester I took a class on black power which touched on the issue of black feminism as its own movement, separate from both black power and feminism. It was really interesting to me to compare this to what we are studying now. This idea of separation between black and white women is portrayed in hooks' article in which feminism is unclear of who its actually helping.

The experience of black women is very different and unique, thus as this movement claims, they need their own voice and representation. With that we read Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf which I found to be a very powerful book of poetry that spoke directly to this dilemma. It is actually titled as a "choreopoem" in that it is really meant to be performed.
However, despite the title, I found it is very relatable to all women as it discusses many issues such as rape, abortion, relationships etc. that women of all colors experience. It is also a very interesting medium of expression. The intensity of the poems themselves portray all these issues in a strong and beautiful way. I enjoyed reading it but I imagine the performance of the poems is a completely different experience.

It actually made its way into a movie made by Tyler Perry recently, which at first I was really skeptical but was surprised at how well he pulled it off..it turned out much better than I would've expected it to. Definitely an interesting concept, a lot of the poems are recited in their entirety through out the story so Shange's language and tone is still beautifully captured. Anyway, I thought this would be interesting to pertain to this class as we've been looking at a lot of feminism and poetry from the perspective of white middle-class women (plath, friedan, etc.) This on the other hand provides the dilemma of being a minority and a woman and realizes why they may feel the need to have their own separate movement, questioning who is speaking for them?

i can't hear anything
but maddening screams
& the soft strains of death
& you promised me
you promised me...
somebody/anybody
sing a black girl's song
bring her out
to know herself
to know you
but sing her rhythms
carin/struggle/ hard times
sing her song of life
she's been dead so long
closed in silence so long
she doesn't know the sound
of her own voice
her infinite beauty

she's half-notes scattered
without rhythm/ no tune
sing her sighs
sing the song of her possibilities
sing a righteous gospel
let her be born
let her be born
& handled warmly


"Being alive and being a woman is all I got, but being colored is a metaphysical dilemma I haven't conquered yet."

The movie preview:



You can also find some performances of the play on youtube.

Earliest Influences...

Since the beginning of the semester, I've been carting around a collections of poems by the Greek poet Sappho, given to me by a friend that thought it might in some way pertain to the class. The video below is to a reading and (strange) interpretation of Sylvia Plath's poem "Lesbos", which shares the name of the famous Aegean island that Sappho called home more than two thousand years ago. Plath called Sappho "first among her rivals for poetic fame".

Enjoy!

The Definition of "Erotica"

From dictionary.reference.com

Passion:

1. Any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as lover or hate.

2. Strong amorous feelings or desire; love; ardo

3. Strong sexual desire; lust

4. An instance or experience of strong love or sexual desire

5. A person towards whom one feels strong love or sexual desire

I became an English major for the simple fact that I love words. Since high school, I have had a "passion" for writing because I think every thought, feeling, and abstract concept has a specific word that precisely and directly captures the author's meaning. This was a lesson learned from my AP English teacher senior year and I will forever be grateful to him for instilling me with this love of language. Life can be a frustrating roller-coaster ride if we stop to think about the inadequacies of language. Personally, I believe it is impossible to ever completely convey your exact point and meaning. The world and humanity are too far grounded in abstraction for a man-made invention, such as language, to accurately capture the enormous complexities of life's little nuances. However, it is the eternal task of the English major to come as close as possible an accurate description and/or explanation of whatever it is we seek to convey....an impossible task that I relish in frequently attempting.

So, why start this post with the meaning of the word "passion"?? Because, it is one of my absolute favorite words in the English language, due to the fact that society frequently underestimates the power of this word by merely reducing it to a definition surrounding its contemporary connotation (aka society ALWAYS associates this word with "sex"). I love this word because often times I find that it is the exact word I need as an English major, but not for the sexual definition. Instead, I love this word because of the implications of the first definition as seen above: Any powerful or compelling emotion. The REAL meaning of this word centers around one's ability to completely loose themselves in an emotion of love/hatred/etc.

I felt that the meaning of Audre Lorde's "The Erotica of Power" could be summed up with this one, single word: passion. The beauty of Lorde's piece is that it encompasses both meanings of the word passion, while striving to convey to the reader that the more important of the two definitions is the first one; the same definition of "passion" that I feel is so important. In response to his piece, I thought of Emily Dickenson's poetry. To me, her work is the epitome of passion, as seen with her word choice in regards to specific topic and her unconventional punctuation. Not having any particular poem in mind, I googled "Emily Dickenson Poetry about Passion" and my favorite result was this:

Wild nights! Wild nights!
Were I with thee,
Wild nights should be
Our luxury!

Futile the winds
To a heart in port,
Done with the compass,
Done with the chart.

Rowing in Eden!
Ah! the sea!
Might I but moor
To-night in thee!

Her poem here also conveys both definitions of the word "passion" while arguably placing more significant emphasis on the definition rooted in sexual connotations. However, I liked this piece in that her passion for poetry could be seen clearly through the dramatic punctuation, as is typical with her work. Furthermore, she metaphorically expresses a complete surrendering to savage, sexual desires, which the Feminine Mystique briefly touched on. She carefully illustrates behavior that women grappled with for many years, considering it was typically seen as "unladylike". I feel like Dickenson and Lorde each convey a specific definition of "passion" that is poignant in today's society but it is interesting to see how the two differ while still centering around the same word.

The Last Clear Narrative

In Working Note, Rachel Zucker states, "In labor with my second son (my first labor without an epidural) I lost all modesty for the first time since my girlhood and went to a place I never knew existed. The pain of the contractions eclipsed everything around me, erased my sense of relatedness, and stranded me in a space of complete “I.” At the same time, my physical body became a process rather than subject and was not then subject to the rules of feminine propriety or vanity. I was an “I” without self-consciousness, perspective, language."

A link to the essay: http://www.asu.edu/pipercwcenter/how2journal/archive/online_archive/v1_7_200/current/new_writing/zucker.htm

Over the summer I read Zucker's second collection of poems, The Last Clear Narrative, and this idea of "propriety" was brought up throughout the entire book. The Last Clear Narrative is an "autobiographical stance about the particulars of marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood." The collection is most obviously about Zucker's experiences in motherhood. But, what I found most interesting is that Zucker looks at motherhood, an stereotypical feminine act according to our society, as a loss of feminine propriety or vanity.

The two poems in The Last Clear Narrative that I read in the summer that brought me back to this idea of lost propriety or women as a property to traditional norms were, "[propriety]" and "[property]."

You can view these poems from this link: http://books.google.com/books?id=W6JeQPbKk2sC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

(pgs 14 &15)

Propriety, by definition means the state or quality of conforming to conventionally accepted standards of behavior or morals. Following this title, Zucker states "in French the word 'propre.'" Propre is a reference to Rousseau's concept in philosophy, amour propre or "self-love." This concept denotes a self-love that depends on others' opinions and arose with concept of society. Self-love renders human beings incapable of being happy within society. While "amour de soi" is amour propre's opposite, in which the concept denotes the primitive and is associated with "wholeness" and "happiness." Propre can also mean "clean" or "house trained," which can be seen as a symbol of what women represent.

This reference is significant in shaping "[propriety]" because Zucker as a mother struggles with the question of, "how can I love myself if the definition that society has always provided for me (amour-propre) has been taken away from me through pregnancy?" Therefore, if self-love is dependent on society and Zucker does not fit the feminine propriety and vanity than how can she exist? This makes it impossible for any pregnant woman to exist because not only has Zucker lost this femininity, but she has lost everything ("self-consciousness, language, and perspective") that goes along with it.

"[property]" deals with similar symbols associated with the typical housewife mentioned in "[propriety];" however "[property]" takes the concept a step further by making woman the property of the household and of the family. In the second to last line, Zucker states, "when not at home,/the house/privacy/the story demands/looms, idle hands, what's a woman         ?." Therefore, because the woman is seen as property of the house, Zucker questions how she can be seen outside of this structure and still exist. Do we, in our society, have a place for a woman with idle hands? Loom also sits heavily in this question because loom on the surface of "[property]" can mean the question of "what's a woman" appears as a shadowy form in society, but it also references the domesticated housewife and the apparatus that is used by these women in households to make fabric by weaving thread and yarn. Ultimately, Zucker investigates the existence of women without their stereotypical language or perspective (the home and motherhood).

Each of these poems creates a dichotomy by juxtaposing either women with men in "[propriety]" or "you" (or the lack of ownership of the woman self) with husband and home in "[property]." Both poems also obviously disregard the "you" of women, by message and visually by the strikeout within the text. This series of dichotomy's contribute to Zucker's experience of the physical body as a process. Rather than the body being a subject where a person or thing is being discussed, described, or dealt with, the body becomes a series of actions or steps to achieve a particular end. The body becomes a type of object or machine.

Overall, "[propreity]" and "[property]" combine ephemeral lines with 'the attempt to make a narrative out of experience that is stripped of narrative, context, point of view is critical to the process of healing, because it is too frightening to remain in that location of perfect “I.”' They contribute to the larger project to create "the last clear narrative."

These poems are packed with a lot more than I have mentioned above. I would like to know if anybody finds anything else within the poems interesting in terms of motherhood as unfeminine? Does any one think motherhood is a loss of femininity versus the 1950's definition of motherhood being the ultimate act of femininity?

Audre Lorde letter to Mary Daly

The following is an excerpt of another passage from Audre Lorde's Sister Outsider: essays and speeches.  In response to radical lesbian feminist Mary Daly's book Gyn/Ecology, Lorde wrote a scathing letter to Daly, attacking Daly's "choice" to ignore non-european women in her text.  I have included an excerpt of the letter.  Though a full version does not exist online, you can read most of the letter on Google Books:

http://books.google.com/books?id=r3Ct8Qw3de8C&pg=PA66&lpg=PA66&dq=audre+lorde+letter+mary+daly&source=bl&ots=Xhvkp2EpF8&sig=zXybGUGAdKKjqFZx0LDUXcPyNkQ&hl=en&ei=TQplTr68C-uAsgKJ26iRBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&sqi=2&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=audre%20lorde%20letter%20mary%20daly&f=false

An Open Letter to Mary Daly
May 6, 1979


 To dismiss our Black foremothers may well be to dismiss where european women learned to love.  As an African-american woman in white patriarchy, I am used to having my archetypal experience distorted and trivialized, but it is terribly painful to feel it being done by a woman whose knowledge so touches my own.


When I speak of knowledge, as you know, I am speaking of that dark and true depth which understanding serves, wiats upon, and makes accessible through language to ourselves and others.  It is this depth within each of us that nurtures vision.


What you excluded from Gyn/Ecology dismissed my heritage and the heritage of all other noneuropean women, and denied the real connections that exist between all of us.


It is obvious that you have done a tremendous amount of work for this book.  But simply because so little material on non-white female power and symbol exists in white women's words from a radical feminist perspective, to exclude this aspect of connection from even comment in your work is to deny the fountain of noneuropean female strength and power that nurtures each of our visions.  It is to make a point by choice.  


[...]


So the question arises in my mind, Mary, do you ever really read the work of Black women?  Did you ever read my words, or did you merely finger through them for quotations which you thought might valuably support an already conceived idea concerning some old and distorted connection between us?  This is not a rhetorical question.  


Scathing, eh?  Lorde writes with such eloquent conviction, that one would think it inconceivable not to respond to such a powerful questioning of intention.  However, Daly does just that.  Lorde never hears from Daly in response, and indeed Daly never makes any public or private response to the letter that we know of.  Whether it was indifference or cowardice that influenced Daly's silence, Lorde refused to let Daly's ignorance slip by, and therefore published the letter for the general public.

It is interesting to watch the interworkings of feminism, especially during this time period, when even the strongest minds in feminism could not seem to wrap their heads around a solid definition of the movement.  Despite Daly's silence, here we have an excellent example of feminists disagreeing on what feminism actually is.

Wonderful Women

First of all, I’d like to say a bit about the fantastic Anne Waldman, who many of us saw read on Thursday night (if you didn’t see her, you should check out Kevin’s link). I have never seen anyone read in the way that Waldman does. Her energy is amazing. I especially liked her poem on the various items that could be used to cover up the plutonium in Rocky Flats. She told us that the poem was a transcription of the ideas of her son. Basically, it was a giant list, humorous and powerful by itself and because she read it with such passion. I wish she would have read from “Fast Talking Woman,” because it has a similar form. In this poem, she lists what kinds of woman she is. She writes:

I am a solo woman

I am a sapphire woman

I am a stay at home woman

I am a butterfly woman

I like this poem because it breaks down both the stereotypical “feminine” and the stereotypical “feminist.” Unlike “The Feminine Mystique,” she is saying that she is you can be a “stay at home woman” and still be a woman. You can still be a feminist, or advocate feminism. Her poem shows the variety and possibility of woman. I believe that feminism often errs on the side of “liberating” woman only by giving her a new definition, or sets of limits. But this poem truly frees woman by giving her everything and anything as her own.

On a slightly different note, for those of you who are not already reading her, I highly recommend taking a look at Sommer Browning’s “Either Way I’m Celebrating.” Her book is a combination of poems and illustrations, which are at most times funny, and at all times remarkable. Her longer poem, “To the Housesitter,” deals with issues of women and domesticity. Here is the first part of the poem:

The House

is shaped like candy. And the candy inside its dribbling

refrigerator is shaped like mouths. And the house. It sits on a

hill shaped like a hill. It’s shaping, its flat parts peak, its inside

furrows, then opens to grab you. Then, you are shaped. Now,

you are then shaped, and your then shape punctures the house.

Something nuclear. Something west-end and beachy. You

are still at work. Like the men.

Browning does something interesting in this poem when she addresses a distinctly female audience. She writes to a “you”—“You are still at work”—that we know is feminine because it is in contrast to “the men.” She writes that women are “like the men” in that they are working. In this they are equals. She also discusses how women are “grabbed” and then “shaped” by the house, which seems in line with what Friedan is trying to say. Later in the poem, Browning writes:

every sick and goddamn every time

every violence, a marriage

every child takes hold of my skirt

everything just sort of died

she falls asleep

This conveys the frustration she, as a woman, is feeling. It ends in the acceptance of this, in the failure to do anything, when “she falls asleep.”

The whole of Browning’s book, especially this poem, is wonderfully thought provoking. “To the Housesitter” discusses feminism and women in many different ways. It presents man as a specific character, as the “mechanic.” She writes:

Inside the House

the mechanic storms about. His stereotypical boots drown

delicacy

There is so much to say about this poem and the many ideas it brings up. If you have not read it, I highly suggest doing so. If you have, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Addendum to my first post ("Two Controversial Films")

re: Two Conroversial Films

I was thinking about those two films and wondering if it was significant that those are both instances of a male director exploring female sexuality. So, I thought I'd mention Catherine Breillat, a female director of highly explicit films concerning the sexuality of women––especially young girls. If you're interested and don't mind disturbing, non-simulated sex scenes, I'd recommend Fat Girl (À ma sœur!), probably her most accessible film. They have it at the Norlin DVD Collection.

http://www.criterion.com/films/548-fat-girl (beware, the trailer is very deceiving, perhaps intentionally so)

Plath & Celan.

I'm not sure if the comparison has ever been made, but Plath's Daddy is strikingly similar to Paul Celan's Todesfugue. Celan (bio) is one if Europe's, if not the world's, greatest post-war lyric poets. If you can read German, you owe it to yourself to read his poems, especially from the collection Attemwende. If you can't read German, you still owe it to yourself, because it's still awesome in translation. Todesfugue, published in 1952, is not his best work, but is certainly his most famous.

LISTEN TO HIM READ IT

Deathfugue (trans. John Felstiner)

Black milk of daybreak we drink it at evening
we drink it at midday and morning we drink it at night
we drink and we drink
we shovel a grave in the air where you won't lie too cramped
A man lives in the house he plays with his vipers he writes
he writes when it grows dark to Deutschland your golden hair Margareta
he writes it and steps out of doors and the stars are all sparkling he whistles his hounds to stay close
he whistles his Jews into rows has them shovel a grave in the ground
he commands us play up for the dance


Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night
we drink you at morning and midday we drink you at evening
we drink and we drink
A man lives in the house he plays with his vipers he writes
he writes when it grows dark to Deutschland your golden hair Margareta
Your ashen hair Shulamith we shovel a grave in the air where you won't live too cramped


He shouts dig this earth deeper you lot there you others sing up and play
he grabs for the rod in his belt he swings it his eyes are so blue
stick your spades deeper you lot there you others play on for the dancing


Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night
we drink you at midday and morning we drink you at evening
we drink and we drink
a man lives in the house your goldenes Haar Margareta
your aschenes Haar Shulamith he plays with his vipers
. . .


He shouts play death more sweetly this Death is a master from Deutschland
he shouts scrape your strings darker you'll rise up as smoke to the sky
you'll then have a grave in the clouds where you won't lie too cramped


Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night
we drink you at midday Death is a master aus Deutschland
we drink you at evening and morning we drink and we drink
this Death is ein Meister aus Deutschland his eye it is blue
he shoots you with shot made of lead shoots you level and true
a man lives in the house your goldenes Haar Margarete
he looses his hounds on us grants us a grave in the air
he plays with his vipers and daydreams der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland


dein goldenes Haar Margarete
dein aschenes Haar Sulamith

Original text:

Todesfugue

Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken sie abends
wir trinken sie mittags und morgens wir trinken sie nachts
wir trinken und trinken
wir schaufeln ein Grab in den Lüften da liegt man nicht eng
Ein Mann wohnt im Haus der spielt mit den Schlangen der schreibt
der schreibt wenn es dunkelt nach Deutschland dein goldenes Haar Margarete
er schreibt es und tritt vor das Haus und es blitzen die Sterne er pfeift seine Rüden herbei
er pfeift seine Juden hervor läßt schaufeln ein Grab in der Erde
er befiehlt uns spielt auf nun zum Tanz

Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachts
wir trinken dich morgens und mittags wir trinken dich abends
wir trinken und trinken
Ein Mann wohnt im Haus der spielt mit den Schlangen der schreibt
der schreibt wenn es dunkelt nach Deutschland dein goldenes Haar Margarete
Dein aschenes Haar Sulamith wir schaufeln ein Grab in den Lüften da liegt man nicht eng

Er ruft stecht tiefer ins Erdreich ihr einen ihr andern singet und spielt
er greift nach dem Eisen im Gurt er schwingts seine Augen sind blau
stecht tiefer die Spaten ihr einen ihr andern spielt weiter zum Tanz auf

Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachts
wir trinken dich mittags und morgens wir trinken dich abends
wir trinken und trinken
ein Mann wohnt im Haus dein goldenes Haar Margarete
dein aschenes Haar Sulamith er spielt mit den Schlangen
Er ruft spielt süßer den Tod der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland
er ruft streicht dunkler die Geigen dann steigt ihr als Rauch in die Luft
dann habt ihr ein Grab in den Wolken da liegt man nicht eng

Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachts
wir trinken dich mittags der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland
wir trinken dich abends und morgens wir trinken und trinken
der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland sein Auge ist blau
er trifft dich mit bleierner Kugel er trifft dich genau
ein Mann wohnt im Haus dein goldenes Haar Margarete
er hetzt seine Rüden auf uns er schenkt uns ein Grab in der Luft
er spielt mit den Schlangen und träumet der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland

dein goldenes Haar Margarete
dein aschenes Haar Sulamith

If you are super keen, you may have noticed that Celan misspeaks in the third stanza, saying "spielt weiter zum tanz auf" instead of "singet und spielt." In his analysis, John Felstiner links this mistake to Celan's hypersensitivity to the pain of the German language (he wrote exclusively German, the language his oppressors, those who killed his parents and put him in the camps).

Plath also knew of this pain. Consider the line "Ich, ich, ich, ich:" In English, "I" is a whole sound, a round sound that rolls on the glottis; in German, however, it is a choking sound: the "I" is suddenly interrupted by the glottal stop of "ch." Thus, "Ich" is a broken sound, a broken identity. Celan deals with this physical and emotional pain of German extensively, most notably in Die Silbe Schmerz (The Syllable Pain) and Frankfurt, September.