Rich brought up something that I was not aware of. I did not know that feminist literature was lacking in lesbian existence and often narrated from a hetero-normative point of view. I think my surprise stems from the stereotype that there is a sizable population of feminists who identify as lesbians so I would imagine that their fight for equality would be put pretty highly on the feminist agenda. Rich shows in this article that this is not necessarily true. It makes me wonder about why this is so. Is it because of its controversy in society and politics that makes feminists decide to focus on something else?
I then had another question after reading Rupp. Why is our society so intolerant of anything that deviates from the norm of heterosexuality? It seems like our past generations were more tolerant and accepting of different-gender relationships. In fact, they were embodied with particular cultures. However, there were some problems that I did see. Being a accepting of different-gender relationships does not always mean that the change is automatically positive. After reading Rupp’s descriptions of the power relationship that can be observed through particular sexual acts such as anal penetration or fellatio, I didn’t necessarily think that this was healthy for society. Yes, the society was less hetero-normative, but the problem that we have with sex today is still there. Sex is for political purposes and for any other purpose other than pleasure and love. There always seemed to be a domineering role and a submissive role with one enjoying the power and one enduring the submission. Perhaps I can’t understand because I was not raised in that culture, but it seems contradictory for one to sacrifice one’s dignity for familial honor or a higher social status.
Comparing history to contemporary society, I wonder about the notion of progress and whether we are regressing or progressing. Will there be a shift in thinking and what will it take to influence his shift?
I liked to hear your struggle with the power imbalance in some ancient societies. For this reason actually, I have trouble celebrating the BDSM community. It is one of those things that feminists are supposed to be in full support of, but I like it when sex is a joining of equals. I acknowledge that as long as they are consenting - which BDSMers usually do in very explicit ways - all are entitled to their sexual behavior preference. However, I still question if any interaction where the power is tipped, even when its simulated, is an expression of ideal sexuality.
ReplyDeleteApril, I actually wasn't aware that feminists celebrated BDSM, but now that you brought it up, it makes a lot of sense why. I think what's happening today is a confusion of power with feminism, without any regards to the source of power and what kind of power. There is danger in seeing power simply as what it is because it could mean negative implications for feminists. Your BDSM example is one. Also, the hyper-sexualization of females today is another, as Douglas had written about. We seem to think that the power to draw men in with female sexuality is just that - powerful. That's all that matters to be considered a step towards feminism, right? Well, that's where society is pointing towards.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your response on my post, April! :)