Compulsory Heterosexuality- Rich (Arguement)

When I read the article “Compulsory Heterosexuality,” by Adrienne Rich I was enlightened and relieved. I felt as though she had a valid point to argue. She was fighting for something not many of us talk about on a daily basis. She was talking about being gay; about being a lesbian. Rich argues that we live in a world that is defined by compulsory heterosexuality. Of course we say well what kind of a world is that. Compulsory Heterosexuality is the straight mans way of living. It is the idea that procreation is the key to power. If one can create an offspring then they have the power; the idea that it takes a mother and a father to raise a child. Even the idea of two people of the same sex being together would be a burden on society. Rich argues that this sort of a world is not the best world for everyone to be living in. She is really fighting for the “Lesbian Existence.” The idea that there are gay people out there and they should not be shunned for the way they are. Rich goes as far as to argue, “Heterosexuality has been both forcibly and sublimity imposed on women.” When really thinking about it when in our society have we ever seen it ok to be a lesbian. Women who kiss other women in movies most of the time are drunk and straight men poke fun at it calling it hot. 

Rich states “Heterosexuality, like motherhood, needs to be recognized and studied as a political institution.” I agree with that she is saying. Heterosexuality controls our society. It is an ideological force that keeps power in its place. If we looked at heterosexuality like we look at every other institution we can see the inner workings of why people really find this to be the dominant way of being. On my search for this ideology I came across this Youtube video. The video is of a song called, “Heterosexuality is a Construct.”

 This song although horribly done in my opinion really has some good lyrics at times. The song states “we must color out of the lines.” We have to stand up to this institution and tell the construct, it is ok for people to be gay. “Love knows no gender,” the song proclaims and it should be true, but this idea of Compulsory Heterosexuality keeps this from happening. 

In class I hope we really idea this term more. Although I feel as though I have a handle on the phrase I feel like there is so much more to be learned about this and the lesbian experience. I am hoping we pick apart this institution and really understand how it came to be. How are people advocating for gay rights and how the world is changing if only a little bit at a time. Through love and understand I feel the world could be a better place.

"Cinderella Ate My Daugher"- Orenstein (Extended Comment)

For this blog I would like to credit Ethan for really helping me to think more about this topic. In his blog post Ethan talks about a few selected chapters from the book, “Cinderella Ate My Daughter,” by Peggy Orenstein. He talks about how Orenstein has this obsession with toys and the gender connotations that follow them. That boys play with toys that incorporate heroes and power and girls play with toys that incorporate beauty and happiness.  These titles were not always around. Orenstein states in her article that this was a gimmick brought up by marketing companies to get people to identify with something. Of course society always needs to slap a label on everything. We always have to define something; it is either this or that. As Ethan states in his blog, “I was always reinforced to watch and play with certain toys by my friends, parents, and sometimes society (advertising commercials).” Society is always telling us what to think and how to be. If society cannot define us into its secular groups then all chaos breaks loose. Ethan continues by saying, “Would I be a different person now if my favorite movie was "Snow White" as oppose to "Hercules?"  How about if I played with Barbie dolls instead of Ninja Turtles?” These are hard hitting question our generation will never know. We have grown up and have moved on from a time of toys and games. Orenstein would say if we did not have this idea of femininity and masculinity in our toys, then no, we wouldn’t be different then we are today. We may all actually benefit. We would be well rounded individuals and understand how to be strong but also nurturing without being made fun of for having both of those qualities. 

This whole idea of the Disney Princess is very interesting. The idea that splitting up characters from a Disney film was never done was a crazy thought since I myself grew up in a time of Disney princesses. Orenstein write, “Roy Disney considered it heresy to lump together those from different stories. That’s why, these days, when the ladies appear on the same item they never make eye contact. Each stares off in a slightly different direction.” This is the weird inner workings of Disney. They are always feeding us things we don’t really understand until someone tells it to us. When we sit and watch a movie we are not looking at these main stream ideologies right in front of our faces, but we are looking for story line and plot. Even stories we have seen thousands of times, until someone taps on the glass we never really see the inner workings of a system. Ethan posted a video on his wall that was made by a student named Sanjay Newton. Newton took clips from different Disney movies and showed how masculine characters are in different circumstances and situations. He showed how strong male characters are handsome and others are ugly, and fat. He goes into greater detail in the video but it is a weird life changing experience to see your childhood broken down into this ism. I really enjoyed the link and was one of my main reasons for doing this extended comment. I think Ethan said it best when he writes, “These frightening statements and subliminal messages in Disney movies back up Orenstein's problem with gender roles.  What is a little girl to think that one day all she will be expected of from a man is to cook?” Women are not treated well in these films. The idea of “Cinderella ate my daughter,” really does exist. She is stating that Disney has been laying down the law on what has been right; if you are like Cinderella you will live happily ever after. 

The link I posted above can really sum up this idea of what Orenstein was talking about. I also think that it compliments Ethan’s video quite well. It is a video of Disney movies and how they teach us to be in our society based on our gender. The women are seductive with small waists and all these other features we state with being a woman. 

Although I will not be in class tomorrow there are a few things I would like to talk about. I would talk about this whole idea of society creating this divide and why. Why do we have to be this way and will it ever change. Are we always going to be subjected to this idea of this or that or can we lie somewhere else on the spectrum either then just at the two ends. Also is Disney a big factor in why we see the world the way we do today. Does Disney control us without us even knowing? Is Disney the society we talk about? All of these questions can never really be answered but could create some great discussion I would believe.

The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House (Reflection)

When I was reading “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House,” by Audre Lorde I felt this text was short, but I felt like it was hard to read. Hard to read not in the sense of context, but just the way Audre Lorde went on about how she is underrepresented and the victim. The way she went about talking about it I felt as though she was just complaining about how bad things are for her. The more I read through the article though, (5 times to be exact) the more I saw where she was coming from.  I can feel her pain in the article. She is attending a conference on diversity in American women but her groups of American women are not very well represented at this conference. Audre Lorde, as an advocate for women everywhere especially those of an underrepresented should be upset by this conference. 

She goes on in the article to talk about how she as a feminist is fighting a different battle then her white “sisters.” Being black she seems to be fighting not only a battle for her sex but also her race as well. Audre Lorde acknowledges that her and the white feminist are different but should still be fighting for the same cause as women. She says towards the end of her article, “Women of today are still being called upon to stretch across the gap of male ignorance and to educate men as to our existence and our needs. Now we hear that it is the task of women of color to educate white women – in the face of tremendous resistance—as to our experience, our differences, our relative roles in our joint survival.” This quote here really sums up the article. The idea that we are different but we must ban together and fight the good fight and look at how we can help each other out with our differences. 

This article really made me think about people in the homosexual community. There was a lot of talk during the SCWAAMP exercise about gay marriage and states that have made it legal etc. Well if gays and lesbians were to split and fight the same battle would much really get accomplished. If they really let their gender (or race) get in the way would they get legalized gay marriage for all homosexuals. They must stand united to fight and get gay marriage legalized in all states. This is what Audre Lorde is talking about we have to acknowledge and teach our fellow activists that we are different but we can all stand united and fight for a higher cause. 

Here is a link to a quote in a YouTube video. It states, “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love and let it come in” (Audre Lorde). We need to love each other and except the fact that we are all different. We are doing great things as a nation, and it is done by loving your neighbor. Don’t hide the fact that we are different, fight for different, not against it. 

In class I hope to really get the class to understand where Audre Lorde is coming from because although she is bitter on the surface she really just wants change, for all the underrepresented groups. I saw this in many of the poems I found of hers online. She has one about power that I will post under this to see where she is coming from.  Also check out more other invigorating poetry.

POWER- BY AUDRE LORDE

“Privilege, Power, and Difference”- Johnson (Hyperlink)

In the article, “Privilege, Power, and Difference”, Johnson is talking about ideology. He is bringing to our attention the idea that anyone who is different than the white straight American male is not worthy of power. This ideology is reflected in the media all of the time. We see it in commercials, on the news, everywhere. Although many of us do not agree with it when it is a topic of conversation we can’t help but to laugh when we see something on T.V. or on another form of media. The media projects this idea of a patriarchal society, an idea that men are the bread winners and woman stay at home and take care of the house. Johnson talks a lot about all power and privilege for everyone but for the purpose of our discussion about Feminism today I figured I would share this video in relation to Johnson’s article. 

The video shows snippets of moments in the media where we seem to fall into this patriarchal ideology. I would just like to take some time to go over a part of the video.

The first snippet that really caught my eye was the video that starts at 2:04. This is a commercial for a play house for young girls. In the commercial they show how the little girl can clean, and cook, for all her little dolls. The voice over says “It’s her place where her dreams have room to grow.” This quote really speaks to the patriarchal ideology that women are to grow up to do nothing but take care of the house. They have to do the chores and stay home with the kids. Already at such a young age we are telling children that boys do this and girls do that. Johnson would argue that we all have the power to make our own decisions and it should not be up to our society to control what we want to do. That’s why these acts like Feminism really help us to realize the wrong in our society. 

 

Tomorrow in class I would hope to talk about how we can get people to really think more about how we are not all that different. That we are letting these ideologies control us without us even being conscience or aware of it.

Who Am I?

Hello Everyone!

My name is Christopher Margadonna. I am a senior at Rhode Island College studying English with a minor in theatre. I work in the Office of Academic Support and Information Services, helping students with their academic needs. Outside of school I am involved in community theatre. I was recently involved in How to Succeed in Business with the Community Players of Pawtucket. My break has consisted of just hanging out with friends and going out to lunch. I am looking forward to this class and all that it has to teach me.