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The Female Man by Joanna Russ
This has been on some sort of internal list of books I should get around to reading. I’m glad I did, it’s amazingly quotable. The style is a little challenging but I can forgive a lot given it was written before I was born. The story follows four women from parallel worlds, each with their own ideas of what it means to be female.
On motherhood
Anyway everyboy (sorry) everybody knows that what women have done that is really important is not to constitute a great, cheap labor force that you can zip in when you're at war and zip out again afterwards but to Be Mothers, to form the coming generation, to give birth to them, to nurse them, to mop floors for them, to love them, cook for them, clean for them, change their diapers, pick up after them, and mainly sacrifice themselves for them. This is the most important job in the world. That's why they don't pay you for it.
On approaching people
"Hello-yes" means I wish to strike up a conversation, "Hello" means I don't mind your remaining here but I don't wish to talk; "Hello-no" Stay here if you like but don't bother me in any way; silence I'd be much obliged if you'd get out of here; I'm in a foul temper. Silence accompanied by a quick shake of the head means I'm not ill-tempered but I have other reasons for wanting to be alone . "No!" means Get away or I'll do that to you which you won't like . (In contradistinction to our customs, it is the late-comer who has the moral edge, Whileawayan 1 having already got some relief or enjoyment out of the convenient bench or flowers or spectacular mountain or whatever's at issue.) Each of these responses may be used as salutations, of course.
I asked Janet what happens if both Whileawayans say "No!"
"Oh" she says (bored), "they fight."
"Usually one of us runs away," she added.
On fear
…there are some things they believe every man is entitled to run from in abject terror, viz . snakes, ghosts, earthquakes, disease, demons, magic, childbirth, menstruation, witches, afreets, incubi, succubi, solar eclipses, reading, writing, good manners, syllogistic reasoning, and what we might generally call the less reliable phenomena of life.
On who to be
At thirteen desperately watching TV, curling my long legs under me, desperately reading books, callow adolescent that I was, trying (desperately!) to find someone in books, in movies, in life, in history, to tell me it was O.K. to be ambitious, O.K. to be loud, O.K. to be Humphrey Bogart (smart and rudeness), O. K. to be James Bond (arrogance), O.K. to be Superman (power), O.K. to be Douglas Fairbanks (swashbuckling), to tell me self-love was all right, to tell me I could love God and Art and Myself better than anything on earth and still have orgasms.
On motherhood
Anyway everyboy (sorry) everybody knows that what women have done that is really important is not to constitute a great, cheap labor force that you can zip in when you're at war and zip out again afterwards but to Be Mothers, to form the coming generation, to give birth to them, to nurse them, to mop floors for them, to love them, cook for them, clean for them, change their diapers, pick up after them, and mainly sacrifice themselves for them. This is the most important job in the world. That's why they don't pay you for it.
On approaching people
"Hello-yes" means I wish to strike up a conversation, "Hello" means I don't mind your remaining here but I don't wish to talk; "Hello-no" Stay here if you like but don't bother me in any way; silence I'd be much obliged if you'd get out of here; I'm in a foul temper. Silence accompanied by a quick shake of the head means I'm not ill-tempered but I have other reasons for wanting to be alone . "No!" means Get away or I'll do that to you which you won't like . (In contradistinction to our customs, it is the late-comer who has the moral edge, Whileawayan 1 having already got some relief or enjoyment out of the convenient bench or flowers or spectacular mountain or whatever's at issue.) Each of these responses may be used as salutations, of course.
I asked Janet what happens if both Whileawayans say "No!"
"Oh" she says (bored), "they fight."
"Usually one of us runs away," she added.
On fear
…there are some things they believe every man is entitled to run from in abject terror, viz . snakes, ghosts, earthquakes, disease, demons, magic, childbirth, menstruation, witches, afreets, incubi, succubi, solar eclipses, reading, writing, good manners, syllogistic reasoning, and what we might generally call the less reliable phenomena of life.
On who to be
At thirteen desperately watching TV, curling my long legs under me, desperately reading books, callow adolescent that I was, trying (desperately!) to find someone in books, in movies, in life, in history, to tell me it was O.K. to be ambitious, O.K. to be loud, O.K. to be Humphrey Bogart (smart and rudeness), O. K. to be James Bond (arrogance), O.K. to be Superman (power), O.K. to be Douglas Fairbanks (swashbuckling), to tell me self-love was all right, to tell me I could love God and Art and Myself better than anything on earth and still have orgasms.
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:-)
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*sigh* Still true, that is.
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I pay that some day a gland may go 'CLANG' and I might have to eat those words :p
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In unrelated news, Tarchin Hearn is running a 9 day retreat in country Victoria in April which I'm going to go to :) I figure I've got 3 months to get into (by a generous reading 'get back into') some sort of meditation practice so I'll only get partially rather than thoroughly reamed. Bill and Kath will be there to save me (though not, of course, make me feel more comfortable).
*hugs*