04/18/06

This blog is a substitution for my absence from class on Thursday April 13. I will be talking about the article by Lugones – “On the Logic of Pluralist Feminism.”

Whenever I hear something about feminists or feminism, I always feel like I am in for some kind of controversial topic. However, this article had a different view than I had ever heard – it talked of women interacting with women; namely black women and white women. The article talks about what Lugones calls “Problems of Difference.” She says that the American stride for equality is not sufficient – we try to say that all women are the same, black and white. Though this is with good intentions, it is not acted out properly. And let’s face it – not all women are the same across races. The problems of difference need to first be recognized and then acted upon. An interactive step is missing. She suggests looking at black women not in boomerang perception, but in a mirror perception – to see them and see self. But, white women block this perception for many reasons. This in turn blocks identification with black women and the whole problem exists again.

This is all very interesting and a whole new way of looking at things for me. It brought many concerns and new thoughts to my mind.

04/04/06

In Improvisation, Chapter 11 is the first chapter in the third section: Reaping. This chapter discusses the evil of humans as a threatening offer. Wells quotes William Cavanaugh a lot from his book Torture and the Eucharist. He also talks of Cavanaugh’s detailed description of Chile in the 70s. He talks of the repression from the regime and the threat of evil upon the people.
It was interesting to see how this all tied in with the Eucharist – it sounded weird to me at first. That will come later. Wells also talks of the torture experienced by the people. One way is that 4 people would be put into a tiny box. Not only were they so smashed together, but they could hear torture outside the box as well. The only way that these people could defeat the regime was to participate in membership together – they had to work as a collective team and cooperate. They began programs and one such program included taking old tattered scraps and knitting them together to make tapestries. Wells then describes knitting as reincorporation – taking “diverse” pieces of cloth and bringing them all together for a useful, practical purpose.
Wells talks about the Eucharist and sacrifice. He talks of the requirements of participating in the Eucharist. One must sacrifice oneself and not have an unreconciled situation with another brother – that is unprepared. Wells also talks of tortue as perverse liturgy. He talked of one man who tortured himself in protest – many did so. It was very impactful, and the people even incorporated liturgy to make it more significant – the victims become martyrs through these acts of self-torture.