Addie Wasikonis

a space for speculative feminism and sustainable futures

[awasikonis]

Lies, Lies, Lies

We lie every day of our lives even in the most insignificant times. Every time someone asks you “how are you?” we always reply “I’m good” or “I’m fine.” What if we said “actually no, I’m not fine”? I guarantee that person’s expression will drop because that is not what is expected. This reminds me one time where my friend responded to someone asking her how she was and she replied, “I’m not okay, but I don’t want to talk about it” and that person was speechless and didn’t know how to respond since it broke the matrix of life.

Continuing with our lies, when we want to get out of obligations or want to tell someone “no” we feel like we have to justify our “no.” Why is that? Is this guilt? I feel there is sexism also in this, where women feel the need to explain themselves out of consideration while men don’t respond or even ignore because of their place in society. While both men and women lie every day, it was proven men lie more and even ignore to get out of confrontation. I’ve finally learned that I don’t have to give a person a whole elaborate reason as to why I can’t do something, because they probably don’t care.

Also, men might lie more because of their fragile male egos, but it is sad this is what boys have to grow up on. This mentality that “boys don’t cry” and that they can’t be soft. They have to hide all emotions and can’t express themselves in order to upkeep the image of the ideal man in the patriarchy.

[awasikonis]

There’s a She Wolf in the Closet

Wolves are everywhere in our media, stories, literature. . . everywhere. Why do we associate so much towards the “wolf”? I think about all the wolves in my life and I don’t know if it’s just because when I was growing up, Twilight was a popular werewolf movement which created a bunch of knock-off YA books with shows and movies centering around the supernatural beings, which led to the popularization of the wolf. But if you think about it, wolves have been with us through ancient times.

Romulus and Remus were raised and suckled by a she-wolf, and because of that upbringing they were ravenous and almighty kings. As much as we think about wolf and humans being separate with this competition of man vs nature, in a way man is wolf and wolf is man in a semiotic relationship. Man can take on the spirit of the wolf and use it when they want to for their advantage. Man reverts back to his primitive nature.

While most wolfs and werewolves in stories are predominately portrayed as male with a patriarchal carnivorous angle, the she-wolf is something entirely different. Feminine wolfs are portrayed as more spiritual and are a reconnection back to the earth to the idea of what is wild. It’s almost empowering to read about women who embrace their wild side and accept the natural world.

[awasikonis]

Third World Feminism

In Chandra Talpade Mohanty’s “Feminism without Borders” it analyzes the omnipresent concept of “white feminism” and the difference of “third world feminism.” The quote, “Unlike the history of Western (white, middle-class) feminisms, which has been explored in great detail over the last few decades, histories of Third World women’s engagement with feminism are in short supply” (Mohanty) is such a true statement. Most people who think of feminism picture the white, privileged, heterosexual woman wearing her “the future is female” sweat factory made shirt while protesting her first world problems. Feminism should be intersectional and inclusive to all.

Third World women face the brunt of blame as described in the quote: “scholars often locate ‘Third World women’ in terms of the underdevelopment, oppressive traditions, high illiteracy, rural and urban poverty, religious fanaticism, and ‘overpopulation’ of particular Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American countries” (Mohanty). I’ve read a lot of overpopulation analysis papers, and most argue that it’s due to the fault of women in those third world countries who don’t have the access to contraception or education. Instead of blaming the women, maybe we should think about the system. As most problems we face as a society, the system is what is at fault.

These double standards “freeze Third World women in time, space, and history” (Mohanty) and this is why we still face the same problems and make the same mistakes. We don’t listen to each other and look to our past to create effective solutions. We can use “feminism” to our advantage and stand together under that term, but we can’t if it is exclusive to only one demographic.

[awasikonis]

The City

N.K. Jemisin’s “The City Born Great” is a story about a nameless black, gay, homeless, graffiti artist who learns the meaning of place and how our actions impact/shape that place. Through that, he learns where he fits in and becomes the “protector” of New York City.

Jemisin goes on to explain that places come alive from being manifested. However, some cities survive while others die, but New York City is thriving under his protection. It’s interesting to consider that cities are their own being being fed by the people who inhabit it almost like a parasitic symbiotic relationship. While I’ve never grown up in a city since I lived in an average sized college town. I do understand what Jemisin is saying because I have always associated New York City as this other thing entirely. It eats and breathes from the people who inhabit it and as long as the spirit of New Yorkers lives on, then, New York City will continue to exist.

That is what the protagonist learns who is not your standard “hero.” This shows that everyone is accountable and it is up to you to protect the city you know and love.

[awasikonis]

A Girl and Her Pig

In Bong Joon-ho’s movie, “Okja” currently airing on Netflix since released in 2017, Mija is a 13-year-old Korean girl played by Seo-Hyeon Ahn. She embarks on a journey to save her best friend, a super pig named Okja, from the evils of a meat corporation called Mirando Company. Throughout the story Mija, experiences constant obstacles when others do not take her seriously, however she navigates her way through the dominant culture of capitalism by playing the game and proving the “adults” wrong.

“Okja” is a social commentary on our meat industry and capitalism. Our consumer culture is almost laughable because of the lengths we will go to get meat on our plate. Mirando Company creates the “super pig” that consumes less feed, has a minimal carbon footprint, less excretions, and most importantly, “taste fucking good” (​Okja​ 2017). The company announces a competition to send out 26 naturally bred super pigs to farmers all around the world and wait 10 years to unveil “super pig” products to the whole world. Fast forward 10 idyllic years of Mija and her grandfather raising Okja on the remote mountains of South Korea. Now, the Mirando Company is ready to reveal the super pig to the rest of the world, and Okja is crowned best super pig and is forcefully sent back to America to be slaughtered. Mija is lied to constantly throughout the process. She thought her grandfather was able to pay the company to claim ownership of Okja, but unfortunately, they were no match for a huge corporation like Mirando. Mija and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) work together to recapture Okja and to reveal the message behind what really goes on behind the clean image of Mirando Co. It is a riveting story of a girl who will go to great lengths to be reunited with her best friend, despite the world literally being against her.

A young girl like Mija is not the usual protagonist of the stories we read, and it is refreshing to see a badass girl take on the world despite the oppression she faces. Evidence of the obstacles she will face is revealed in the first couple of scenes of the movie. Her grandfather doubts her when he says, “you’re nearly a grown woman now. I don’t like you playing with that pig all day. You should go to town, meet a boy” (​Okja​ 2017). This undermines her character while implying she is expected to meet a boy and that is her only real purpose in the world. She can’t be happy with her pig. When the workers of Mirando come to crown Mija and Okja as the super pig, Dr. Johnny (the face of Mirando) says to her, “a special sash for a special little lady, who I’m sure helped raise this super pig in her own special little way” (​Okja ​2017). The repeating diction of “little” and “special” undermines Mija’s effort in raising Okja. He accentuated her part to make himself the hero to show he “loves kids” and wants to see them succeed. Once Mija makes global news for her wild escape from police by trying to take back Okja, Mirando, to save their image, invites Mija to NYC to be crowned and reunited with Okja on the reveal day of the global meat product. Lucy Mirando, the founder of the “super pig” announces, “let’s all welcome an extraordinary little girl.” They continue to disrespect Mija by making her all “dolled-up” with blush, and making her wear traditional Korean hanbok, which makes her even more of an object for advertisement.

There is another layer of stereotyping and disrespect shown in the language barrier with Mija only knowing Korean. The ALF uses this to their advantage as the Korean translator intentionally mistranslates Mija’s words so they can follow through with their plan. Later, he learns “translation is sacred” and Mija learns that she needs to learn English to not be fooled again, which she uses to her advantage later in the story.

The anti-capitalist commentary is strong in the movie and it uses Mija as the person to navigate through this world run by money. In Johnson’s interview with the director, Bong describes “scenes of torture, killing, and a river of blood flowing through the facility” and said these graphic images were “absolutely necessary” to “make the audience feel uncomfortable. It is witnessing your family being dragged into a slaughterhouse” (Johnson 2017). These purposeful choices highlight, “’this is the state of capitalism today, and this is what I wanted to convey’” (Johnson 2017). The meat industry is an impenetrable system that dominates our consumer culture and yet, Mija plays the game and gets her best friend back with a free market exchange. Right before Okja is about to be slaughtered and rolled off the machine to be cut up and sold like every other pig, Mija takes her solid gold pig statue, given to her by her grandfather to use as her dowry, and exchanges it for Okja’s life, bringing her back home alive. The head of Mirando couldn’t resist the offer. The exchange makes the statement that money is the most important thing in capitalism and you lose control if you don’t have more money. It is also implied that it’s a treacherous cycle and it is hard to break the system. Nancy Mirando, who took over Lucy’s failing attempt at running the company, lets Mija walk away with the order, “our customer and her purchase get home safely” (​Okja​ 2017). And with that, Mija is able to return home safely along with a runaway baby super pig she obtained from the slaughterhouse and continue on with life. The two lone “holocaust survivors” were the only good thing to come out of the whole escapade into capitalism.

However, the important thing to note is that capitalism still persists. It isn’t like Mija stopped factory farming and the world is good. While Okja is alive and well, and Mija has her best friend back, it didn’t solve the bigger problem of capitalism, because no one has the power to usurp the faceless dominator. It is impossible to craft an alternative world autonomous from capitalism. You have to get what you want by playing the game, which is what Mija did.

We can influence the industry by changing our consumer culture, though. We “bond with the dogs and cats that live with us and then we sit down to a steak dinner, without a thought about how that steak got onto our plate” (Taubin 2017). We must bring awareness to what we buy and what we are influencing, and “Okja” is a great way to communicate these issues. The movie, “accurately teaches that each individual affects the world by choosing which products to purchase. Every dollar is a vote for or against a good or service” (Johnson 2017). This might be our way to craft a better world, but it is very hard for us to change our set ways when capitalism is rooted in our society and ingrained in our minds.

In conclusion, Mija is a badass girl who proved everyone wrong by not letting anyone or anything get in the way of getting her best friend back. The multiple scenes of her being disrespected as a “little girl” with no agency or power are prevalent. Despite all the attempts to mold her into an image for the good of the company, she had none of it. Protagonists like her spread hope to young girls and women and people of color that they can save the day, or at least use their power for change. While society tries to oppress you from all angles, you can rise above it with determination. Society is capitalism and capitalism is society, and while we are oppressed from the system, we can see change if we try hard enough like Mija. While she was able to get her best friend back, and everything still continues on, the overarching message to the viewer is that we can change that. If we make conscious decisions and know how much our individual choices influence the market, we can have an impact. We live in a world that consistently doesn’t take us seriously, but there could be the possibility of crafting a new world that can usurp the dominant culture we live in by changing how and on what we spend our money. This is simply playing the game in order to change the system because sadly, we have to use our money to change the money around the world for a better future.

[awasikonis]

Two Girl’s Destruction of Men

“Daisies” directed by Vera Chytilová is a 1966 Czechoslovak comedy drama film that follows two girls both named Marie who embark on impish dismantling of the patriarchy. When they realize the world is spoiled, they decide to be spoiled too which involves destructive pranks on men, structure, and overall systematic oppression.

It was refreshing to see two women be silly and devious on screen and be the ones who have power over men. My favorite scene was when a man was professing his love for Marie over the phone while she casually cuts a sausage and then a banana.

One thing I noticed throughout the film was the constant pitter patter of their feet. While we do hear footsteps in film, it never is accentuated as much as it is in this film which must be intentional. Maybe their click clack of heels is supposed to symbolize them leaving their mark on the world and leaving their trace of destruction on the patriarchy.

[awasikonis]

More Green, Less White

As I entered the sea of handmade posters with catchy phrases like, “Save Mother Earth,” “Our planet is hotter than Timothee Chalamet,” and “Go Vegan,” I observed the complete whiteness of the environmental movement. The Climate Strike this past September 20th was my first experience of a mass protest. I felt rejuvenated to know that our generation is taking action and demanding change, but when I looked around on that sweltering hot day in Pershing Square, LA, I realized the majority was white privileged environmentalists—and I was one of them. I also got involved in my college’s climate strike group to prepare for the next one organized by the Sunrise Movement. At that meeting it was only a couple of white girls trying to make this happen. To promote this group and get more involvement from the college students, our type of reaching out was just through our connections—which are primarily other white girls. Here is the problem with the environmental movement: white people have dominated the dialogue and other minority groups have been left in the dark. With this dynamic, change can’t happen if we aren’t united. Instead we need leaders from different backgrounds– who are more affected by the environment than the white privileged. We need all perspectives to make a comprehensive action plan that will instigate change in order to sustain longer on this planet.

Why do you think white people always feel the need to be in the spotlight no matter the stage, particularly on the environmental movement stage? One answer might be from Ursula K. Le Guin’s text, “The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction” which explores the heroic journey prevalent in fictional stories. You can take any fictional story and point out the basic telling of a heroic journey where the protagonist is the weak underdog and they are prompted to go on a journey to save humanity. They have their ups and downs, meet a mystical mentor, pick up some magical objects on the way, defeat the enemy, and come home as a hero. And because it’s the journey that matters, not the destination, the hero realizes the answer he desired was with him all along located in his heart and loyalty to his friends. I pretty much described the Percy Jackson series, and while we all love our boy Percy Jackson, one thing to point out is while he is part fish, he is a white man—just like all the other heroes in fictional stories.

We rarely see people of color be the hero and that’s because it’s the white man’s “imperial nature and uncontrollable impulse, to take everything over and run it while making stern decrees and laws to control his uncontrollable impulse to kill it” (Guin 152). The idea of white being the supreme race is translated in our stories. Stories our children read and conversations people share with each other which perpetuates this culture. This is why it was a natural occurrence that many are oblivious to the fact that the environmental movement is being dominated by white people. White people need “a stage or a pedestal or a pinnacle. You put him in a bag and he looks like a rabbit, like a potato” (Guin 153). White leaders on these pedestals in the environmental movement get more funding as research shows 95% of the $60 billion in annual foundation funding for all causes goes to organizations led by white leaders and 70 to 80 percent goes to those led by men (Colorlines).

With those white men leading the dialogue, environmental racism is left out of the conversation and all those people who experience the inequality. The environment impacts everyone, therefore, everyone should be involved in the conversation. A study found that 60% of organizations who are taking action do not have a diversity plan in place (The Hill). This makes me disappointed in these organizations who are fighting for climate justice, because climate justice is not only about climate change, it has become a human rights issue and all these other factors are interconnected and should be addressed.

Our efforts to address these multidimensional issues centered around the inevitable climate change, however, are coming off as very white and exclusive. Humans are the problem, but the white privilege’s impact is greater than minority groups’ impact with resources, accessibility, and the ability to overexploit at alarming rates. Mother Earth can’t keep up! While we do see redemption by white people by getting involved in the environmental movement, how much can actually be done? Audre Lorde answers that quizzically in “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” with, “What does it mean when the tools of a racist patriarchy are used to examine the fruits of that same patriarchy? It means that only the most narrow parameters of change are possible and allowable” (Lorde 1). As the title of the article articulates, the tools of the white man can’t dismantle white supremacy. We have to find solutions outside of that control which can be done by listening to minority groups and gaining other perspectives on these multifaceted problems. We need to create a culture within this environmental movement that includes everyone if we want to see a future at all. We need to change our mindset of “divide and conquer” and make it “define and empower” (Lorde 2). And white people can’t do it alone because their egos will get in the way, therefore, we need to facilitate a culture that is open to everyone.

Our culture is not open to everyone right now. Have you ever felt like an outsider—an alien—in any situation? Minority groups feel that everyday living under a white supremacist society. In “The Women Men Don’t See” by James Tiptree Jr. whose male protagonist, Don, tries to understand the oppression women face and eventually gives up in understanding at the end of the story. Ruth, the woman counterpart, has a choice to leave patriarchal earth behind and join the aliens. Ruth states in a letter to Don, “’we survived by ones and twos in the chinks of your world-machine… I’m used to aliens.’ She’d meant every word. Insane. How could a woman choose to live among unknown monsters, to say good-bye to her home, her world?” (Tiptree 29). Well Don, she lived with monsters on earth like you. Earth wasn’t a home for her because of the alienation of being a woman in a male-dominated society. I would think this is how minority groups feel, especially in the environmental movement as white activists are making it seem like they are the only ones who care about earth. They alienate minority groups by excluding them, which has underlying themes that people of color don’t belong on this earth, therefore, this issue doesn’t concern them. It isn’t their home, therefore “let the adults [white people] deal with it.” This hinders resentment and I can understand if this would make you not want to get involved, but we need to put that aside and work together which can only be done if white people get off their pedestal.

Ruth felt like an alien as a woman on earth, and James Baldwin in “Stranger in the Village” felt like an alien being the only black man in Switzerland. He concludes “white supremacy rests simply on the fact that white men are the creators of civilization” (Baldwin 47). While this is the perceived truth, it doesn’t have to be this way. It will be hard to get through that white wall as white men arrive “to conquer and to convert the natives, whose inferiority in relation to himself is not even to be questioned; whereas I without a thought of conquest, find myself among a people whose culture controls me” (Baldwin 44). African Americans, Indigenous Peoples, Asians, women, and many more are victims to the colonization of our minds by white society. We can accept this, or we can try to find another way out without using the master’s tools in order to see change and a sustainable future. However, we have to band together quickly as one, as mother earth can’t hold out much longer.

We’re losing time to be proactive, so my revelation that the environmental movement is white-washed, is timely in checking myself and everyone else’s intent. Environmental justice is a passion of mine and I had doubts that I shouldn’t be involved, but just because I am the majority being a white woman fighting for climate justice, I shouldn’t stop because of how I look. I need to be aware of my privilege and constantly check myself and know that there is racism in the environmental movement. I can be the one to unite all and support people of color leaders like Frances Perez-Rodriguez, Lindsay Harper, and many more, and not perpetuate white culture—and you can too.

[awasikonis]

Body Controls Politics, Politics Control Body

In “Gut Feminism” by Elizabeth Wilson she considers the role biology plays in feminist theory. This is an interesting feat; wouldn’t we not have feminism if biology did not exist? Sex determines who we are as soon as you come out of the womb (or even before that). If you have a penis, you then fulfill a certain role in society and with that comes privilege.

Elizabeth’s line, “there is an anxiety about biology’s power to determine form and control politics” brings up an interesting point that connected all the dots in my head. What I discovered is: body control politics, politics control body. If you think about it for a second it makes total sense. . . at least for me. Depending on our bodies and what sex and gender we are, that determines our social status in society. If you are born with a penis and identify through that penis (lol) basically meaning you are a man, then you instantly have control of politics due to your privilege. All the white dudes at the top with their shriveled dicks are the ones deciding the fate of our bodies. Which then leads me to politics control the body. Take abortions for example. For some reason (which I think we know why) policy is centered around a woman’s body (oh wait duh. . . patriarchy). Biology gives certain people the power to decide another’s choice about their body because of that person’s biology.

Another point brought up in the book: is the body flexible? That doesn’t mean stretching, or yoga, and whether or not you can touch your toes. What my understanding is if the body is arbitrary and a “social construction.” I believe it’s a social construction and we use it to determine a lot of things about our society and what role you play based on how you look and present yourself. We perceive others through the body and with that comes expectations based on how you act.  

[awasikonis]

An Icon: Andy Warhol

I’m sure we are all familiar with Andy Warhol and his famous screen printings of flowers, Campbell soup cans, and Marilyn Monroe which made him the king of pop culture. He was somewhat of an influential figure in my life. I remember writing a paper on him in third grade and wrote it all in cursive just to flex because we had just learned how to write cursive. I also had the fortunate experience of visiting his museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It’s hard to not like him and his work when it is so colorful and expressive, and yet so simple. I especially enjoyed his screen test of various people within his underground circle like Edie Sedgwick. Thinking back on it, I would have loved to be a part of that underground cult scene.

Now, I know Andy Warhol was an enigma as his fluffy white hair, big-framed glasses, and classic black turtleneck paint the picture. He definitely exudes artist and I have major respect for this. However, in all my childhood I don’t think I ever knew he was gay. Not that that would change my views about him, but after reading the chapter “Figuring Out Andy Warhol” I was like “oh shit! I guess he was gay”. The chapter goes on to explain a gay British critic named Emmanuel Cooper who criticized Warhol for “’avoidance of ‘content’ in his graphic work’” meaning “it wasn’t gay enough”. I have issues with this, just because you made him this gay icon, doesn’t mean his art has to be gay. His art has many layers and interpretations as all art does. I think this brings up the issue we see in media of pushing agendas and expectations on celebrities to be these influential figures. Reminds me of Rowan Blanchard who was considered an activist on Instagram and through that she became my idol and I learned a lot from her. But, as time has gone on and the pressure to hold a certain image is overwhelming for a 16 year old, she isn’t as active anymore on platforms like Instagram. Her feed has turned from strike posts to posting whatever she wants for the fun of it. This made me at first lose respect as she was someone I followed and I was lost and got somewhat mad at her. But now, I get it. That is a lot of pressure and if it doesn’t make her happy then she shouldn’t have to do it. Going back to Warhol, he should be able to do whatever he wants without having to conform to an image someone else labeled him as. The chapter goes on to explain his work was “avoiding ‘direct communication and the expression of feelings.’” BIG MOOD. Emotions are hard and I don’t express mine to anyone—not even to myself. However, these critics are criticizing his work of not reaching emotions because they correlate to his own inner blockage of emotions. Again, he was just trying to figure out life like the rest of us. I think the criticization was too critical and I think you need to realized when you put someone on a pedestal who doesn’t want to be up there. They just want to live their own life, man.

[awasikonis]

The Normalization of Faking It

Lux Alptraum’s book “Faking It” is an all too true social commentary on sex, women, and the expectations that come with those things. Lux brings up a lot of good points that make you question why there is this taboo around sex and orgasms. In middle school, you couldn’t get through a sex ed lesson (if you even had one in school) without a few snickers. It might be just the hormone fluctuations in the average middle schooler’s mind, but you have to admit sex talk is not normalized in society. I think that is because we aren’t educated young on how it works because they preach abstinence—not safe sex. And with that lack of education, we are left confused with our bodies and are more vulnerable to articles aimed towards girls and women placing the blame on our bodies while providing home remedies to actually orgasm and no longer “fake it” in order to satisfy your partner (usually assumed it’s a man). The blame is placed on the woman, or anyone with a vagina, that we are the problem in the connection and haven’t fulfilled our part of the transaction. Reading about sex in media has built this idea that sex is this transactional thing, and not something to enjoy with someone else for your own pleasure. Certain outcomes are expected and if you don’t see those results, then you fucked up somewhere.

Another point in Lux’s book is we live in a “world that all too often equates ‘beautiful’ with ‘white’” (Alptraum 81). I find our fashion trends fascinating, especially with the Kardashians leading the way by perpetuating cultural appropriation. And somehow, they don’t see the consequences of their actions and instead get praised and become icons for girls and women to follow. After Kylie Jenner got lip injections to look more black by exploiting their natural features, we saw a trend of people getting lip injections, makeup products producing pouty lips, and even a lip challenge by bruising your lips with a shot glass. These expectations and normalizations of what is “pretty” is an awful environment for young girls to grow up in which endangers their mental health and how they view themselves. We try so hard to fit into society by buying the clothes, cutting our hair, braiding our hair, altering our face, and makeup. If you like those things and you like doing it for you, then you do you girl. I like wearing makeup and feeling cute. Braiding my hair in a French braid makes me feel powerful, almost Katniss Everdeen like. But doing those things from a place of societal pressure is not healthy. I know it’s hard to escape those norms and try to fit in. But one thing I realize, trends are so fluid. One thing can be scorned and then be a world trend that so many try to achieve. For instance, the thin tweezed eye brows penciled in was the trend and girls with thick eyebrows were the outcasts. But now look, thick eyebrows are the trend and those people with the thin eyebrows go lengths to microblade and fill in their eyebrows to get those prized thick eyebrows. You should love your features, because while it might not be in trend right now, a year or two they’ll be the ideal feature. But also, fuck conformity.

Where these expectations stem from come from media and the scorn of the male counterpart. Living in a patriarchal society, men dictate how we look and how we treat ourselves which all center around pleasing them. We alter ourselves for the pleasure of the male gaze. Lux makes a scary good point, “There are no real-life Snapchat filters to protect women from the come-ons, the catcalls, and propositions they frequently endure. But there is another strategy that a woman can employ when she wants an interested man to leave her alone. It’s just one that might involve being dishonest” (Alptraum 105). By dressing up and putting makeup on, even if you do it for yourself, the men you pass claim that confidence from you and take it for their own enjoyment. But sadly, you can also go unnoticed by not wearing makeup. This mentality takes away our confidence and freedom to do what we want to our bodies.

[awasikonis]

An Egg Dream

In Octavia Butler’s short story, “Bloodchild” this idea of eggs is incorporated throughout the story as this source of life and sense of nourishment—but also a parasite. To summarize, this story is about an isolated colony of human beings on an extrasolar world filled with grub, centipede-like things.

Humans are not the superior species, which is so very different compared to any other science fiction story where the humans win the intergalactic war and colonize every planet and sentient being and are the empire. In this story, humans are hosts for the being’s eggs and that is their sole purpose. Could the same be said for women on planet earth? Yes, as that is the constructed role of women in the patriarchal society. This idea of eggs made me think of something I’ve read that I never really realized before. We were a part of our grandmother while living in our mother, as I was one of my mother’s eggs already in her body when she was in the womb of her mother. We are multiple generations and have lived through multiple generations and this explores the idea that we are a part of each other and closer than we think. It’s beautiful to think of our connection on a deeper level and it creates this womanhood solidarity that we can find comfort in sharing.

In “Bloodchild” this idea is still there, but masked with this parasite phenomenon that makes you question the value and how reproduction is exploited. In this story, the eggs are more valuable than the host, but the host is lied to to be convinced this is safe and they will make it out alive. That isn’t the case. And thinking about our current events and our societal constructions, I don’t think this is as science fiction as you’d think. Don’t you think we are more concerned about popping that baby out rather than the livelihood for the mother and even what conditions that baby will have to grow up in? The mother becomes the victim in abortion cases and we see in this story the pressure and demand to be a host for these eggs as the main character, Gan, feels guilty for being forced to host a parasite given to him by a parasite who has complete control over the relationship. We see the inner turmoil Gan goes through after seeing first-hand the destruction the eggs leave the host in. Gan wanted to back out of the situation and we often read his victim blaming by feeling shame for not wanting to host. This toxic relationship was hard to read, and in the end, Gan gives in and we keep going around the cycle of toxicity, and society continues on with these expectations. Another meaning behind the egg is it’s a source of food. However, it can only be given by the being who is the head of the family. At first, you think it is wholesome that they provide for the family, but really those eggs give them control. They are the main source of food for those humans to survive on and the eggs have effects to make them sleep, hence the idea of “the egg dream.” The being has full control of their bodies by feeding them these eggs. After reading this story it made me think a lot about eggs and their meaning, which I guess put me in my own kind of “egg dream” and not the one that involved scrambled eggs.

[awasikonis]

Support Your Sisters

           In Audre Lorde’s series of writings I recognized a general theme between all of them. The idea of black women taking the white perception and internalizing it into how they see themselves and how they live life. As if white colonials colonized our minds, our bodies, and our hearts.

The white perception holds hatred, therefore, that hatred inhabits our everything and we will never progress. As Audre says in “Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger”; “as we fear each other less and value each other more, we will come to value recognition within each other’s eyes as well as within our own, and seek a balance between these visions.” However, I don’t think society can ever get to that peace and live in harmony despite our differences. The power of the patriarchy and the white men that inhabit it oppress us, “for within structures defined by profit, by linear power, by institutional dehumanization, our feelings were not meant to survive. . . feelings were meant to kneel to thought as we were meant to kneel to men. But women have survived” (Poetry Is Not a Luxury). This was a powerful quote that struck me and made me realize how much I hold in in my emotions. As society forces walls around groups, we naturally build those walls within ourselves. But the last line of the quote “women have survived” is something to be said. We have lasted this long with perfect posture despite the oppression weighing down our shoulders.

We are trying to survive in the patriarchy on our own, but why not do it together as sisters? Audre points out women have instilled hostile relationships with each other instead of supporting one another, especially in the black community: “as black women, we have shared so many similar experiences. Why doesn’t this commonality bring us closer together instead of setting us at each other’s throats with weapons well-honed by familiarity?” (Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger). If we eliminate those hostile encounters and learn to support each other, we can “arm ourselves with ourselves and each other, we can stand toe to toe inside that rigorous loving and begin to speak the impossible” (Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger). As we build a harmonious matriarchy we can heal each other and ourselves in the process and live with the prospect that we can live—not survive.

[awasikonis]

Women Under the Male Gaze

In “The Women Men Don’t See,” James Tiptree Jr. explores in his short story how the main character, who is a man, learn of the oppression women face in the patriarchy and through that experience we have insight into the mind of an exemplary male in our society.

The protagonist learns the inner thoughts of a woman, Ruth, as he is spending copious amounts of time with her as they are stuck together in an unknown area. What I found interesting was all the sexual innuendos he made up in his head at all situations with Ruth. This provided the reader to enter the male mind and as a result the core of the patriarchy. Just like in “The Husband Stitch” that was the first time I really read a female character be open about her sexual desires and feel comfortable in asking what she wanted. In this short story, Ruth is a suspicious and devious character according to the protagonist and I liked this side of her as this is an archetype we don’t see much of. We see the man get nervous under her scrutiny with his mind-whirling narration, “Could she have intended to come here? No way. Where she planned to be was Chetumal, which on the border. Come to think, Chetumal is an odd way round to Tikal” (15). We don’t see this deviousness of women portrayed in literature that much because the expectation for women is for them to be modest and obedient to their male counterpart, plus male authors can’t speak the same volume. So to read the audacious reaction of the man quaking, it shows the abnormality of the idea of a woman having an agenda to achieve something that the man does not know anything about as society functions on “women have no rights. . . except what men allow us” (20).

Because men dominate our society and most are oblivious to their domination, to read this story it was comical to see the tribulations the protagonist goes through to try to understand this woman. He concludes, “Mrs. Ruth Parsons isn’t even living in the same world with me” (21). Women feel alienated in the patriarchy and do not belong in this world as perpetuated by men as they think we don’t belong on the same world either. This quote foreshadows Ruth and Althea’s departure from Earth to live amongst aliens on a whole other planet. Might as well, as the planet you currently live on doesn’t respect you, so this one might have hope? This is all craziness to our male protagonist and he simply accepts the rare events as basically, “women, what can you do?” This narration exposes the oppression women face through a male gaze. At the end, the male doesn’t try to step in, but continues on with his male agenda and the patriarchy lives on—because only “two of our opossums are missing” so what is the big deal?