Markings

“The males, large and small, have their penis pierced from one side to the other near the head with a gold or tin bolts as large as a goose quill. In both ends of the same bolt some have what resembles a spur, with points upon the ends; others are like the head of a cart nail…In the middle of the bolt is a hole, through which they urinate…They say their women wish it so, and that if they did otherwise they would not have communication with them…”

I found this quote from my History class. Apparently, the Philippine men were to go through this pain in order to please women! I’m assuming Southeast Asia is so much different than the U.S! Women are dominating there! In Cochin-China, “the woman did the talking and the man listened and agreed.” (1602)

The role of a woman has changed drastically but has not really reached the same position as the Southeast Asian countries (not that feminism is wanting to dominate but to just be equal). I found it interesting that Wittig compared the oppression of women to racism. We want to be free. Both readings described the wide reality of women. “Women” and “woman” are yet to be different because of the fact that in the social world, women is considered a whole, a social institution, as for a woman, an individual, she is the subject, and is killed by class. A woman is identified by her sexual identity, and we see that lesbians want to escape by refusing and are trapped. Their private problems are in fact social problems. Because they are “unnatural” as some say, they are not-woman, nor are they man, they are beyond the category of sex. The world points sexuality directly at women, and what Wittig believes is that it shouldn’t be an indication of someone’s identity but we should acknowledge that it should not be a subjective expression, because it is a social institution of violence. There is this natural division of women and class makes sexuality a weapon. I’ve come to realize that women are afraid to show weakness now, and this also roots from sexuality. We are all afraid to drift from the norms. We are either in or out, are we in the political power of men, the “role” of being a women? Or can we challenge ourselves? Not that I’m saying we should make men go through such physical pain by marking themselves like the Philippines, but like Southeast Asia, do something about respecting each other, and forget about not just the norms, but the class. Maybe women should take care of each other. Will class ever disappear? Will the personal problems disappear? Because class is slowly destroying everyone’s individual expression. The myth of women is the mark of our oppression, we are the mark of our own oppression. Women are hurting, marking each other by categorizing our sex.