Josephina R.
FSCT 201
09/03/08
Blog #1
I decided to write about the Seven Theses because I found the reading not only strangely understandable, but very convincing. Each thesis made me understand more and more why “monsters” are perceived in such a negative and terrifying way…at least for me. It is hard for me to comprehend that monsters have more to them then what keeps me from sleeping at night after a scary movie.
According to the theses, it is obvious that we have created these “monsters” ourselves and that we all have an inner monster. This inner monster is interesting because it makes a lot of sense. Basically, your inner monster is the person that wants everything that you do not get yourself. An example can be something as silly as taking candy from a baby. I know that whenever my little brothers and sisters have candy, I want a piece or the whole thing. Therefore, “taking candy from a baby” is recognized as something that a terrible person would do—a monster. In addition, not only did I learn that actions can be monstrous, but so can your identity. I thought of my sociology class because we learned about the “deviant”, and the “Other”, and why they are looked upon as such through the eyes of society. It is clear that monsters have this description and rarely does society take the time to understand anything that is very different from itself. Personally, I thought of different aspects of my identity that would be “monstrous” according to others; such as being a passionate feminist and a proud supporter of gay rights.
Lastly, I have to type the quote that was the most important to me in this reading. These monsters “ask us to reevaluate our cultural assumptions about race, gender, sexuality, our perception of difference, our tolerance for its expression.”
Hi – I just finished a book on feeding your inner monster (about 200 pages) – it expands a lot on the things you mentioned in your paragraphs – would you be interested in seeing a PDF?
I know I am definitely interested! I can pass it on to my students that way–a student wrote this particular entry actually.
Now I have time to construct a thoughtful reply–I thought I had already replied to this comment, actually, so I was surprised to find that I hadn’t.
Something that you said sparked my interest, “Personally, I thought of different aspects of my identity that would be “monstrous” according to others; such as being a passionate feminist and a proud supporter of gay rights.”
Equating feminism with monstrosity is something that I’m going to be exploring in my dissertation actually. I am particularly interested in the “girl power” movement of the late 90s (where I was coming into teenage/adulthood), and how consumer culture got wrapped up in girl power to create a different definition of feminism than previously existed–a more commodity-centered based feminism that could create fan/sub-cultures around certain intellectual properties like Buffy and Sailor Moon.
I think feminism (and by extension, feminists) has a certain connotation in our current moment. The word “feminist” conjures up images of bra burning, man hating femi-nazism. When really, at its core, feminism is more about equality, and not putting one gender on a pedestal above another. I have taught classes where young women say, “I don’t want people to think I’m a feminist,” because the cultural connotation of being a feminist is negative. And when men and women cannot organize together to resist power structures that are inequitable to everyone (like the Family Leave Act), the power of the dominant or hegemonic power structure is that it is dispersed and it has the ability to disperse resistance. Which is truly scary…. (I hope that all made sense.)
–JB
I completely agree with everything that you said about feminism and its a shame that it has such a negative connotation. I wish people could understand that its all about equality and not domination, especially men. I am constantly getting into conversations about “being a feminist” and when men are around I always prove to them that they are feminists themselves…
Hi – didn’t see that you replied regarding being interested in seeing a copy of the book. where should I send a PDF? thanks for your interest!
Hi – the Feeding Your Inner Monster book was published in June – You might like it, as it is rather savage in attacking the oppression of women by the various social structures. For example, the book says:
“The following quote demonstrates our rejection of our organic nature:
“Inter faeces et urinam nascimur (Man is born between feces and urine).” —Saint Augustine
And so being a human is awful because of where they start. It also has the effect of neatly putting women on an even lower rung at the same time. ”
and
“Virtue is not doing something you want to do or are designed to do because of actual or perceived damage to the social structure. Chastity is so stressed for women because the operant hardware can easily handle multiple sex acts without strain or damage. Men would like to be as concerned with multiple sex acts, but the equipment just isn’t made for it. Females actively engaging in multiple sex acts, which then necessarily means multiple males, absolutely tears the daily fabric of the village into pieces, and so there are many overlapping rules to keep that from happening. The African traditions of genital mutilation, even sometimes sewing the vagina shut, make it pretty clear which behaviors are allowed.”