gdp's Comments

Womanist Musings : Fostering Hospitable Silences.

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 10:25:07 +0000

Thanks for your kind words. Were you talking about Ahmed's Feminist Killjoys (And Other Such Willful Subjects)? (Link here for the whole essay http://barnard.edu/sfonline/polyphonic/ahmed_01.h.... To be honest, somewhere I did keep on returning to this Ahmed essay while writing this -- it's really something I identify with on many, many levels.

Womanist Musings : Fauxgressives: Stealing is ‘rong You Evil Poor Person!

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:17:25 +0000

I LOVED Dan's post, but the comments were making me headdesk too much too. Sigh. Pretty much the reason why I'm off the blogophere lately -- too much fail to handle without making brain hurt. Loved your response to the fauxgressives as well :)

Womanist Musings : Sick Day

Thu, 26 May 2011 16:24:17 +0000

Take care Renee <3

Womanist Musings : Learning Relevance Through Erasure

Fri, 20 May 2011 18:31:37 +0000

My problem is with 'understanding' a culture too -- why do you need to 'understand' who I am, what my culture is to support and accept me? I often find that whenever any Western person wants to 'understand' any non-Western culture, there is *always* a power imbalance, even this 'understanding' is done in the most anthropological-clinical stance. Last week, I presented a paper at an international conference and this Dutch lady asked me to explain to her the intricacies of the caste system -- and her reason being 'I need an authentic Indian point of view -- where I literally became a point of access and a cable wire rather than a person. So I see wanting to understand in this similar clinical text. Some things just *are* -- I don't remember asking anyone what Blake was talking about in his Tyger and Lamb poems, I had to figure things out on my own. So why does the culture I come from need footnotes, need to be diluted so that Nice Imperial Person can 'understand' me and *THEN* deem me worthy of dignity? Using words like puja should be okay if you're talking about specific Indian practices i.e. the context demands it. I'd just RAEGQUIT if I see one *more* white person appropriating our words, names of deities for their pets and cars, without knowing the magnitude behind such words and names, and if we even dare to hint that we're anything but non-Western in Western spaces, we get told to 'go back to your land' -- and if a white western person does it, it's 'edgy and cool'.

Womanist Musings : Borrowed Memories And Half-Sounded Syllables

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:37:32 +0000

Thank you Sparky. And it was very gratifying to hear that. Also this happens to me often where I read a post that fascinates me and the most interesting thing I can utter afterwards is "Oh". Compared to that, I'd say not awkward at all :)

Womanist Musings : White Guys Who Miss It (The Point)

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 17:10:36 +0000

Oh my god my eye won't stop twitching for the next hour because of his fails! UGH! White cis-dudes need a *safe space*? HOW ABOUT EVERY OTHER PLACE ON THE PLANET. Do they not get the irony when they are talking about wanting a 'safe space'? ... don't answer that.

Womanist Musings : Apparently, Michelle Obama Is Tracy Morgan's Type

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 18:51:39 +0000

Absolutely agreed! When people are being sexist and/or misogynist to White women they have to be called out, but when people in general are sexist to any racial minority, it's overlooked as "This is the way men of that community behaves" (a la Ashley Judd) -- the narrative is *always* framed as white peeps saving brown women from brown men. Big le sigh.

Womanist Musings : Sage is not just for turkey

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:28:30 +0000

What I just *LOVE* about white people pantslessly appropriating other religions is how they seem to read every other religion like Christianity/ western ideals and then they say WHY IS THIS SO *WEIRD* AND *HARD TO GET*? And as you point out, they still think *our* religions are for taking and possessing. I often think how are some people so shameless + willfully ignorant and then I remember the neato colonisation thing and it all makes sense. And by LOVE I mean my eye starts twitching. Great post though.

Womanist Musings : Writing Over Bodies

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:50:13 +0000

Thank you Tassja! I am not into cricket as a sport per se, but your phrase that this was karmic revenge made me smile so much!

Womanist Musings : This Week's Top Troll

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:46:08 +0000

I want to select all too. Selecting just one douchefuck when all of them are perfect for the top troll selection is just UNFAIR -- now why do you want us to oppress them FURTHER Renee? Anyway, I got over this injustice and voted for YOUMISOGYNISTRACIST -- such a delightful person! *Brb trying to kill the comment with fire*

Womanist Musings : My Future Generation

Fri, 8 Apr 2011 14:39:07 +0000

Oh you mean Ma Tara hasn't become a nice culturally appropriated cult figure yet? I'm sure some Nice Imperial Person will fix it soon. After all she's standing on a cadaver's stomach, it seems male, and has an erect penis. She also has a necklace of skulls and is called the "wrath" of Kali. Can you see how awesome hipsters would look in this get up?

Womanist Musings : My Future Generation

Fri, 8 Apr 2011 14:22:13 +0000

And going from "feather Indians" like you to "dot Indians" like me, ALL OF US ARE NICE TANTRICS ONLY WHO DRINK BLOOD FROM SKULLS WHILE WORSHIPPING OUR *EXOTIC* GODS. Great post, by the way!

Womanist Musings : Medea's Big Happy Family

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:01:00 +0000

Thank you for this post. When For Coloured Girls came out last year, my women's studies class aired it and then a student wrote a paper on representation of 'Black Womanhood' based on it. The problem with Perry is (in addition to all that you pointed out) is that he is the *only* film-maker accessible here (Precious aired here for less than a week). We read Toni Morrison and Alice Walker but when it comes to visual representations, it's other "white" films that give us the often problematic and twisted glimpses into the Black community. It's either Perry or Eddie Murphy so to speak, and I can't decide who perpetuates stereotypes more. Le sigh.

Womanist Musings : The Danger of a Single Narrative

Tue, 4 Jan 2011 15:36:02 +0000

While I really love Adiche and this speech, how about we just 'tell' many stories instead of 'quoting' the speech? The whole point is to complete the 'incomplete' stereotypes, which will happen only when we speak. Great post Renee. I remember reading both these posts and the disastrous comment threads too. Sigh. Feminism can't be just about gender. Like Feminist Hulk aptly says, "Feminism without commitment to anti-racism is like trying to make vegan scones only with only sugar and soy-milk". Feminism can't be a monolith, one that focuses on gender alone, otherwise we're just re-placing the old Empire with a new one.

Womanist Musings : I'm Back

Mon, 3 Jan 2011 15:47:15 +0000

Yay welcome back! I hope you feel better soon too :)

Womanist Musings : OutSourcing Dusty Bodies

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 20:29:25 +0000

I know you always read and comment, yes. And I'm really grateful for your friendship and kind words :) Keeping your safety first is a wise choice Kat, don't worry too much about that. Besides, we can never know everything about anything. Also, knowledge is over-rated sometimes ;)

Womanist Musings : Breathing As The 'Eternal She'

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 05:36:27 +0000

Um if you read the article, it states that 'Harry' is Assange's handle for dating sites. So the dude made specifications to what type of women he preferred. One could logically argue that there is nothing wrong with 'that', everyone has a 'type' and so on. However, the reason this disgusts me so, as I said many times in the post too, is how his vision of Third World Women fits into the idea of the 'Eternal She'. Assuming women from countries who have faced 'political turmoil' will make you say, a better person because you can do charity (by dating them) and get exotic fruits (their bodies) in return. Or expecting these women to somehow 'enrich' his life by their Third World Pearls of Wisdom, because of the trauma they've witnessed is pretty damn racist and appropriative. And it's also condescending to think all WOC have led tragedy-ridden lives, that he can somehow twist around to his benefit. What can I say Gregorius, I'm pretty biased towards bigots. That's just how we bleddy third world women are. But I guess you already knew that. Jaded16

Womanist Musings : Sex and Sexual Enjoyment Plays a Huge Part in Islam

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 08:36:57 +0000

I have to say, you had me chortling out loud so many times during this post! And you're right, most Oriental sexuality is imperially constructed. We have the "asexual, exotic flower bud who has no idea how pretty she is till some White dude points it out to her" and the "Dusky brown man who can rape White women as he will, and this is HAWT of course". Also I couldn't help remarking how we're equally reluctant to talk about sex too. One of my mum's friends thought sex was like they talk about in a Danielle Steel book (no, really she did) and has had sex exactly thrice in her life (!), to make babies only, obviously. It's astounding to what length we'll go to avoid talking about responsible sex-ed. Great post :)

Womanist Musings : No, Dad, I am Not Going to Conform Just For You

Wed, 8 Dec 2010 14:36:38 +0000

I'm really sorry JuJuBe that things have gone this sour between your father and you. At family gatherings and other events I usually keep quiet but this year I did speak a few times and predictably I was told to keep mum. I can't completely disengage with my family, so I just walk out of such spaces, and even that is difficult. I can't even imagine what it must be like for you. I wish you peace :)

Womanist Musings : Time Wise On Guilt Vs Responsibility

Tue, 7 Dec 2010 16:27:33 +0000

Why does guilt have to be such a big "no-no" for Wise? No one is asking White people to repent or 'pay' in any other form for their ancestor's mistakes, but if guilt of living in a White world makes anyone work harder at demolishing the Whitewashed mentality of people, then why not? It seemed as if the answer encouraged people to 'relax' their cuckold instead of encouraging real responsibility we as individuals have to not uphold myths of the Empire.