And the funny part is that even I got wet yesterday, stood in the hail--felt the wind--It didn't occur to me until after the weather today, while standing out on the deck with the boys that I had not taken down a thing from Canyon's Birthday Party. The easel--still with paints and paper, watercolors too--the indoor mini-tramp, now wet, the turtle tent still out from the day after the party--How did I miss these things?
"We have seen how women, biologically distinguished from 'human.' Nature produced the fundamental inequality--half the human race must bear and rear the children of all of them--which was later consolidated, institutionalized, in the interests of men...Women were a slave class that maintained the species in order to free the other half for the business world--admittedly often its drudge aspects, but certainly all its creative aspects as well" (Shulamith Firestone, "Conclusion: The Ultimate Revolution," The Dialectic of Sex).
So am I failing to embody the drudgery? Not so much--although if I don't do it, it won't get done (this is ofcourse true in the opposite direction although not nearly as widespread).
I had poor judgement with the boys tonight. Canyon has a rash and I didn't want to use Aquaphor because it has funky stuff in it--I haven't gone to the store to get calendula cream. So I thought I would use the herbal oil Ryan, our chinese med doc, told me to use on cuts and burns. It didn't feel good. I should have thought of that since I know, from experience, that I don't like it near my eyes, so why did I put it on his most tender little spot? No idea...but he got another trip to the bath AND pretzels with peanut butter while in the tub! Turns out, while not sanitary to eat in the bathroom, pretzels with peanut butter in the tub works great. Just wash off the mess.
I don't know if I relate as completely to Firestone as some. Although her explanas is rather compelling. However, I do stand on her back. The foundations of her feminism are what have brought me to this point. Her ideas still crucial. There are so many "fundamental inequalities." So much space for transformations.
1 comment:
Here I go again--commenting on m own blog--but, as I've stated before--I feel like it is useful to use the comments as a 2nd layer of a post if the subject is related
I think I mis-read Firestone's quote originally--well not originally, since I have read her work over and over and interpreted it endlessly when taking and teaching courses--but I'm rusty. When she talks about drudge aspects she is not talking about support domestic work--instead she is talking about the "business work" having both drudge aspects but also creative aspects...I think she thinks domestic work is all drudge though...no creativity. Well, maybe I should re-read the whole thing again, but thought I should clarify (critique) my original interpretation.
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