*walks into the shooting gallery, stands in front of the target and poses *
it’s a book by a woman called naomi wolf.
just an interesting investigation of the situation regarding the children of the prior struggles for the liberation and self determination of women. it’s intelligent and thought provoking, bridging the use of slightly academic theorems into a real world, everyday context. its accessible reading. she interrogates how far women have come in terms of themselves and their positioning in society, both as subjects and objects. it questions the extent of our self awareness within the ever quietly shifting paradigms of the conscious and unconscious agreements we make in relation to our choices. it explores the issue of the gains women have made in the public space over the years, as juxtaposed with some of the new challenges we face, it highlights these.
like much else it may be dismissed as being feminist when i think that to do so is to be grossly negligent. at a very basic level i think that if we look at the world as it is, with women not only being the greater majority and actually forming the backbone of societies everywhere, perhaps its more important than we think. its what some of us already intrinsically know and experience but most of us don’t engage with. and it is a conversation missing amongst women themselves. one that shouldnt be exclusive to halls of learning or corridors of so called power.
she decribes this current system of functioning as ‘checkmating power at every level in individual womens lives...undermining, slowly, imperceptibly, without our being aware of the real forces of erosion...'
its pertinent in so far as i think its important for us to be consistently re-evaluating our understanding of our role in society. to be able to contextualise ourselves, in terms of what we believe in and why. and as the inheritors of the rich legacy of being given better chances to make the best possible contributions to our society, we need to be clear on where there is still work to be done. we need to be questioning whether we, today, are making the best of use of that. are we simply perfecting what is already or in our own way, using our voices to shed some new light.
like any good book, it challenges thought in a manner which is simultaneously uncomfortable as it is empowering.
its not always cool but umzabalazo continues broers.
and difference is a beautiful thing.
