FOLLOW UP POST: Responding to Rachel

Rachel’s analysis of each of today’s readings is very similar to the reactions I had to the thoughts of each of these writers.  There were certainly times during today’s readings when I thought that the authors were being overly dramatic thereby losing credibility in their arguments.  However, I found the reoccurring appeal for a greater understanding of the inner-workings of the female body thought provoking and very meaningful.

As Rachel points out, Anne Sexton’s poem, “In Celebration of My Uterus,” calls for a greater understanding of a woman’s biology as it is something to be not only valued, but also celebrated.  She regards the arrogant thoughts of a vague grouping, referred to as “they,” correcting their misconceptions about the female body.  Sexton responds to “[their]” idea that something was wrong with her uterus telling her uterus “you are not [immeasurably empty],” (Sexton, 330).  Sexton pointedly exclaims to her uterus that it in fact has nothing wrong with it at all and that instead, it is happy and healthy.  Like Rachel, I really liked Sexton’s personification of the uterus.  This literary technique gave the uterus an identity and consequently, meaning, importance, and purpose.  She writes in a way that establishes the uterus as crucial and valuable to the meaning and the identity of a woman.

Further, Sexton’s reference to the uterus as “you,” indicates that the uterus is conversational, something with substance.  She speaks to the uterus as if it can hear and understand what she is saying.  This sort of dialogue formation of Sexton’s first stanza positions the uterus as an equal to a human.  She thereby eliminates it’s alien and fearful reputation, instead characterizing it as something that can be understood and interpreted through simple conversation.  Sexton’s poetic genius urges the reader to make sense of women’s physiology rather than approach it as something suspicious and potentially threatening.

Anne Fausto-Sterling also demands an expansion and increase of studies focused on understanding the female body.  Clearly, knowledge of women’s biology has improved greatly over time, however I still found many of the old interpretations of the female intellect and biology absolutely ridiculous.  The argument that men can consume more food than women and therefore, are by rule, smarter than women since they can convert more food to brainpower is especially memorable to me, (Fausto-Sterling, 92).  Obviously, many scientific arguments and theories are absolutely inaccurate, unreasonable, and downright foolish.  Did these people actually believe that women were less intellectual than men since they ate less food? Or did male scientists promote these theories in order to perpetuate and ensure a society in which they undisputedly dominated?

The argument by Dr. Robert A. Wilson that “the unpalatable truth must be faced that all postmenopausal women are castrates,” is absolutely ludicrous (Fuasto-Sterling, 111).  Dr. Wilson suggests that women have no use whatsoever beyond their reproductive abilities.  Further, he insinuates, women beyond the age of menopause are no longer women.  He claims they are stripped of their identity and meaning in life and therefore, might as well be intersex.  While women’s reproductive abilities are obviously valuable and primary in the perpetuation of mankind, Wilson suggests the extreme; that women have no purpose in life beyond their ability to produce children.  He indicates that women are basically used for their reproduction and they might as well be discarded as useless, meaningless, inhuman creatures post-menopause.  He perpetuates the idea that women are simply sex objects void of any significance or importance beyond their sexual abilities.  Obviously, I believe that women have much to offer beyond their reproductive abilities.  Reproduction is obviously the force behind the continuation of life, but intellectual capabilities, for example, are also absolutely crucial in the success of humankind.  Fausto-Sterling’s essay clearly exhibits the need for increased research and education about women’s biology and scientific makeup in order to allow for improvements in the levels of respect and power placed in the hands of women.

Finally, I found Alisa L. Valdes’ “Ruminations of a Feminist Fitness Instructor” very interesting mostly because I think that the aerobics culture she describes still exists in some sense today.  However, I didn’t necessarily find her argument very coherent or convincing.  I liked her essay because I love aerobics myself and I could almost picture her balancing her desire to become a musician and feminist writer with her need to earn money through aerobics.  However, I do not agree that aerobics primarily sexualizes women or promotes eating disorders in women. 

While some women do definitely take working out too far in order to achieve what they consider an ideal body, I think that many women workout because it allows them to let loose and relax after a hard day’s work.  Personally, I find myself much more focused and prepared to do my work if I made a trip to the gym on a particular day.  Therefore, I think it is dramatic of Valdes to suggest that “fitness is a rigid religion of style, as debilitating and oppressive for many as a corset,” (Valdes, 31).  Today, as I ran on the treadmill at our gym, I felt the least stressed and the most strength I had felt all day.  Further, upon leaving the gym, I found in myself a new energy that was very much absent before my visit to the gym.

I must admit, however, that the reason I began going to the gym and running was in attempts to lose weight and work on getting a body I thought was attractive.  Therefore, while I eventually found relaxation and peace during my workouts, they initially began in my attempts to fit a standard I thought would make me more desirable in the eyes of men.  In other words, I acted in a way based on what I thought men wanted me to look like.  I gave men the power to control and dictate my own opinion of myself.  This is a weakness I am certainly not proud of, however I admittedly do not plan on ever completely eradicating the force of men in directing my own actions.  Why, as we also saw in Levy’s “Female Chauvinist Pigs,” are women so intent on acting and looking how they think men want them to look?  Why do women care so much about male opinion and male acceptance that they are willing to change themselves to fit expectations and ideals of someone else?