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Outtakes from Outlaw Bodies
Aug. 1st, 2012 04:06 pmI couldn't figure out how to include this anecdote in my introduction to Outlaw Bodies, but I really wanted to.
When I was in college, I took a class in Feminist Theory from the renowned lesbian separatist and philosopher Marilyn Frye. The aim of the class was, basically, to get you to the point where by the end of the course you could be writing top-shelf feminist theory yourself. Why not? Gayle Rubin wrote "The Traffic in Women" as her freshman thesis, after all.
I cannot now remember the context of the discussion, but someone in class had asked one of those questions about nature versus nurture, “hard-wired” instincts versus culturally instilled values, learned behavior versus biology. Something along the lines of "can Sexist Behavior X be unlearned, or is it just innate?"
Frye said in response, "“Toilet training is a learned behavior. Children aren't born knowing how to control those muscles. They have to be taught. But now that you've learned it, try simply forgetting your toilet training. Let me know how it goes.”
It was not perhaps the cheeriest thing to tell a class full of bright-eyed feminist undergrads. But it was a powerful metaphor for an otherwise nearly twee in its abstraction concept that was in vogue at the time, that of written on the body. It's stuck with me ever since.
When I was in college, I took a class in Feminist Theory from the renowned lesbian separatist and philosopher Marilyn Frye. The aim of the class was, basically, to get you to the point where by the end of the course you could be writing top-shelf feminist theory yourself. Why not? Gayle Rubin wrote "The Traffic in Women" as her freshman thesis, after all.
I cannot now remember the context of the discussion, but someone in class had asked one of those questions about nature versus nurture, “hard-wired” instincts versus culturally instilled values, learned behavior versus biology. Something along the lines of "can Sexist Behavior X be unlearned, or is it just innate?"
Frye said in response, "“Toilet training is a learned behavior. Children aren't born knowing how to control those muscles. They have to be taught. But now that you've learned it, try simply forgetting your toilet training. Let me know how it goes.”
It was not perhaps the cheeriest thing to tell a class full of bright-eyed feminist undergrads. But it was a powerful metaphor for an otherwise nearly twee in its abstraction concept that was in vogue at the time, that of written on the body. It's stuck with me ever since.
