For some reason, I had this scene and then Iron-Jawed Angels running through my head as I read the Cixous reading, but I thought this clip would be more fun in getting the topic started.
Throughout Cixous' reading, she writes about woman's time to write, taking initiative, and being our own voice rather than letting our male suppressors be the overpowering voice for us. Moreover, she writes about the empowerment of women through their writing publicly. There were a handful of quotes throughout this article that speak true to some of these mentioned themes.
- "And why don't you write? Write! Writing is for you, you are for you; your body is yours, take it" (876).
- "Write, let no one hold you back, let nothing stop you: not man; not the imbecilic capitalist machinery, in which publishing houses are the crafty, obsequious relayers of imperatives handed down by an economy that works against us and off our backs; and not yourself" (877).
- "Let me insert here a parenthetical remark. I mean it when I speak of male writing. I maintain unequivocally that there is such a thing as marked writing; that, until now, far more extensively and repressively than is ever suspected or admitted, writing has been run by a libidinal and cultural-hence political, typically masculine-economy; that this is a locus where the repression of women has been perpetuated, over and over, more or less consciously, and in a manner that's frightening since it's often hidden or adorned with the mystifying charms of fiction" (879).
In thinking more in depth about this article, I believe the reason I chose the above clip was because it mirrored the themes present throughout this reading: women taking a stand for what's rightfully theirs (both votes and their own voices in writing or public speaking). I would, however, like to pose this question to other bloggers out there: Can the themes of "writing is for you" in order to find your voice and taking a stand for what you believe in be applied to all people in general, regardless of their gender or their cause?
In response to your questions about identifying a writer as male or female based on the methods or voice used, I think it truly depends upon the genre. For example, I have a much more difficult time identifying a masculine or feminine voice in what scholars have attempted to label expository writing, such as textbooks, academic essays, news articles, etc. Additionally, in reviewing a piece of technical writing such as a user manual, I could not tell you whether the manual was composed by a man or a woman.
ReplyDeleteConversely, I have a much easier time distinguishing a gendered voice in fiction. Take Margaret Atwood, for example. In my opinion, she “writes woman.” I would not say that her writing is feminine in a “flowery” sort of way, but the intimacy with which she composes the feelings and actions of her characters is undeniably feminine. I don’t mean to exploit the stereotype that women are more in touch with their feelings than men (in a deeply intimate genre such as poetry, I can’t deny that men’s writing is just as emotional as women’s writing). But I do notice a difference in character quality and development between female authors’ fiction and male authors’ fiction.
In response to your question about whether finding a voice as a writer applies to all people, I answer with an emphatic “Yes!” One can tell that Cixous’ piece is a bit dated in this way. We are all encouraged to find our voices today, and I read very little about women specifically needing to find their voices. We should all write for ourselves. And, in these days of easy access self-publishing, I think many people write for themselves more than ever.