ashlayla, Cixous

This semester, I am taking an English class that is on Gender Adaptations. I feel that much of what we have discussed in that class is similar to what Cixous was saying in her essay. In today's society we are conditioned to believe that men and women are supposed to behave in certain ways. A feminine woman is supposed to be passive, nurturing, and dependent, while a masculine man is supposed to be strong, aggressive, and independent. I was strongly reminded of Hooks' concept of "other/othering" while reading parts of Cixous' essay. Cixous states: "But it does not mean that there is no invention possible, whether it be philosophical or poetic, without there being in the inventing subject an abundance of the other, of variety: separate-people, thought-/people, whole populations springing up of selves one didn't know..." (158) I was reminded of our discussion on Hooks' quote about how ethnicity adds spice to the media and the quote that talked about how race and ethnicity became commodified as a source for pleasure. If someone was classified as feminine or bisexual, based on Cixous' terms, then they would be considered the "other" because they are not like the larger public. If a person from a different race or ethnic background was bisexual, then they would also be considered the "other" because they have and different skin color and they have sexual behaviors that are different from everyone else. Another way that I was able to connect Cixous to Hooks and to my English was by something that was said in my English class. When we feminize "the other" we use feminization to be violent towards them. If a man were to be bisexual, most people in our society today would not be able to accept that because it is not normal. Therefore, we would use violence against them to either get them out of our towns or to get them out of our world altogether. It is like Cixous said, men are afraid of being "woman" because they are afraid "...of being reduced to a single idol with clay balls." (159)