bashoGWSS1

Lorde is very concerned with how gender, race, class, age, etc limit how we perform gender. She recognizes that since gender is a visual reflection of who we are and how we act, then also it is limited by other visual signals we give to people. She explains that it is not those differences between us in particular that lead to inequality but rather it is the refusal to acknowledge those differences and the 'distortions' that arise from trying to classify others without taking into account those differences. Lorde does not believe that patriarchy only oppresses because of sexual differences, she says in her article that 'To allow women of Color step out of stereotypes is too guilt provoking, for it threatens the complacency of those women who view oppression only in terms of sex.' What she is trying to say here is that if women of color step out from oppression then women who saw oppression only in terms of sex will be forced to acknowledge that there are other types and degrees to oppression. Lorde's perception of the world around her and therefore her thoughts and reflections are tinted with her identity of a woman of color and a lesbian. She includes many insights to both the communities of color and homosexuals. Her concluding statement of how to solve oppression is very revealing for her postion, 'For we have, built into all of us, old blueprints of expectation and response, old structures of oppression, and these must be altered at the same time as we alter the living conditions which are a result of those structures.' This means that if our definitions come from an old dictionary that is out of date then we will still fail the vocabulary test. And until we learn new definitions we wont be able to pass.