bashoGWSS1

In Lorde’s essay she discusses how things like age, race, class, and sexuality “limit� the way we perform gender. Lordes “mythical norm� theory ties in with Johnson’s “+5 system�. Those who are not white, thin, male, young, heterosexual, Christian, and financially secure are oppressed do not “fit in�. They become forced to do gender like the “mythical norm� instead of learning their own, unique way. It is those in the +5 system who have power and are not limited. People who do have these “limits� additionally feel the need to explain the way they do gender and to explain why they are not like those in the +5 system. Lorde explores ageism and concludes that women will never be able to rise up in society if they continue to ignore the advice and experience of their elders. On page 117 she states that, “We find ourselves having to repeat and relearn the same old lessons over and over that our mothers did because we do not pass on what we have learned, or because we are unable to listen.�
I do not believe that Lorde thinks patriarchy is the primary form of oppression. She explains that we all have oppression but there are divisions within it. “Black women and men have shared racist oppression and still share it, although in different ways.� She further elaborates that there is not one main cause or characteristic of oppression. Some people have more “limits� than others and are ultimately more oppressed than others or experience oppression in different ways.
Lorde’s analysis of gender and power is very specific to her subject position as a lesbian of color because she faces oppression from two different perspectives. She faced oppression from everyone because she is a black woman, which is a visible “limit�. Within her community she also received oppression as a lesbian. She is writing from her own experiences, which makes her such a credible source.