Week Five Blog
I think Lorde makes a bold statement when she says she has to identify only parts of herself, such as "I am a black woman," or "I am a lesbian." She has to sort of leave a part of herself out in order for others to be able to understand her. She's not trying to be someone else but yet she's not being her whole self. I also found it interesting that a lot of the oppression happens from those who are like us. For example when she talks about white women being oppressed as women, but focusing on just white women and not black women, and also when she mentions black women denying being lesbians or turning against black women who are lesbians. Age, race, class, and sexuality can all limit us in how we perform gender. Perhaps a lower-class female won't wear heels and a cocktail dress but instead wear jeans and a t-shirt. Older women don't tend to be flirtatious but some older men will make comments about young girls. I think the older we become the less we feel we need to perform those roles because we don't need to impress people as much anymore. Also different races have different backgrounds and different views of what is beautiful or normal. sometimes sexuality can be displayed through appearances, but sometimes people choose to hide their sexuality and act as a certain gender.
I feel that Lorde believes patriarchy is part of the problem, but that we are oppressing those who are like us. For me I feel that being thin is what is culturally good, and I've talked to many guys about this, but they like curves. So therefore it must be the women doing the oppressing in the scenario. She also gives the example of black women not accepting lesbians of color, that it is "a white woman's problem." Yes the +5 people reap more benefits and are given better opportunity, but I don't think they oppress as directly as the way Lorde explains.
I said in the beginning that Lorde is a woman of color and is a lesbian and she feels it necessary to identify herself as only one of these, being that they are not "normal." She finds herself being defined in terms such as "other, inferior, or wrong." In this article she openly states everything that she "is." She's basically saying people identify her by what she does or looks like rather than who she is, that she is "the lesbian," or "the black woman," not Audre Lorde.