Subject: Re: Fwd: Re:
Date: 	Fri, 16 Feb 2001 11:21:20 -0500


travelling masculinities/patriarchies
_______________________________________


would he have known to be
man
enough to beat up on her

if they had not been forced into the city?

would he have felt unproductive
if not faced
by the Image of Masculinity

from other cultures

and histories...

in his village - would she not have been a strong woman
in comfort
without him having to question his
Masculinity

from frameworks given
even frameworks reworked to talk of the
"universality"
of women's oppression....


i wonder....

who's ideas of masculinity are being universalized in transnational 
conversation...

in sometimes not responsible enough academic/activist framing - in 
eagernesses to find a universal cause/victim/oppressor




At 11:05 AM -0500 2/16/01, radhika_gajjala wrote:
>>X-From_: sendmail Fri Feb 16 10:12:10 2001
>>Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 07:12:09 -0800 (PST)
>>From: "annapurna m." <annapurnam-AT-yahoo.com>
>>Subject: Re:
>>To: radhika gajjala <radhika-AT-cyberdiva.org>
>>
>>lifting weights
>>---------------
>>
>>from the slum across the road
>>she asked me if she could work for me
>>washing clothes and cleaning house
>>'is she trustworthy' i asked sathyamma
>>who had brought her
>>
>>shes newly from the village
>>not had time to learn city tricks
>>sathyamma is grimly amused
>>
>>      [ "some of the deaths are violent"
>>       i heard, sitting in far off spaces
>>       nodding in psuedo understanding of the
>>academic framework
>>       "the young girls' bodies are found with
>>parts chewed off..killed by their own menfolk"
>>
>>but the grainy pictures spoke for
>>themselves..from half dug up graves
>>young mexican women..transnational labour in
>>border towns]
>>
>>her husband is beating her
>>sathyamma told me
>>she is pregnant now seven years after
>>he had his 'operation'
>>
>>can you take me to a doctor
>>i wont have this child
>>the woman says softly
>>her husband is a good enough fellow
>>sathyamma explains
>>but just now she is earning and he isnt
>>
>>
>>but what if it happens again
>>i ask the silent woman
>>my tones all reason and logic
>>he will have found something to do..
>>next time he wont doubt me
>>she says
>>
>>already the knowledge of the city is seeping in
>>but the backbone is all village
>>
>>transnational labour
>>in my own backyard....
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>     
>>
>>
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-- 

Radhika Gajjala

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