(no subject)
1. Had an especially good weekend in Manchester, walking along the Northern Quarter and taking swigs from a carton of soy milk while singing Last Night in the pouring rain. Sherman and I also spontaneously caught An Education in a little cinema with a piano, after I casually mentioned I'd been planning to see it.
2. Scattered thoughts on Continental feminism, which frankly isn't my cup of tea: I disagree with most of what Cixous has to say. I don't think there's a distinctly feminine style of writing and I have no trouble with language being linear and teleological. Next, Irigaray's point about lesbianism being liberating doesn't seem tenable in practice - she'd roll in her grave at the sight of modern-day lesbians rigidly organising themselves along the very lines she eschewed. I've always wondered if it's in our nature to ascribe binary gender roles to ourselves - or whether we're so accustomed to viewing ourselves in that light, that whenever we try to break out of one mould, we leap into another.
When I was with my first girlfriend, our relationship wasn't at all rigidly constructed, but I did detect some telling patterns. Though I was far from getting a crew cut or binding my chest, I relished small, frequent acts of gallantry, and I loved it when I wore jeans and she a dress. I recall a definite element of pleasure in these interactions, as if they made us more complementary - like playing police and thief. In any case, I'm sure there's an entire corpus of literature dedicated to exploring this matter, and I should refrain from ignorant speculation.
3. Last night I dreamt I was hopelessly restless, and wanted to go on an extended road trip, Beat generation-style. In reality I'd lose my way repeatedly, and rant about filthy motel rooms. I also dreamt I was back in secondary school and, to my chagrin, coerced into attending additional Chinese classes every evening. I protested passionately, citing the fact I'd already passed my A Level exam and dedicated my life to ethics. My teacher, stern and curly-haired, was unimpressed.
4. Synth guitars are so cool.
2. Scattered thoughts on Continental feminism, which frankly isn't my cup of tea: I disagree with most of what Cixous has to say. I don't think there's a distinctly feminine style of writing and I have no trouble with language being linear and teleological. Next, Irigaray's point about lesbianism being liberating doesn't seem tenable in practice - she'd roll in her grave at the sight of modern-day lesbians rigidly organising themselves along the very lines she eschewed. I've always wondered if it's in our nature to ascribe binary gender roles to ourselves - or whether we're so accustomed to viewing ourselves in that light, that whenever we try to break out of one mould, we leap into another.
When I was with my first girlfriend, our relationship wasn't at all rigidly constructed, but I did detect some telling patterns. Though I was far from getting a crew cut or binding my chest, I relished small, frequent acts of gallantry, and I loved it when I wore jeans and she a dress. I recall a definite element of pleasure in these interactions, as if they made us more complementary - like playing police and thief. In any case, I'm sure there's an entire corpus of literature dedicated to exploring this matter, and I should refrain from ignorant speculation.
3. Last night I dreamt I was hopelessly restless, and wanted to go on an extended road trip, Beat generation-style. In reality I'd lose my way repeatedly, and rant about filthy motel rooms. I also dreamt I was back in secondary school and, to my chagrin, coerced into attending additional Chinese classes every evening. I protested passionately, citing the fact I'd already passed my A Level exam and dedicated my life to ethics. My teacher, stern and curly-haired, was unimpressed.
4. Synth guitars are so cool.