Love and Julian of Norwich

What I find most profound about Julian of Norwich is that, for her, the Christian life is located in the body.  She speaks about the Passion of Christ with the greatest attention to his humanity--his wounds, his dried skin, and his bloodless body--and the boundless love that moved him to suffer.  However, she also speaks about her own body participating in being both wounded and overcome with love, even being wounded with love.  For Julian, divine love is a love that causes and transforms the suffering of our physical bodies.

Yet, how can I read these themes of love and suffering, desire and pain made evident in the physical body without being reminded of sexuality (or maybe I'm just perverted)?  Her writings reflect the experiences of sexual encounters and fantasizes, of sorrow and unrequited infatuations, and of torturous masochistic pleasures.  However, they also resonate with our experience of limitation and breaking down--that is, of illness and of disability.  For those of us who are acutely aware of our sexuality through being sexual minorities or of our bodies through disability or ailment, Julian is wonderfully affirming.  It's no easy task to embrace our diverse bodies in affirming love in a world that judges our bodies based on skin color, ability, weight, breast size, and form.  Moreover, in our culture, our bodies are often times ignored (consider the hours spent in cars, at our desk, and by the computer/TV) and feared (the fear of death, of aging, and of disability).  But, when I read Julian, I cannot help but be returned to my very mortal existence with all of its frailty, boundaries, and passions and, there, to find God's love at work.  In our grief, joy, pain, and wounds our very bodies are joined to Christ's body who's wounds are also the opening of an unending love.  And in being to joined to Christ's wounds--thereby embracing our own mortal lives--there is no greater heaven.

"With a kindly countenance our good Lord looked into his side, and he gazed with joy, and with his sweet regard he drew his creature's understanding into his side by the same wound; and there he revealed a fair and delectable place, large enough for all mankind that will be saved and will rest in peace and in love. And with that he brought to mind the dear and precious blood and water which he suffered to be shed for love. And in this sweet sight he showed his blessed heart split in two, and as he rejoiced he showed to my understanding a part of his blessed divinity, as much as was his will at that time, strengthening my poor soul to understand what can be said, that is the endless love which was without beginning and is and always shall be."

- Julian of Norwich, Showings (Long text), Twenty Fourth Chapter.

Six Rules for Allies

I came across this video amazing video which offers great advice for being in solidarity with others who are marginalized.  This speech was given by Dr. Omi Osun Joni L. Jones of the University of Texas at Austin.

BSWM

My friends and I recently formed a book club (I know...geeky, nerdy, whatever).  We're starting off with Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon.  I expect that this will be both a challenge for me and a joy.  A challenge because even though I am familiar with critical theory, I've had little experience with post-colonialism and psychoanalysis.  If approach well, I expect that this will be a growing experience.  A joy because I hope that this highly praised and important work will provide me more tools for thinking through current realities of racism and of contemporary forms of colonization.  Additionally, even as I read through the first chapter, I could identify some of his analyses in my own life, in my family, and in my work with the low income, black communities here in Washington, D.C.  I'll end this post with a terrific excerpt from his first chapter:

"All colonized people--in other words, people in whom an inferiority complex has taken root, whose local cultural originality has been committed to the grave--position themselves in relation to the civilizing language: i.e., the metropolitan culture.  The more the colonized has assimilated the cultural values of the metropolis, the more he will escape the bush.  The more he rejects his blackness and the bush, the whiter he will become.  In the colonial army, and particularly in the regiments of Senegalese soldiers, the 'native' officers are mainly interpreters.  They serve to convey to their fellow soldiers the master's orders, and they themselves enjoy a certain status."

-Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks, 2-3.

Grace & a quote by Martin Luther

"Behold, from faith thus flow forth love and joy in the Lord, and from love a joyful, willing, and free mind that serves one's neighbor willingly and takes no account of gratitude or ingratitude, of praise or blame, of gain or loss.  For a man does not serve that he may put men under obligations.  He does not distinguish betwen friends and enemies or anticipate their thankfulness or unthankfulness, but he most freely and most willingly spends himself and all that he has, whether he wastes all on the thankless or whether he gains a reward.  As his Father does, distributing all things to all men richly and freely, making 'his sun rise on the evil and on the good' [Matt. 5:45], so also the son does all things and suffers all things with that freely bestowing joy which is his delight when through Christ he sees it in God, the dispenser of such great benefits."

-Martin Luther, "The Freedom of a Christian Man"

In light of God's grace--frivolously and unconditionally given to all--the only appropriate response is to be gracious in our relationships with each another.  To be generous toward our friends and our enemies alike, to give without expectation and without engendering debt in others, and to live joyfully assured that there is enough for us all.

LGB...T?

For various reasons, some believe that Transgender movements should be separate from Lesbian, Gay, & Bisexual movements.  Many of these reasons are valid and understandable.  However one reason that I've repeatedly heard is that LGB issues deal with sexuality while T issues relate to gender.  I find this reason completely unsatisfactory.  In my following reflections, I don't want to simply employ trans/gender/queer identities (I'm including Intersexed in this category) to the self-realization of LGB movements, however I do see a benefit to including discussions about gender among Lesbian, Gay, & Bisexual communities.

First and foremost, as soon as the terms Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual are employed, aren't they already assuming and relying upon a gender framework?  Aren't they already making declarations--whether implicitly or explicitly--about sex and gender identities?  After all, can one really speak about lesbianism--woman to woman eroticism--without some definition or assumption about what "woman" means?  Whether one defines "woman" according to social constructions of gender performance or according to biological arrangements (sex), lesbianism loses all meaning without relying on a framework that gives definition to sex and/or gender.  Even bisexual, as it is currently understood, is built on the binary of sex/gender identity of male/female and man/woman. To speak of LGB issues at all means that statements regarding sex and gender have been made or assumed.

It's no secret that "Gay Rights" have gained much national attention to the neglect of Lesbian and Bisexual voices--a fact which reveals that much of "Gay Rights" discourses have done very little to challenge patriarchal structures.  In fact, the growing success Gay Rights can be attributed to our male-dominated society which still give men center stage.  However, trans/gender/queer identities present another challenge not only to "Gay Rights" but also to the very labels of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual.  Terms such as trans/gender/queer remind us that the labels of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual continue to play into binary systems that limit both gender identity and sexual idenity.

First, with regard to gender identity.  Gender identity is limited by LGB labels because it assumes that "male" and "female" are stable identities.  Trans/genderqueer expose the fact that gender identity is a construction that is always fluid and negotiated.  Gender identity is taught, learned, and performed at every moment in society--for example, when a woman shaves her legs or when a man shouts at the TV while watching a football game.  Even these performative cues and signs change depending on our changing, but particular, contexts--for example, it's effeminate for a man to cross his legs in some situations (i.e. at a sporting event), but it can communicate power in others (i.e. at a board meeting).  Despite the force of the hegemonic definitions of gender into the binary of man/woman, these definitions are not fixed--the have and continue to change.  Taking it further, even the biological stability of male/female is put into question by various factors.  It's shown to be malleable by modern medical/technological developments and ambiguous by those who are Intersexed.  Moreover, the fact that multiple biological factor are associated with sex development--not only a particular chromosome, but various other configurations such as the nuanced composition of that chromosome, testosterone/estrogen levels throughout the body, the presence/absence of certain glands--show that biological sexual identity come with many variables and variations even if they're not externally visible (see, for example, Klinefelter's syndrome).  These realities are not always taken into account by Lesbian, Gay, & Bisexual movements.  These variables are overlooked by those who might be passionate about "Gay Rights" but still benefit and are comfortable with the prevailing hegemonic control of sex/gender identities.

But the trans/gender/queer movements also challenge LGB movements regarding erotic sexual identity (or "sexuality" or "sexual orientation") and this second challenge is related to the first.  Not only do Lesbian, Gay, & Bisexual labels continue to accept fixed gender binaries, but they also limit sexual orientation to being object-based--that is, sexual identity is defined by the gender of the one by whom are aroused.  That is to say, in LGB movements, lesbianism is defined as Person A (a woman) being aroused by Person B who is also a woman; gay is defined because Person C (a man) is aroused by Person D who is also man.  In Sex and the Single Savior (see my entry about this text here), Dale Martin points out that sexual definitions in Greek antiquity were not merely object-based, but based on the sexual roles of penetrator and penetrated.  That is, it wasn't unusual to expect that a male would be aroused by both males and females, however it was proper that the man (if he's in good social standing and reputation) would be the pentrator.  The women and the (male) youth he sexually engaged would be penetrated--a role considered effeminate and unfit for an honorable man.  Sexuality was not simply defined by the sex/gender of one's arousal, but by the role(s) played by those engaged in sexual activities.  Don't get me wrong, this is still a sexist and oppressive framework, but it shows that erotic sexual identity does not have to be based of the sex/gender of the one who arouses us, rather it can be defined by other aspects which are part of sexual practices.  I believe trans/gender/queer identities can challenge Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual labels to recognize more aspects to sexuality or "sexual orientation" than gender identity.
 
To elaborate this further, why define erotic sexual identity based on the sex/gender of the one who arouses us?  There are many features that permeate our sexual lives and there's no reason to make one more determinative than others.  If we used a penetrator/penetrated framework, how then would we define heteroseuxal men who enjoy being fingered or being dildo-fucked by women (remember Road Trip)?  What would we say regarding homosexual men who only top and refuse to bottom or to be subjected to anal play?  What would we say of women who fingered/dildo-fucked each other, thereby constantly changing the position of penetrator/penetrated?  What if sexual identity was viewed along other lines such as those who enjoyed being dominant and those who enjoyed being submissive (after all, the categories of dominant/submissive are not synonymous with penetrator/penetrated)?  How would we think of aggressive male bottoms (power bottoms) or submissive tops?  Or supposed we made distinctions among those who were sexually monogamous and those who were polyamorous and those who are celibate (after all, celibacy can be queer, too)?  What's amazing is that these are all forms of sexual identification that do not rely on gender identity but reveal that sexuality as multifaceted--it is crisscrossed by multiple dimensions and factors.  To broaden our discussions of both gender identity and of sexuality creates space for mutually edifying contributions between Lesbian, Gay, & Bisexual movements and Trans/gender/queer movements.  What's disappointing is the refusal of many "self-proclaimed progressive" "gay rights" voices to allow themselves to be challenged in their assumptions of gender and sexual identity.

A multitude of possible identities can be opened if Lesbian, Gay, & Bisexual movements allow themselves to be challenged by Trans/gender/queer identities.  However, as I said earlier, I don't want to simply employ trans/gender/queer identities for the self-realization of Lesbian, Gay, & Bisexual people.  Movements in sex & gender activism have their own voice and need to speak on their own terms, not simply in the service of homo/bisexual movements.  As a cisgendered male, I continue to gain a lot from trans/gender/queer movements and am in solidarity with their struggles, but it would be another form of exploitation to merely use their identities for my own self-actualization.  Trans/genderqueer movements have an agency of their own and need to be heard on their own terms, but, personally, I would like to see that happen alongside LGB communities.