Thread by @radicaltheory

toni cade bambara:

“perhaps we need to let go of all notions of manhood and femininity and concentrate on blackhood. we have much, alas, to work against. the job of purging is staggering.”

“it perhaps takes less heart to pick up the gun than to face the task of creating a new identity, a self, perhaps an androgynous self, via commitment to the struggle.”

“the argument goes that the man is the breadwinner and the subject, the woman the helpmate and the object because that is the nature of the sexes, because that is the way it’s always been, and just because.”

“and yet my readings of africa, asia, the south seas, and america (pre-white man)—sporadic at best, sloppy at worst—tells me that cultures have conceived of man/woman in a variety of ways, that ‘human nature’ is a pretty malleable quality.”

“in my readings of african societies, prior to the european obsession of property as a basis for social organization, and prior to the introduction of christianity, a religion fraught with male anxiety and villification of women, communities were equalitarian and cooperative.”

“the woman was neither subordinate nor dominant, but a sharer in policymaking and privileges, had mobility and opportunity and dignity. and while it would seem she had certain tasks to perform and he particular duties to attend...”

“there were no hard and fixed assignments based on gender, no rigid and hysterical separation based on sexual taboos. she often accompanied him on hunts and donned warrior gear on the battlefield, and he frequently participated in food gathering & in the education of the young.”

“there is nothing to indicate that the african woman, who ran the marketplace, who built dams, who engaged in int’l commerce & diplomacy, who sat on thrones, who donned armor to wage battle against the european invaders & the corrupt chieftains who engaged in the slave trade...”

“who were consulted as equals in the affairs of state—nothing to indicate that they were turning their men into f a g g o t s, were victims of penis envy, or any such non sense.”

“there is nothing to indicate that the sioux, seminole, iroquois or other ‘indian’ nations felt oppressed or threatened by their women, who had mobility, privileges, a voice in the governing of the commune.”

“there is evidence, however, that the european white was confused and alarmed by the equalitarian system of these societies and did much to wreck it, creating wedges between the men and women.”