the phallus
Sep. 20th, 2005 10:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drydemcatchy title, eh? What I am going to talk about in this case is notions of power relation and gender differentiation, not actual penises, so I apologize for dragging you in with false hopes.
What is the phallus?So, there is this concept in psychology called the phallus which is hard to understand partially because of its historical linkages with the physical penis because of Freud and penis envy(see here). The way that I first came to understand the phallus was through tarot symbolism, linking it to the Wand. In the tarot, the Wand is linked to the active principle, the idea of will and power. If you are possessed of this will, you are able to affect the world by choosing to do things. So, in other words, by possessing the phallus, you are empowered/expected to act on your own behalf. In other words, the Phallus is both ability and responsibility.
So, how is it that women became linked with this concept? Well, in patriarchal society one of the things that defines power is the ability to control property, specifically to control the transfer of property to heirs. In order for a man to produce heirs, he needs a wife(1) which is a woman whose fidelity he can control, thus assuring the legitimacy of his heirs. Thus, control of a woman is control of property, control of property is power, which means that effectively, woman=property=power. ergo woman=power, ergo possesion of woman=possession of phallus. Thus according to the patriarchal system of inheritance and legitimacy, women are a commodity that leads to power: aka the phallus
So, what does this mean for how society constructs women's bodies? Well, patriarchal society constructs women as property. Women are presented as beautiful, as things to be seen. This is done, ironically, through preventing people from seeing them. The construction of women's clothing as shielding the woman from the gaze of others(most visibly in the Islamic veil, but no less true in European modes of dress, especially pre-1970) tells the viewer that beneath the shield there is something desirable. Locking something away indicates that it is likely to be valued by strangers. Patriarchal society has created a system of controls that places control over women's clothing in the hands of men(husbands and fathers) and vilifies female sexuality (nymphomania) outside of monogamous bonds of ownership. Thus, women are deprived of will, presented as objects to be desired rather than subjects to be desired.(Literally, I desire her, the subject of the sentence is the male and the object is the female) Thus are women objectified as desirable and deprived of their will.
So what?Well, assuming that you don't support the patriarchal objectification of woman as property(and if you do, I know some women who want some time alone with you in a dark alley), this is an important notion to grasp. Breaking down the tools with which the patriarchy objectifies women(i.e. advertising culture that uses women's bodies to sell products, rape culture, clothing shame culture, diet culture, marriage as ownership culture, slut culture) grants women power by restoring them as subjects. When the patriarchy can no longer dominate women, women can resist the oppression and violence of the patriarchy. So, if you want your mothers, daughters, wives, lovers, sisters, friends to be able to make choices in their life that protect and nurture their humanity, then start thinking about what you are doing that supports patriarchal oppression and start doing something about it.
(1)a note, I am making a distinction between heirs and children and woman and wife here. Heirs and wives are part of the patriarchal system, women and children are not necessarily so.
What is the phallus?So, there is this concept in psychology called the phallus which is hard to understand partially because of its historical linkages with the physical penis because of Freud and penis envy(see here). The way that I first came to understand the phallus was through tarot symbolism, linking it to the Wand. In the tarot, the Wand is linked to the active principle, the idea of will and power. If you are possessed of this will, you are able to affect the world by choosing to do things. So, in other words, by possessing the phallus, you are empowered/expected to act on your own behalf. In other words, the Phallus is both ability and responsibility.
So, how is it that women became linked with this concept? Well, in patriarchal society one of the things that defines power is the ability to control property, specifically to control the transfer of property to heirs. In order for a man to produce heirs, he needs a wife(1) which is a woman whose fidelity he can control, thus assuring the legitimacy of his heirs. Thus, control of a woman is control of property, control of property is power, which means that effectively, woman=property=power. ergo woman=power, ergo possesion of woman=possession of phallus. Thus according to the patriarchal system of inheritance and legitimacy, women are a commodity that leads to power: aka the phallus
So, what does this mean for how society constructs women's bodies? Well, patriarchal society constructs women as property. Women are presented as beautiful, as things to be seen. This is done, ironically, through preventing people from seeing them. The construction of women's clothing as shielding the woman from the gaze of others(most visibly in the Islamic veil, but no less true in European modes of dress, especially pre-1970) tells the viewer that beneath the shield there is something desirable. Locking something away indicates that it is likely to be valued by strangers. Patriarchal society has created a system of controls that places control over women's clothing in the hands of men(husbands and fathers) and vilifies female sexuality (nymphomania) outside of monogamous bonds of ownership. Thus, women are deprived of will, presented as objects to be desired rather than subjects to be desired.(Literally, I desire her, the subject of the sentence is the male and the object is the female) Thus are women objectified as desirable and deprived of their will.
So what?Well, assuming that you don't support the patriarchal objectification of woman as property(and if you do, I know some women who want some time alone with you in a dark alley), this is an important notion to grasp. Breaking down the tools with which the patriarchy objectifies women(i.e. advertising culture that uses women's bodies to sell products, rape culture, clothing shame culture, diet culture, marriage as ownership culture, slut culture) grants women power by restoring them as subjects. When the patriarchy can no longer dominate women, women can resist the oppression and violence of the patriarchy. So, if you want your mothers, daughters, wives, lovers, sisters, friends to be able to make choices in their life that protect and nurture their humanity, then start thinking about what you are doing that supports patriarchal oppression and start doing something about it.
(1)a note, I am making a distinction between heirs and children and woman and wife here. Heirs and wives are part of the patriarchal system, women and children are not necessarily so.
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no subject
Date: 2005-09-21 01:19 pm (UTC)Great post. :) Sorry I don't have much else to say, but it's a very interesting observation.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-21 03:10 pm (UTC)I liked in particular your reference to the possible role/purpose of concealing the female form as well as your comments on the Tarot's Wand/Staff/Rod ... which leads me back to DnD as everything seems to these days. This occurs at a very appropriate time as I am constructing a new game world which includes a Lawful Good culture which is a patriarchical theocracy. I've been wrestling with how to do this and still have it be lawful /good/
no subject
Date: 2005-09-21 03:20 pm (UTC)I'm sorry I don't have much super-thoughtful to say on the subject right now, but 1) this was very interesting to read and 2) I'm glad to know intelligent, thoughtful people like you.
no subject
Date: 2005-09-21 03:39 pm (UTC)Hey!
Date: 2005-09-22 12:58 am (UTC)I would love a site this Saturday between 6-12, any two Tree Suites.
I would have e-mailed you but I'v been unable to find your new addy...