Gendered Bodies and Everyday Selvesl
Elspeth Probyn
After the massacr€ at the unfuersity of Montreat whore fourteen women were kfited
b€cause
of theh gender, it ls ditficult to speak glibly ot the articulation
o{ women and fear, of bodies
engendered in vrorence. on theday that tthapp€n€d I was soverar thousards
ri|",
bnt my sister rushed in whh a copy of the London Ewntng smrraaru *nn
"t spaner#
uooies
"God, you.cburd have b€en thsre,fsne-sarO, rererrrng toi-hei"diGi
Fge-.
:ll^::"Jf-ll9"t
I reacn ar rhe university. And Indeed,_the frisson of taar 8rd r€rief,
crf sonoriand anger herd
m€ as rrnagesof the famiriar rayout of burtdings and conHo* pass€d
ttrrougn my mind lthe
ne{ mornlng I found out that the rocatlon of the stayngs wai at ttre Ecoti potirectrntiue
**v,
some.distance trom my departm€nt). While I canl llngEi ofr rtreso |rnag,es,"#;;;;l;
a:seT:g, nor do I want ro capttatize (on) this trightful event,z thE fact thai h was women
who
y:::1,3:lH,1eqne expressty_was shooring ar fsmlntsrs, can never qutre be forgonen.
Accororng to rriendswho were In Montrearduring thrs time, that fact
attered theways r;which
women recognlzed each other on the $reets ard In the metro;
that fact continJes to alter
tjt:e^y:e?.src€ of the universiry as it changes the carcurus of bodres, gender
and Instrtution.
Agarnsr lne current circuration of discourses Insisting on the irelevance
of gender in a
so'called postJeminist wodd, these actions recal whlisome force the
weryda-y gendered
aggfessions that women rnay encountet
,,rylhg,rt making any strict equtuarsnces betriveen the deaths ot these women and other
socrar pnenomena, I want to n€v€rtheless argue that th€.e are a numb€r
of social discoursos
In circulation a he moment that are articulaied In thoir use c*ienrtnism
as an aulect ob1ea.
I am. thlntlng here particularly of th€ discourses ol "post-feminlsm" and "ttre 'new
rhe way-s in which rhey are currgnrty rg,vorking the tdea(t) of rhE home In
I31]?13'iT,
p-nm_e-rme
"ld r. wi ergue thar rhesg
lerevision.
discoursas rety on tt'e palfibre erasure ol
atso wanr to ratse rhe ways In which retevt;io; re-presenrs and
::T,llTl?r.r.1,.11
{ecfiviry.t
re'pos[rons women
in lhe home wiih lmages of their worst fears. I want to'examine the
.l:mporar and spatiar revers lnvolvEd. in the eleryday construction of gender Jrr,ronii, rie8l.
My interest in the home istwo-ford: r' argue that ihe;onstructionof
rhthome ai an ap'peaiini
im€ge in the "thirtysomething" type programming needs remlnrsm
as the unsaicr in order to
worK; a.nd.lhat vaguery "post-leminist" programs, such a soprah wintreywhich
seekto,each
out a.nd address women's issues, mayalso recreate a situation of feartorwomen
inthe home.
This is to say that "the flow" of televisu'al representations or viotence
ie-articulate the gendered
conditions which have historicafly isoraied women as an object In the home,
is "home
Volume lll numbeB 3 & 4 tall-winter tg9c199t
-
bodies." In other words, we can see the discursfue construction of the home as a sale havsn
from a fEarful wodd and wE can also see fear belng alrned dhoctly ln the home lhrough the
medium of talkshows ostenslbly designsd to essuage women's fears'
In order to get closer lo the home, l'lt propos€ thr€s rnstaphors to designale ths lwels at
which public cftcourses and representations articulate gendered daces, bodies and afleclfue
The.e terms, locale, location and the locat, can be used to pry open the ways In
"oa"ei.
t"t i"t tt e ttore *orks, as a th€oretical entrance Into the home as an ld€dogicAl and affectfue
slte whhin women's everyday ltues. l'll hliack colen€ Gulllaumln's [19781 term "le se(age' in
oiOer to specfy tne relati6nslmong phy;ical locales, histo4cal ard i.Jeological locations and
tocal oractices, and thelr Inscrlpttons on gendered bodies." Thus, I wEnt to specl'ty lhe ways
tn wtrtch OoOies are relormsd in the homers aniculatlon of gonder, space and hlstory. Ag€lnst
the current happy lmages of the home and ln contrast to ths trag€dy al the unfuelshy, lhis is,
then, to remembirr thai most physical violence done to womsn ocgurs within the home: that
"according to the FBl, a thiid of all murdet€d tioTen qg vlctims of domeslic vidence"
70% ctf women killed in 1988 were
[Margeronis, t9e0:45], ard tt.t ln Canada lust under
murdered at home.
Leavlng Home
one ot the fkst media products that I noticed as labeled as "post-feminist" was the
canadhn independent nm, A W,nl€f 7an. Based on the true story of Maryse Holder, lt depicts
what happens when women take a vacation lrom femlnlsm. The protagonlst (daysd by Jackle
gJnoudtis) has l€ft bohind th€ coltege, wh€r€ she taught fominist lilerary crhlcism, ln order
to dEa;e he6ell on Mexican beaches whh young mgn. For Maryse "there ls teminism and
thJn therE s fucking" lcired In Welnstock, 1989: 1381, and In lin€whh a certain understanding
of wtui comes att6r flminlsm, the tllm tries to glve us th€ experienc€d mind and body of a
woman nol out tor herself. lt ls the representation oi wornan sor/ing her oats, away from the
constraints of home and/or feminism. Horvever, the film lmplies that when women leave home
Gy,re in trouble: for all her freedom, Maryse ls represent€d as quite painfully bulimic a
from
hJ that becomes a metaphor lor her sexual binges as well as the purging of feminism
presumed
her
the
hands
of
her
at
death
tt"i tit". lrrt"ry"r'. uucation lrom feminism ends with
last loveri fi ls an ending that we know trom the beginning.
"it
n a review of A Wnt6r Tan, and several other cunent films, Jane Weinstock states that
atelalling
everywhere
women
historical
condition:
tacing
a
would seem, then, that we are
. . . [and] that this disintegration is nor being presented as an insidious effect of
"p"rt
leminism" ilbid.: 1411. While this is quhe true of some ol the.other films that Weinstock
mentions lFata! Attraition,lor example), I think that lately feminism has slipped from being
onehaltofan equation to being the undertying absence (the unsaid) that holdsthe articulation
-
f
Dlscours lgciel / Soclal Di3couEe
ol women and home in place. In olher wotds, feminlsm has dissppeared from the public
screen as a viable option and no is to be found hiddsn under the lrnages cf women happily
choosing the new packaglng of homelife. This reaniculation of the tamily home goes by the
name of "new traditionalism' and covers a range of cunent discours€s and r€pr€s€ntations.
Its ascent c€n be roughly traced from Reagan's statsment that 'they're going to steal our
symbds ard slogans: words like communlty ard thE family" lclted In Moyers, 19891 through
to Bush's "kinder, gentler etc.' ard on lo thirty€,on ethlng afi Wonder Yee6. Th€ tamfly has,
ol course, been a permanont teature ot the rhetorlc of the Right btjt, ol late, lts representatlons
seem to serve as a compelling rallying polnt tor a much largsr constituency. As Rlchard
Wirthlin (the man behind Reagan's lrnage) puts lt: 'lh€ language ol rralues ls the languge of
omotions" [clted on Moyers, lbkl.l and both values and €mdlons ars brought togethsr In th€
lmage of smiling women back In the home.
The sheparding ofwomen back Into the home was apparently Inhiated byan ad campaign
lor Good Housekeeping rnagazine. The ads teatured cortEntsd twesd and cashmered
mothers franked by welldressed and, presurnauy, wdl-behaved children. The ad execs who
"discovered" "new tfaditionalism' are succinct In th€k sstlmation cf ns appeal:
It was never an lssue except among feminists who feft that we were t€lling
women io stay home and have babies. We're saylng that's okay. But thafs not all
we're saying. We're saying lhey have a choice. lt's a lough world out there [cited
In L Savan, 1989: 491.
As Leslie Savan has pointed out, new traditionalism ls synonymous with a new age of
"cholseoisle" [Savan, lbkl.]. Thus, Good Housekeeprng can sEll "the reaffirrnation of famlly
values" by insisting that:
Mother's haven't changed. Kids havent changed. Famllies haven't changed.
Love hasn't changed. What is fundamental lo our llvss, what ?eally maners . . .
hasnl changed [cited in Savan, lbkj.).
Horvever, In order for "choiseoisie' to work and to be sftectve, the "fundamenal" aspect
of "our lives" has to be put in contrast with something else. After all, lf the family is so damned
€vldenl and "natural," why or how would anyone ever "choose" anything else? lt ls at this
poinl thal posl-feminism enters in order to provide a veneer of history, or rather, to remind
us gently of the Other. Post-teminism lhen enters into this discursfue lray carrylng within it
feminism as the "abject:" remlnding us (in spite of hself) ot "lhe horible and fascinating
abomination . . . connoted by the teminine" (to use Krlsteva's terms [Kristeva, 1986: 3f4).
This is to say lhat the discourse of posl-feminism serves to transform the rather ffat "natural"
landscape of the happy home as it toregrounds lhe conundrum of "feminine" or "feminist,"
the dilemma ot choosing between career ortamily. As that celebrated pos eminist Madonna
put h: "Life is a mystery/Everyone must stand alone/l hear you call my name and it teels like
home . . . ." These lyrics can be used to sum up lhe post-feminist ontology: the world's a
crazy place and you have totight for yourselt butat the end otthe day you can always choose
Volume lll numbers 3 & 4
-
tsll-wlr er 199G1991
means that you can be
to go home and change out of the power dressing lnTV terms' this
tamily.(L4 Law); a
a t6f corporate tawye-r and have your baby In the mldst of the-corporate
the Washington
to
comdsto
ttoilnot turr"nt atfilrs anchor aird consiier havlng a baby
be home
lndesd'
and'
home
to
stay
io*nrtouJtuurpr,y Brcwnli or you can lust choos€
(thittysomethingl
Dolng the Home
home' chois€olsie
Post-fominism thus returns a sense of difter€nce to lhe newtraditionalist
the family or
car€er,
the
hom€
or
rhJ posslbiltty ot choosing between.the
ol fear
slining
a
creates
holv€ver,
choices,
""n-u"
tfre
sudessfuf loU. Thi movem-ent between'ihese
(an
young.
rnanhood
years
ol
the
devourer
as
have
Mom
we
il ln wonder
;"d
sarmon,
species
the
ot
femate
ths
where
tilm
a sequence of a biotogy
we.have various
and rnallards are squashin-g thek young), ln thtttysomothing
clug"rs "n.".
and
tevels of tear. from iirtier iasons *" frve seeri fear ot the snvlronmer
(ard
In
thls
season
ioitctty as wett as miscaniag€s and separatlons and dlvorces' Of course'
Nancy struggles with
ippai6ntiy rnto trte ngr on;) we havsthe sp€c'tre of the."C-word," as
voyeur' spylng and
the
as
Michael
had
opening sequence of last year'i season
shots we l|av-e
opening
sEason's
InthE
cunent
"!f,""i.
t ii timni oyrne bantsr;r raits.
(temporarip)
have
who
those
of
wlth
shots
intersticed
i;uaiiols iosition.
as ltuing in a
represented
They
ate
"Ellen').
('Melissa"
and
mates
chosen lobs over kids and
poiJ"i
&;;".
!p[Ji,
-
-
;G; il
ifi.
il*iiiJ irri
ffi;s-Joffi;
il-ililI'r-.*
'i"Jii'i"-rii
ttre tesutti of thek decisions (or maybe a reprieve), and ln the
the
"*"itino
ti.iiin'g ;t tn" oiologi."l clock remlnds us all that tim€ ls running out on
tnr
retums with a vengeance as we see Melissa (the
;ilil;j.; i;;;6 epTsooe' tne reiresseddream/nightmar€
s€quence Pinned donn on an
ffi;;ffit anxious'slngte artist) In a is hetptess agBinsilhe
sp€rm "donors"
;;ffi;dk'i; ineinlp" or ariouary shenot acctdenrat rhat Nancyvartous
porrrayed
as having
ts
ffi;i;;;;;., oitrei past. tt is otviousty
are not
women
thirtysomething"
ouaiian't"nc"t, although according to my doctor
prone lo ovarian cancer.
particularly
. na tn".iigruta
of being alonewere not enoughto bear, the suffering of the singlewomen
ir
It potttayJo as ignominious' ThJs, Melissa's fears of childbearing can only
overplaying of a
""in"
o" proi'e"tiO in caiicature, and Ellen's worries about her iob result in the The
"real" family
ti4'v simote conOition when her ulcer reduces her to a dep€ndent wreck
"real"
having
as
shown
E iotr), on.the otherhand,are
iffh""t ;nJHope, Nancy and sexuai
lired'
kbs'
being
the
prouems
with
probl.ems,
babies, miscarriages,
loii"i'ttt.uing
;o6rity iiriJGcause ol ttreii new iobs, etc.)- what we can see then is that a dichotomy
pi"gd.
;#;
;!.
oG"iriaO
'iuitn
riOs/not married and car'eer operates to deslgnate whose experiences count'
Di9cour3 soclal / Social Discourse
Tho ensemble ot the thirtysomething hmlly ls thus held together by the knov{'ledge that
cholcas have been made; lt is, however, those outslde of ths home (thoss In their singles'
apartmsnts and lofts) who bear the brunt of what has not b€€n chos€n.
However, there is a history behind thls dMsion of cholcss. As Betty Fdedan put lt so
forcefully in 1963, "lhe probtem tl|at has no nams" ls oonstituted inthe multide ways In which
women are lsolated in th€ home. And, at the sam€ tlm€, wE havs to romomber that tdwlsion
do€s not take place In lsolatlon; from lts sarliest lnssttlon, and as a puulc discourse, W has
liked women alone at home. As Raymond Williams argued, the Ph€nomena of 'mobile
privatlsation" managed changlng €conomlc, archltectural, ard social lmperatlves as n
re-placed women at home. There they lilaltsd a]ulowly tof rn€ssages ttom the outslde
wodd," p€ering through the wlndow that was ths 3€t €ven as they wer€ craated In lts regard.
As Williams plfis lt, cgntral to W's affectlvlty ls hs .ole In ths construction ot "a frorv": 'events
or events resembling thom are available inslde the home . . . lwhatl is cffered ls a 'sequence'
or a set ot altemative sgquences ot lhese and other slmllar €vents, which Ero thgn availaue
In asingl€ dimension and in a slngle operation" Ilbld.: 871. No\fl the "ovents'thatare lmdoded
Into the single dimension of rvom€n watchlng TV at home at€ numerous. Among them we
can place: thE historical r€locatlon of women Into the home In the 1950s; the present
promotion of the Hea thal womon are ch@slng to retum to the home; the sconomic need
for women to be at home; the increasing airing of "women's issues" (both the fictional ard
the puHic atlairs re€nactments of rap€, Incest, wlfe-beating, single parenthood, women
alcoholics/murderers, etc.), lhe rlse ol women as an app€aling demographlc category and
the usual assortment of fenrale body parts us€d to sell various consumer duraHes. Now
happily €nsconced In front of the tube, one rnay not be awEre of th€se different svents. In
tact my point is that the whole arena ol women watching is so naturallzEd that qulte different
historical and economic lmperatfues pass unnoticEd. Equally unmentloned arE the ways In
which these ditferent levels produce unevsn genderEd oftects. Bythis I mean that the physlcal
locales constructed around nomen and the historical location women variously find
themselves in are artlculated In local (and dlftErent) recognhions of b€lng gendered. The
shock ot the recognition of gendsr ls both re-preser od and rnanag€d ln the space of the
articulation ot home and televlsion. lt is here then that we can talk about the "sexage" Involved
In the locatlon of television In the home and the home on television. In olher words, we can
begin to make apparent television's work ln the appropdatlon and the re-presentation ol
gerder; the ways in which certain aspects of gender are taken up and then made proper to
(returned to) women as they watch in their homes.
ln A Room of One's Own, Vhginia Wooll recalls a moment when she is walking across the
lawns at Oxford. Someone yells at her for doing this, and she writes that at that moment
"instinct rather lhan reason came lo my help; he was a Beadle; I was a woman" [cited in de
[auretis, 1984: 158]. Teresa de Lautetistakes this instancelo develop an analysis ol gendered
instinct and experience. She asks: "what is instinct but a kind of knowledge internalized from
daily, secular repetition ot actions, impressions, and meanings" Iibid.l. What I want to argue
Volume lll numbeB 3 & 4
-
frll-winter t99G1991
I
.l
|sthattherearewaysofseeingtheprocesseso|"s€xage'atwoJk^|npuuicrepres€ntations.
us
the work ct these-r€ptesentations as lheytouch
HowEvet, it also always remains r; iigu;e
eplsode
an
not" Foi Inslance' recently
*"
at a bodily level, in the conrigurationl-in"t
""rr
or
a *oman whofiad been raped On every
ooav
d oprch winfrcy brougnt us rne exfri"niiaL
ifi" n""mess.of lt' the fact that we could have
level, the kno\rvl€dge ot tnis rape ;!ftt"O-upon
Opt"h'.a.rape-ls-r6-cJeatsd ln the space of our
bs€n th€re. As we watch a very
has
"Vt-pitttJft
of lhai space ln the Inslstencs that lt
homes and lt tangibly chango" rn'" Jo'iiguratlins
the
upon
lt
inslsts
rgcognhion
ct
a shock
hannened "here,'this ,apr"."*iio'tiiJiooucas
;rt- p"'urn" . . ._ro rhe hctlcny ol my bolns' n
i p,,r, rtl
,r,,rn
ioi;. ei.to tt"t ro."nt cf tecognltlon pd€ntially
rnat
ilke
6a hcr, h ts
in"t'tn"'" U po"tlblllw here d wtut Gulllaumln
Mng6 wlth lt anotf,er strocrting reaf fiairin;
"
198b: 14t' Thls ls to sa-y that
r""tn'
iitndii
calts 'a cotlecttve ro- o
shock-c|t gender (lhat "l am sexed") to a
"pp'offilo# iiltuld'"t "ia
there is a possibility ol touing n6;ii"
In th€ wavs In which
iint "tnev ojo tiete ir'ingt tt*ot"n ".Conversetv'
mo/ement trom the
lrwerse
concefue cf ths
*"
Oprah re-presented the rape to ut'
to
"i"lnitt" qY,T-"-19:*h the sollltd€ cf one
concEmed group of women-n"'Oiog;th"t
thls potEntlal.r€cognltion cf tt|e witer dfectivlty
wornan watching lt au arone' noi' otiourse'
allows for
gur*r,"iis-cerrain rs ttrat the f,ow In thls lnstance the range
responses As a woman watching
dlfferent levels ol gendereo
at the lodaposition ol lape 1q'I5
"n""tt
"Jlo""f
tnitition
mav be \rast or lt nuy onrv ot I'"ti-i"rm
the rape'srecreation'
isrr|aratrhemomentof
eut*h"iiscertatn
sa p€aY.." .. ..
luiL "at nome," quite'bien dans
ro
do *nh-a the happy ones of the home
trau"
rep'lient"iion
what then do€s this viorent
to me ttBt wtEt wE can see In the discourses of new
A h thirtysomething? well' n t"-tti
to bring
attempt toarticulate a sameness, an attempt
Htffffi d;1",#;;'c;;ft#iil
"oi;ii'iG
ffi;"r;;ffii;;
;;;#;';"Go"t"4,
H;"ffi;;;;;iriwiai.
;"f,.[]":i;;i
traditionalism and post-temtnisniis-an
us af f Inlo the sam" n"ppY r"tirY fr-netln"t
Wonder'tears or Whlng But Lon"'l !!"'-t-tl
sexual Prefe-rence' race' occupatlon and
an Insistence on the homog;n"iiv oi "s"'
asked hlmself after
Jten"s" (ai
Dreoccupations. Houvever' m"ipoiit
-oT
tiBt €ven te'evision can
'gooOiord' are my problems so.common
watching lfi,'rlysomettrr'ng:
to
rt tnli po-'"r at u/hich lhe discourse can be used
olck up on them?' [Bosen,
of
system
tnd differential aspects ol a symbolic
iruestion ltself. lt is also the po,r,r iitri.tt
eplsodes
"t
ot ttris seaion's thirtysomelhing
"sexage, can be felt. ro t"r,, ,".Lii .xampre. one
i'rr-
tf*"t
l
t"ti'iiii
actuatlyfocused on
il;;iig;ift
g"y
"
i"ge$6r
"
"*.J6iiu"i'ir'
rn" *o'vline oxplicitlydreu't
p"tlll TI:::
the representatron
wftn ont;i Michaet and Eiliott's colleagues and
'the
family" ol Hope
ls
tt
Howev€r,
youngei il;'"r;lr6utenatic-"
ot Metissa,s affair wnn a
with these
in a tantasy/nightmare sequence lntercut
et al. which is porlrayed as f'affinl apart
rriends
and
out
comins
about
in'uea-ttlking
or nu'"l6rr anJ Fei"t
##;;;ff;.loJ"-ups
dvino ol AIDS
"ti'rii"
iiJili"o
"oi.ii5i-"u",t
ol all this is presumablY
reading-nur..rr,
r"".
ir,
iir.iit
neu"r
"
Y:l'.tt"':]iT-to
;ght time to make
Dlscours roclal / Soclsl Discour3e
Russell at the end of the
attachments." However'
another one^is €qually. possible:. |tss thittysomething been shorrring us lhe
wrong type of
qry byrheway,.when's Metissasolngiob€ailowedrolomeounl rirdlrror
:g:lTgltf
nawKeo on ns reafism, the inevitablg_ sameness begins to pa .
Ho,vevEr, more $ian that, this
discoulse of sameness slrows tor the possibflity 6r askirij ge'der€d questioni
aooiri ir,e
whole set'up as the discou*e of the h6me rarsis tho ditfe-rei""i
ue,n
istii,; c*;;;i';
tn puuic disc.oulse
the tamfly" as tnsrnutionar rearity. rn oirrJi
ind
:fjT.,lllg-t:iojne
wofos, rn€re ts a_posttivity ln the ways In which thas€ cunent dlscourses
chcldale t6at aIo^,s
ror quesrons ro be raised about how they ar€ "rodg€d In the r€at"
Doeufi,
r 9891 . This ls
[Le
pj_L"_?.ll:g: 1lr reat" as a phenomendrogicaf eriiity somehow eiisting above ail rhe other
m9r€ty ro Instst on rhE wa)6 tn wfttch wdous ge.-ndered decrs ard
9.yr
l"I-l,T-"lgll9lJt
ooo'€s
meet up wnh varbus representatlona. ln tho sam€ vyesk that tt ril6o'|,€f,rng
allorved
a gay chsract€| ro break Into the Ealn€ness ot t}|3 tamly, Ann landfls
drme out ln-bvour of
legally sanctioning same-sex coupres. whire, of cours6, tr,ese tn o Insances
don,t prove
thlng, what one.can argue l8 that ihe pubflc criscourse m trre namy traortronar
norni ramiri
can tum on lts€lf; lt can be put to work against hself.
ln condusion, what I think that we can s€s happenlng ls that rhe hlstorles
behlnd th€ home,
the family and rle supposd sanctity of t*o'gend"i are-carct tng up whn their preseni
representations. The unsaid is meeling up with the sayable as ditterent
strata cf disiourses
collide. Friedan's "probrem which haJno name" has now been variousry quarified,
and the
labels are not arr nice. while it is commonplace to hear that rrarious feari
are rekindlino the
i
i";i[.;;;;1i;;
ldeal ot the home, we can see that certain representations of nappy
circulating other fears. The very s.rmeness promoted by the disiourses
of the new
traditionalism and posr-femlnism brings fonrard ihe fear of boredom
and the fear olthe pait.
(one of rhe.new g€hgration of teminist cart*",s.iOdiit.l
l.p:lT!_!y"flll"-Lawson
up a guy unrit she norices "ugh, fared rrousers, tn otirer words,
fTaTryry.qhaning
rrom rh€past thar
ars lust nor b€araHo. More tmporianily, rhese curreni
::p:"-3::-.:T:
lltngs
sFcourses
or new
traditionalism and_ postjeminism cannot quite hUe, eise, iorget, o,
control the historicat strata whlch run.through th€m. Different qulstions d;
up ;;sbfury
and render the discourse hserf unstabre. Thus, the rdeorogy oi choice toregr6unds
the
glP.:c]sion, or the agony o-t norhing ro chose hom. In rb votd left by *6 Uanistrment or
remlnrsm'
f*i
we can see an endress fascination abotrt that abject obiect, the temrnine.
Againsr
the representarions of happy normatity, the world conrinue6 In
a
6f its weirdness. But is the
accounts of spectacurar news events (trom Rumania to the steinburg
affair, and the Daigte
case) make clear, the srare ot thewodd is being increasingtyread off oivery gendered
re;dte
bodies. And that movement between the tnipy tromes-6t tii,tysor"tnirg,
the murdered
bodies of young oudb6coises, the banered coiples of murilated;hildren,
and the afrernoon
representation ol rape, insists upon the shock of gender as ll allo/vs
fora scope of geMered
responses. In daying on women's teafs ahd bodies, these djscouEes and
events emphasi2e
Volume lll numbers 3 & 4
-
lall-wir er 199G1991
positivity of our
the very gendered nature of these configuratlons' ln tecognlzlng the
gender
we can also set about changlng them. The shock of
lenoer6a-sociat landscapes,
glvss heart to the body.
NOTES
1.Th|s|sth€texto|myprosontationattho.Bod|€sardBoundar|es"co.€renc€'some
elsa'vhsr€' €€€ Probyn
te Ue"l p."""r,t"a hdre have been develop€d In oth€r dhectlons
Yalden, and to
of
Clc€ly
11onffi;iil irr'iJnrs arttcte ts dedicatdd ro th€ m€mory
a
rsmemb€rlng her Presence always.
2.ontheways|nwhich'€mlnlst]eactionstoth€shmtinqwgrcJram€das"r€cup€rat|on"
(1990)' Malette and ChaloD(
and as capitalizing on tne ma"sa-te, see Jr.rteau and tauiin
general
tesponse to the massacre'
(1990)'
For
a
and Spielvogel
iiatjlixfiil;"4'Nadeau
s€e Sociorogie et Soci6tes (1990).
3'whi|eIrnaybetakingGu|llaumin,slermoulolclnte},lwanttostretchltsreachtota|k
;appro'priation;
ol public
Invotvod In symbotic sysrems,.particulady thos€
ior a propedv sttuatei use of Guillaumln's concept ot "le sExage"
"uiiri
see Juteau and Laurin (1989).
ti.,"
tvp"l"r
;;;;;;dii;. i.*;i"r,
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Bloomington:
de laur€tis, Teresa (1984) Arice Does n't: Feminism, Semiotics, Cinema'
lndiana University Press.
Friedan, Botty (l$tg) The Feminine Wtique New York: Dell Books'
"The Practice of Por'rer and Belief in Nature' Part l: The
Guillaumin,
--' Colette (1981)ivomen,'
1, no' 2' (origlnally published In
Fem,'nist
;;p;;hilonof
'ssues
1978)'
Ou'estibns f6ministes, no. 2,
--
Juteau'Danie||eandNicole|.aurin(1990)"taSoc|ologiede|,horreur:seeNoEvil,Sp€ak
------'
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Jtneau, Daniello and Nicol€ Laurin (tggg) 'From Nuns to Sunogate Mothers: Evolution of
the Forms of the Approprhtlon of Women, " Femrhist /ssues, vd. 9, no. 1 .
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Le Doeufl, Michdle (1989) L€tude et te rcuet. Parls: Editions du Seuil.
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Moy€rs, Bill (1989) "Bill Moy6rs: The Pubtic Mind,, pBS, November.
Nadeau, Chantal and Myrhm Spielvogel (I9go) "L'unlv€rs fdminin criblC,' Soc tologie et
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Probyn, Ef speth (fonhcomlng) "TV's unhelmtlch H one,' Cwrtght, 2.
Probyn, Elspeth (1990) 'Postjemlnlsm and Natv Tradttionalism: TV do€s the Home."
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Fosen, Jay (1989) "lhirtysomething,' Tikkun,vot. 4, no. 4.
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Weinstock, Jane (1989) "Out of her Mind: Fantasies of the 26th New york Film Festival,"
Camerc Obscura, 19.
Wifliams, Raymond (1975) Ieleyisionj Technology arlld Cufturat Form. New york:
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Volume lll numbeB3& 4
-
f,rll-wlnter 199tr1991
Elspeth Probyn