Allies, oppressors and muscle men
Sheri McCord
Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: Commentary
"Welcome to the gun show," More than once I've heard this phrase coupled with the plumping of a bicep. That quintessential move, the bicep curl-which Rosie the Riveter demonstrates so well-displays strength, but "guns"? Rosie's arm is not a gun; sure, she may have been making them, but her symbolic sleeve-rolling is more about life than death. I've also been thinking about arms as guns after a friend of mine brought up the topic because of a T-shirt I was wearing. It reads "To Write Love On Her Arms." TWLOHA is a non-profit movement that promotes help for those suffering with depression, self-injury, suicidal thought and addiction. This shirt encourages those suffering to write love on their arms instead of hurting themselves-the very antithesis of the "gun show."
I look at my own arms and the tiny blip of a bicep created by regular downward dogs and plank poses. With those arms, I carry a bundle of books to campus every day. So when a young man balancing a soda, boxed lunch and various condiments maneuvered his way in front of me to open the door to Des Peres Hall, I paused. At this point, I could have politely declined and suggested, "After you." Alternately, my response could have been, "Don't you see these guns? I can open a door by myself, thank you very much." But what I actually did was far more interesting: walking in front of him and saying "thank you." (At least it was one less door that I had to touch, avoiding the germs of the H1N1 virus.)
Having just taught Marilyn Frye's essay, "Oppression," in my Introduction to Women's Studies course, I walked up the stairs pensively, questioning my acquiescence to the chivalrous door-opening ritual. Frye states that this ritual is ultimately oppressive to women: "The gallant gestures have no practical meaning. Their meaning is symbolic. The door-opening and similar services provided are services which really are needed by people who are, for one reason or another, incapacitated-unwell, burdened with parcels, etc. So the message is that women are incapable." This young man burdened was with foodstuffs. He clearly wanted to be polite, but I did think about Frye's idea of feminine incapability. While most young men would probably not agree that their female friends, sisters, mothers and girlfriends are incapable of opening doors, they also find it polite to do so.
I look at my own arms and the tiny blip of a bicep created by regular downward dogs and plank poses. With those arms, I carry a bundle of books to campus every day. So when a young man balancing a soda, boxed lunch and various condiments maneuvered his way in front of me to open the door to Des Peres Hall, I paused. At this point, I could have politely declined and suggested, "After you." Alternately, my response could have been, "Don't you see these guns? I can open a door by myself, thank you very much." But what I actually did was far more interesting: walking in front of him and saying "thank you." (At least it was one less door that I had to touch, avoiding the germs of the H1N1 virus.)
Having just taught Marilyn Frye's essay, "Oppression," in my Introduction to Women's Studies course, I walked up the stairs pensively, questioning my acquiescence to the chivalrous door-opening ritual. Frye states that this ritual is ultimately oppressive to women: "The gallant gestures have no practical meaning. Their meaning is symbolic. The door-opening and similar services provided are services which really are needed by people who are, for one reason or another, incapacitated-unwell, burdened with parcels, etc. So the message is that women are incapable." This young man burdened was with foodstuffs. He clearly wanted to be polite, but I did think about Frye's idea of feminine incapability. While most young men would probably not agree that their female friends, sisters, mothers and girlfriends are incapable of opening doors, they also find it polite to do so.
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