CL Cixous

This weeks reading was an interesting change of pace from our usual subjects (and suspects). It was nice to be able to read about subjects that have to do with something so fascinating- female sexuality, writing, and power.

Cixous wrote about the female capacity for sexuality and how it is "linked for depropriation that holds possibilities for the future. This capacity is linked explicitly to the female body and female desire. While masculine sexuality is centred upon the penis, female sexuality is multiply diverse- not constrained to a single signifier but spread throughout the body and capable at any moment of performing an 'explosive return'" (pg 254).

I found this comparison of female sexuality to the future interesting. While any woman could tell you that men and women are vastly different, I had never given it more thought than the simple reduction that we are wired to think in different ways. Men do tend to think and function more logically, while women do tend to emote more than men do. But I had never considered the idea that, sexually speaking, men have one central area of pleasure and focus (the penis), while women have many (vaginal, breast, neck, ect.)

As much as we like to believe that our minds can control our bodies, we are still, at the most basic level, animals. Our bodies are in tune with the weather (we have sinus problems with the barometric pressure change), the moon (people act crazy with a full moon), and one another's (women who spend a lot of time together begin to share a menstrual cycle). Why wouldn't our bodies also create habits distinct to our gender in regard to our sexuality? I had never spent much time trying to understand why men do the things that they do. I have been taught by my mother, sister, and girlfriends that sometimes men need to be "trained" to act one way or another, but I had never understood why they didn't know how to do it to begin with. (I mean that in the nicest way possible, like knowing how to rap presents and make a big deal about birthdays) This reading of Cixous has given me much to consider about the gender divide, and even a few answers to some of my questions.