>It's possible that patriarchy is already using this culture. There
>is a man who develops and defends techniques of self-mutilation (body
>piercing, etc.) who refers in his book to a culture that sounds very
>similar to the one you described. His point in referring to it,
>apparently, is to argue that self-mutilation is universal, and, more
>particularly, that it is not inherently patriarchal--justifying by
>normalizing. I can get the reference if anyone is interested.
>Brian Luke
Um, you mean body piercing is inherently patriarchal? I know a very
large number of women who will have a hard time with this.
I am reminded of a passage in a book by Charlene Spretnak where she
talked about appearance, explaining (and I may not do justice, quoting
her from memory) how the "punky" look was somehow anti-green. I sat and
thought about how those punky-looking girls and boys (I use the words to
emphasize their youth) made up the backbone of the peace movement--not
the leadership, but the people who did the hard work and took the big
risks--and became deeply offended.
John Adams
