On Wed, 28 Sep 1994, Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> Of course our society rests on appropriation and violence. But I'm not
> sure what this means for today. I was confused during the Columbus 1992
> polemics - of course the "hero" should be unmaksed as the murdering thief
> he was, but what then? Do we dismantle what exists and return the land to
> descenants of the original inhabitants? Do we offer reparations? Or do we
> focus mainly on the repressive hierarchies of today?
>
> ...
> How about Americans of African origin? Black
> Americans have done as much to shape this culture as any ethnic group.
> Their ancestors are here far longer than mine. But do they skip over this
> history and embrace an African past? If so, which of the hundreds of
> cultures who live(d) there? And how might Africans feel about that?
>
> I don't know what "mutilation" has to do with this exactly. I think
> noserings look cool. I'd prefer "decoration."
>
"mutilation" is just a term used to refer to the sort of "trend" these
days..i mean, indiginous cultures might have referred to it in many
different ways: masochism, mutilation or decoration....but today while on
the surface its "decoration" (as someone said when referring to her own
tatoos and piercings) for many, i think for many others it is "deeper"
....the guys whoever described who said it was about testing your bodys
pain limits or whatever are familiar to me..the idea of inflicting pain
(sado/masochism) can itself have many angles, as someone else described
in the context of sex. what im saying is its complex..people do it for
different reasons...i think their are common underlying, often
subconscious meanings of it for youth culture.
for example i think the idea of metal in your skin is a very symbolic
expression of the modern dilemma..
when i said "collective consciousness" i was talking about how values and
cultural messages (ideas that reach large amts of people) are stored in a
communal psychic bank and people draw on them differently but they are
still collective in the fact that they are commonly referred to or
remembered...you know, like the student movement in the 60s...the
challenger blowing up...jeffrey dahmer....the ten commandments etc..
..as for asking should we abandon our 'american culture" for those of or
roots...i dont know if you really think thats what i was trying to say
(in which case i dont even think itd be worth it to explain again) or you
are playing some sort of devils advocate...i guess im saying we need to
get BACK in touch with indiginous thought patterns because they provide
an alternative to the rapidly dissolving "white culture."
now im not on the same tip as brian who thinks we should abandon
"maleness"...i dont think we need to abandon european culture in america
(altho we already have collectively by perpetuating "euro-american culture"
which is inherently problematic.) i think that will work itself
out..people will just stop swallowing it eventually.
in the same way as i think men AND women need to work on rediscovering
female energies in ourselves (to balance out the over-valuation of male
energies weve been taught to carry out)...white/euro people in america
need to work to balance out the culture weve built here with values from
indiginous cultures of the world...values that were destroyed by
christianity and that we cut ourselves off from when
we established western life here. and yes, i realize plenty of native
peoples have values that "go against" what even we europeans think is
"right"..im not talking about adopting entire cultures in our western
context (cultures that havent even been
around for thousands of years)..im talking about learning about more
hollistic ways of life that were practiced by our ancestors at the same
time that we critique the modern western ways of life that have led us
into this pit.
-anne
