Comments on: Thoughts on Eve Ensler’s “I am an Emotional Creature”

By: Dilnavaz Bamboat

Dilnavaz Bamboat — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:04:39 +0000

Everyone: Thanks for your feedback. I was wondering if I was in the minority when I wrote this.

By: Kaushiki Sanyal

Kaushiki Sanyal — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:47:33 +0000

Completely agree with Ms Tea Eyed! one is not special by virtue of one’s sex but by one’s deeds. So just being a woman does not make anyone “unique” or “awesome”. Its what we achieve as a human being that makes a person “unique” or “awesome”. I also agree with the author that these kinds of workshop (sounds more like a melodrama than anything else to me) only play into the stereotype of women being emotional creatures rather than logical and reasonable. Reason and logic are essential to be good at any kind of work (even the arts). It does not preclude you from being kind or a good human being. I frankly would not trust any woman (or man) who says that she/he is more emotional than logical.

By: Ms. Tea Eyed

Ms. Tea Eyed — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:40:04 +0000

The impulse of projects like this is admirable and has some instrumental value (i.e. in societies of extreme patriarchy, where just the idea of a woman being anything but a subject is deeply radical) but, ultimately, it is essentialist and thus dangerous. It reminds me of, I think it was, Senghor or maybe Aimé Césaire, who as one of the advocates of Negritude argued that African consciousness is innately different from the European “as it functions through an intuitive form of thinking in which the analytical faculties are subordinate to the emotional.” The fight against patriarchy/white racism often adopts this approach: “Oh since the white/male is associated with reason than I am not that. I am the opposite of that. And the thing that I am is just as valuable” But this is wrong and dangerous. Like it or not reason is the highest value term in modern society and that is the terrain that modern feminists need to contest. To put it inelegantly: feminism must be a move towards sameness not difference. But, of course, this is not to fall into the Cartesian trap. Biology shows that there are innate differences between the sexes and this may very well impact on ways of being, and it is important to recognise that. But, even so, these ways of being are likely to be insignificant. The point is this: women are not special. They are not unique. They are just human, like men. Claiming uniqueness is the other side of the same coin which claims that women are rationally inferior to men. But, of course, in a fucked-up society, one can understand why women would want to make claims such as those.

By: Rahul

Rahul — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:42:55 +0000

On the "emotional women" thing: this article made me see things differently (though of course it's still not the same as experiencing it). The reader comments from women are mostly along the lines of "At last, a man who gets it." Do you see it that way, or do you think this is stereotyping women too?

By: Rumjhum

Rumjhum — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:53:51 +0000

Couldn’t agree more with you Dilnawaz! Thanks!

By: Kirtana

Kirtana — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:39:21 +0000

Hi, I’ve always wondered about the wisdom of dragging workshop/confessional material verbatim onto stage. Somehow both seem to get compromised, theatre and advocacy. So I was interested to read your piece and greatly relieved to read that other women too, are sceptical about this whole emotion=woman shebang. I’m happy to be emotional but equally so to be (in the words of Supertramp) logical, practical, clinical, intellectual…but hopefully, not cynical!

By: Anindita

Anindita — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:47:56 +0000

Well said, Dilu. I vacillate between being completely emotional and frighteningly detached and would hate to pin myself down to either stance permanently. I had an argument with someone recently because they said that women are ‘born to be nurturing’.

I think these type of feminist undertakings are often a self-esteem boosting exercise (’so what if the world’s awful to us, aren’t we the best?’), and as such, they’re probably useful in a limited way, within limited audiences. I wish we didn’t need so much of it though–it makes me wonder: do educated, ‘enlightened’ women (which is presumably what Ensler’s audience is), experience so much self-loathing and need that sort of back-patting? If yes, why?

And what is the next stage of feminist messaging? Hopefully something that goes beyond telling each other that we’re so terrific. Or at least something that says we’re terrific whether we’re puddles of swirling emotion or not.

Oh, and also, my ma’s like your ma .