Breaking the Waters

Musings on a boy child in my womb

Spoke about the strange feeling of growing a phallus within my womb. Weilding the patriarchal symbol within my womb. How interesting. I wonder if any feminists have written about this topic. Could make an interesting art project, or remember the projects I made for Sandy’s class…the MANCHILD sonogram. What does it mean to raise a boy in today’s cult of maleness? How can I influence him to become kind, courageous, generous and supportive in a war torn world?

Has not anyone written about the experience of carrying a gendered boy child in her womb? As a feminist, does this not raise questions about power and representation? Reprodution of the phallus in a patriarchal societal system? “The construction of patrilineal/patriarchal laws and management of women’s pregnant bodies from early religious regulations to contemporary debates around surrogacy and reproductive technologies might be seen as an elaborate attempt to usurp this expression of uniquely female power.” From Feminist Perspectives on the Body. Refering to pregnancy as a mode of power.

Also, I think about the black boxing of identities, personalities, how to influence a human being's personality. Are we born into who we are? Or is it all the stimulus around us that shape the kind of person we shall become? I am not talking about nature vs. nurture here, but rather the subtle imprinting of personality and spirit that happens over time when we are born into certain environments that encourage or dissuade certain ideologies. I believe that men can learn to become peaceful, strong, supportive people who are also feminist, fair, and generous. I wish to raise my son to become respectful of the earth and to speak against injustice if he sees it. How do I do this while still allowing his own personality or perhaps it is spirit, to blossom? "Who are you?" I say over and over again in the video. I don't know, and will never truly know for a lifetime. But the great gift of influencing a child, helping him to learn the world in a certain perspective based on love rather than fear or lack (through desirous capitalism), is an awesome task.p3y00