Class 12 English Unit 20 Power and Politics Exercise & Grammar

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Open Letter to Mary Daly: Summary of Unit 20: Power and Politics

This chapter is an intimate epistle, written by Black feminist poet-activist Audre Lorde to white feminist theologian Mary Daly. In the letter, Lorde attacks Daly’s Gyn/Ecology, arguing that Daly’s book erases the voices and history of women of color, particularly black women, and for the need for a more inclusive feminism.

Lorde opens with her admiration of Daly striving to shatter patriarchal systems through literary activism. She feels the power there, the inspiration she has drawn from Daly. But Lorde is critical of Daly’s failure to mention the experiences and contributions of women of color, and particularly Black women, in her analysis of female oppression and spirituality.

She argues, however, that Daly has propagated this very oppressive system that she derides by erasing the experiences of Black women. Lorde insists that real feminism must be open to the many-factored realities of women’s lives, not only those articulated by white, Western women. She is led to believe that excluding marginalized women ultimately weakens the feminist movement, it perpetuates the cycle of racism, closing down, or being shut down, within the realm of feminist speech.

The chapter gets into both oppressions women, particularly Black women, face — not only from men or patriarchy, but from white women within a feminist space itself. Lorde is especially offended that Daly has not offered a discussion of Black goddesses or historical figures in her discussion of female power, which implies that women of color remain invisible, even in feminist discourse.

The textual use of words such as "herstory" (as in a feminist distortion of “history”), ghettoized, and mutilation, as well as allusions to how women’s bodies, lives, and representations are distorted or suppressed — from how much pain they’re contributed to keep down in “The Other Woman” to how much pain society in the 1960s was capable of feeling in “My Mother”) for instance — counters this theme. The grammar and vocabulary sections cover category terms, consonant blends and adjective order to facilitate language development in connection with sensitive topics.

In the critical thinking and writing parts, the students will be inspired to think about racial and gender discrimination, their own experiences, and write articles on women's issues in Nepal. WritingAcceptable responses must include an article, The Status of Women in Nepali Society, in which the unequal position of women in society, including work and politics, is addressed.

In conclusion, as any other feminist would agree, this chapter highlights the necessity of an intersectional feminist framework that elevates and validates diversity in the lived experiences of women of all races, classes and sexual preferences. Lorde’s letter is a poignant reminder that silence and exclusion have long served as instruments of oppression.