Heterosexism and Reproductive Privilege
The theme that I noticed across these readings was one of tolerance, particularly as it relates to lesbianism. I really did not learn too much that I had not previously been aware of in analyzing the readings for this week. Prior to the readings I was aware that there are people who consider themselves oppressed because they are homosexual, and that some of these people are women. However, I was surprised at the degree of romanticism and poetry that the author of "Accidents," Everhart, ascribes to her desire to have children. I liken Everhart's work of poetry about her inability to produce children with another woman to a pair of trees (or even a single tree) lamenting over the fact that they cannot produce jet planes or human beings. Two women producing children simply does not occur in nature. That is a basic fact that everyone knows. I found it a little curious that the author romanticizes and hyperbolizes her feelings with another woman to attempt...
While reading the first couple of stanzas I was thinking that this was a fairly mediocre -- if not outright cliche -- attempt at a love poem. In all honesty, however, when I came to the part in which the author (2012) clarifies the fact that both lovers are "two women" (Everhart), I felt more than a little disgust. I am fairly certain that there are some people who would correlate this disgust to the concepts of sexism and multiple issues discussed in Bell's "Theoretical foundations" (p. 25-26). However, it simply is not. I do not begrudge the author or any two women their desire to have "sex" with one another -- whatever that might means in this case. I simply do not want to view it, read about it, or remotely…
