Class 12 English Unit 20: An Open Letter to Mary Daly Language Development Section

 

Unit 20: An Open Letter to Mary Daly by Audre Lorde (page 170)

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyhIOvQ0kEA

Reflection of the text

I am writing this letter to wish you strength and satisfaction in your eventual victory over the repressive forces of the University in Boston. I am glad so many women attended the speak-out and hope that this show of joined power will make more space for you to grow and be within. I thank you for having Gyn/Ecology sent to me, as it is full of import, useful, generative, and provoking. This letter has been delayed due to my hesitancy to reach out to you, as the history of white women who are unable to hear Black women's words or maintain dialogue with us is long and discouraging.

The author of Gyn/Ecology is an African-American woman in white patriarchy who feels her history and mythic background distorted by the absence of any images of her foremothers in power. She also feels that the only quotations from Black women's words used to introduce her chapter on African genital damage are only to testify against herself. The author argues that to exclude this aspect of connection from even a radical feminist perspective is to deny the fountain of non-European female strength and power that nurtures each of our visions. Mary, do you ever read the work of black women? If not, it feels like another instance of the knowledge, crone-ology, and work of women of Color being ghettoized by a white woman.

Her words of Gyn/Ecology, "The strength which Self-centering women find, in finding our background, is our own strength, which we give back to ourselves," remind us of the old traditions of power, and strength and nurturance found in African women. Mary should be aware of the destructive forces of racism and separation between women, such as the assumption that her story and myth of white women is the only one to call upon for power and background. This dismissal has a devastating effect on the community of black women and other women of color, as it devalues their own words and encourages their murderers. Mary's dismissal of nonwhite women is a barrier to communication between them, and she asks that they remember what is dark and ancient, and divine within themselves.

She also recognizes that differences between white and nonwhite women expose all women to various forms of patriarchal oppression, such as breast cancer, unnecessary events, hysterectomies, and sterilizations. Racism is a real force in her life as it is not in hers. This letter attempts to break a silence imposed upon me by refusing to speak to white women about racism. The oppression of women knows no ethnic or racial boundaries, but that does not mean it is identical within those differences. To deal with one without alluding to the other is to distort our commonality as well as our difference. The letter is in repayment for what I have learned from Mary.

Working with words

A.   Find the words from the text for these meanings. The first letters have been given for you.

a.      Reluctance -  unwillingness or disinclination to do something

b.     Repressive-  preventing the expression or awareness of thoughts or desires

c.      Multilation -  the infliction of serious damage on something

d.      Ghettoized - restricted to an isolated or segregated place, group, or situation e.

e.      Herstory - history viewed from a female or specifically feminist perspective

f.        Genital - relating to the human or animal reproductive organs

g.     Hysterectomies - surgical operations to remove all or part of the uterus

h.     Paranoid -  obsessively anxious, suspicious, or mistrustful

i.       Eventration -  thrusting forward of abdominal organs through the abdominal wall

B.    Complete the chart.

Verb	Noun	Adjective
Commit	Commitment	committed
Nurture	nurturance	Nurturing
legitimize	Legitimization	Legitimate
Sterilize	sterilization	Sterile
oppress	Oppression	Oppressive
Allude	Allusion	alluding
Defence	defensiveness	Defensive
Victimize	Victim	victimized

C.    Consult a dictionary and define these terms.

·    Racism / /ˈreɪsɪz(ə)m/(N): prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group

·        Lesbian /ˈlezbɪən/ (N): relating to gay women or to homosexuality in women

·    Radical /ˈrædɪk(ə)l/ (Adj): (especially of change or action) relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough

·        Feminist /ˈfemənɪst/ (N): a person who supports feminism

·      Patriarchy /ˈpeɪtrɪɑːki/ (N): a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it

D.   Underline the consonant clusters in the following sentences. 

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ6hebWHHFU  

Answer only:

a.      Fluffy went flip-flop all over the floor.

b.     The whites sing a song about the striking stars.

c.      Here are some flowers and a flask of tea of your favourite flavour.

d.     Smita fell ill with flu.

e.      My friend is frightened of frogs.

f.       Thumbelina stumbled out of the green bush.

g.     She heard a rumble and a cry.

h.     ‘Climb up’, said Tom.

i.       Freedom needs to be strived for.

j.       Children were munching crunchy French fries.

Comprehension

Answer the following questions.

a.      Why does Audre Lorde think that Mary got a sort of victory in the University of Boston? Audre Lorde thought that Mary got a sort of victory in the University of Boston because she discovered many women who were speaking up and empowering each other.

b.     Why is Lorde thankful to Mary?

Lorde is thankful to Mary for presenting her with Gyn/Ecology – a book that is full of import, useful, generative and provoking.

c.      What impression has the writer had about the way white women looked upon black women?

The writer had a bad impression when white women couldn’t hear what the black ladies were saying, and they couldn’t keep up with the black women like the author’s lengthy and frustrating conversation.

d.     Why did Mary not cast black women as goddesses in her book according to Lorde?

As said by Lorde, due to her deliberate choice to focus on Western European women solely, Mary did not portray black women as goddesses in her novel.

e.      Why did Lorde think that she misused her words?

Lorde thought that she misused her words because she utilized her words only to testify against Lorde as a woman of colour.

f.       For Lorde, how were women, especially from the black community, undervalued?

For Lorde, women, especially from the black community were undervalued as they were ghettoized by a white women dealing only out of a patriarchal western European frame of reference.

g.     How does Mary take white women as superior to non-white women? Does Lorde agree with Mary’s view?

It is Mary’s belief that white women are the real source of power and background for all females, whereas non-white women’s history are only notable as instances of female oppression. Lorde disagrees with Mary’s point of view because she believes that Mary has shown the superiority of white feminism over black feminism by treating black people as if they were ornaments and neglecting their suffering and oppression. Lorde believes that Mary’s position is inherently racist.

h.     What is Afrekete? How does it connect to this lesson?

Afrekete is the voice of black lesbian literary tradition. This lesson “An Open Letter to Mary Daly” is linked to this one in the sense that the author wishes to unite all the black women in the arena of black literature by using this method of communication.

***

Click for Next:  https://limbuchandrabahadur.blogspot.com/2025/10/class-12-english-unit-20-critical.html