Metapatriarchal Journey of Exorcism and Ecstasy from Gyn/Ecology, by Mary Daly
Thoughts and Reflections
This was a rich and enjoyable article to read, mainly because of author Mary Daly's skillful, often playful use of language, and also because of her sharing, with the reader, her rather esoteric knowledge (and in some cases, just reminders) of Latinate roots, and original meanings, of various words that have come, over the centuries, to have derogatory meanings for women. One example is the word 'spinster' which many (men and women alike), if they know the word at all (it is finally becoming archaic, at long last) automatically think of even today as an old, never married (and therefore undesirable) woman. However, Daly reminds us (and common sense should remind us also, which points out just how "loaded" with negative meaning the word was and still is), that the original meaning of the word "spinster" is nothing more than a woman who spins, just as a "mobster" is a Mafia member; a "master" is someone proficient; and a "forester" has a career in forestry. However, "spinster" took on an uncomplimentary meaning, far more so even than "mobster." (After all, even as much harm as a typical mobster generally does, this person is a man, so the connotation of "mobster" remains, though sinister, somehow exciting and alluring in a way "spinster" could never be.
Daly extends the "spinning" analogy throughout the text, pointing out that although the word "spinster" has taken on an unpleasant meaning, while in reality, "A woman whose occupation is to spin participates in the whirling movements of creation" (p. 330), and is, therefore, actually at the hub of the universe. It is this kind of central recognition, moreover, that women have been denied, again and again, and must reclaim, that is, "to spin deeply in order to retrieve it" ("The Metapatriarchal Journey of Exorcism and Ecstasy from Gyn/Ecology"). This was a thought-provoking and highly entertaining article. It also convincingly encourages much closer, perhaps even meticulous, re-examination of commonly used words (or their now-permutated, connotative meanings) used to describe women in ways that are generally loaded and unflattering, if not downright untrue and demeaning.
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