ENGL 4310

Say what you will, but I can’t help but read with feminist theory in mind. Maybe it’s the vagina*—I don’t know. :)

Katherine Anne Porter seems to lend herself to feminist ideas in her texts, especially in Pale Horse, Pale Rider.** I cannot get over the intimidating military men and the passive adherence to war-time gender roles and that passage—ah that passage…

“Bread will win the war. Work will win sugar will win, peach pits will win the war. Nonsense. Not nonsense, I tell you, there’s some kind of valuable explosive to be got out of peach pits. So all the happy housewives hurry during the canning season to lay their baskets of peach pits at the alter of their country. It keeps them busy and makes them feel useful, and all these women running wild with the men away are dangerous, if they aren’t given something to keep their little minds out of mischief. So rows of young girls, the intact cradles of the future, with their pure serious faces framed becomingly in Red Cross wimples, roll cock-eyed bandages that will never reach a base hospital, and knit lovingly sweaters that will never warm a manly chest, their minds dwelling lovingly on all the blood and mud and the next dance at the Acanthus Club for the officers to the flying corps. Keeping still and quiet will win the war.”

… that passage. (It’s on page 290.)

The language of “happy housewives” and “the alter of their country” and “all these women running wild… are dangerous” is shocking and makes me feel fiery. Attribute it to whatever factor in my life you want to, (the women I've seen stamped on, the men I've seen do it without a second thought...) but I do not deal well with being commanded or hearing other people commanded to keep still and quiet (or the like) in a caustic, demeaning, “your humanity is not worth my time” tone.

So as far as Katherine Anne Porter writing a passage to win my loyalties over to one side, this one’s done it.

*Not to imply that one has to have a vagina to read with feminist theory or that or that possessing a vagina makes you read with feminist theory—because neither of those statements is true. I just happen to have a vagina.

** I also know that a lot of masculinity ideas are explored in this story as well—an important point. So maybe I should be reading gender-theory, but for the point of this post, I’m not commenting on the address of masculinity (at least not much).