Talking Back
What caught my attention about “Talking Back” is that it is not so much about race as it is about gender. It is not about the right to speak, but rather the right to be heard. Bell Hooks frequently refers to the language of the women she knew as “fussing.” Although the conversation of her elders is something that she wants to join in on, she desires not just to be admitted to that discussion, but rather to go beyond it. The women in her childhood could be tuned out. Although they ran the house and seemed to have significantly more say than white women did, they still did not have enough influence with their speech to satisfy Hooks. She wanted to be heard, to have something of real value to say. She did not want to simply argue about the daily goings on of the household, but to be able to speak her mind and to be heard, not tuned out. She struggles to do this every day. But it is not the men or the whites she must struggle against, it is the women in her life. This fascinated me. When I think of the obstacles that faced women, especially minority women, had to overcome, I think of them fighting to break out of the box that said that women should be quiet and submissive. I never thought about them being boisterous and loud and it being accepted. I found Hooks’ struggle for real speech and actually being heard very eye opening.
Personally, I find the problem of this passage not only as a problem of gender, but also of ageism, thought hooks does mention somewhere in the passage about how she thought if she were a boy, she would have been encouraged more rather than entirely stomped down and punished for speaking up. Be that as it may, though, I feel the issue of age in here is at least worth thinking about, especially if you think over to the Friere passage, about how the one in power (in this case, the adult) is the one who knows all, and any attempt at trying to operate on the same level as the adults was quickly stopped so that the adults could maintain the worldview they chose to have in their household.
ReplyDeleteThough I agree that age and gender are important issues addressed in both "Talking Back" and Friere's piece, I think there's a larger picture here. Both pieces express a lack of power in the face of authority which is a typical position for any minority group within a dominant society. The parent, teacher, or minority group shapes and instructs the behavior of the child, student, or minority group. The powerless are allowed things at the discretion of the powerful, such as what Friere calls the "gift of knowledge" or the luxury of being heard.
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