"I will have my serpent's tongue-my woman's voice, my sexual voice, my poet's voice. I will overcome the tradition of silence." - Gloria Anzaldua, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza
Through many different avenues there is this push for women to separate from their bodies, and focus on their spirit. This has lead to women relinquishing control over their bodies in an act of spiritual growth. My grandmother once told me that women are taught in spirit and men are taught in flesh, meaning that women are told to live outside themselves, that is is your energy to give to the world and men are told that their power is in their bodies/manhood and they must show themselves to the world in this way. But a woman cannot separate the two as they exist mutually. Anzaldua writes, "El espirtu es carne viva. Carne viva es el espiritu (pg. 70)." As a result of this push towards surrendering body, women know very little about their earthly bodies and that they are more than just a mode of reproduction.
Modern feminism has tried to create this push towards female sexual liberation. Women's bodies have always been seen as unruly, but normalizing the feminine body is a step towards acceptance and freedom for women. Discussing and showing female menstruation or masturbation in popular culture demonstrates that women do not need to separate themselves from their bodies, that they do not need to hide themselves. A woman should develop a deeper relationship with her body and take back the ownership that patriarchal society has stripped from her.
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