‘brought into being by nothing other than the look’*
using poetry to stitch the seams, painting them with vitreous enamel
burnishing golden orbs of beauty, enhancing the visual field
to make the world seem habitable
inherently empathetic to human existence
when does the illusion, this disembodied utterance,
enter firmly into the realm of futility?
philosophical argument merely hints at a promise of liberty
floating upon the surface of psychological experience
a convincing conundrum that won’t unlock
inner barriers to designing boundaries of self-definition
societal viewing provides ample opportunities
to manifest cognitive dissonance, reinforcing the brute
that omniscient spectator-god within the man
feminine artistry is required to remain comfortably incarcerated
chaos churns with near indomitable force
why fight when you are forever outnumbered?
control may simply be a part of the disease
disempowering internalization of the oppressor’s abuse
replaying his semiotic position as the maker of meaning
whom I know is never she, never me
called into existence through the male gaze, the internalized observer,
objectified and exploited by possession and protection
filming my every move in art house cinematic style
encircled in an ouroboros of scopophilia
blinded to feminist themes, it traps what’s possible
entangling these hands, bloodied with struggle
incapable now of creating and preserving identity
scraping molded forms to sharpen focus
no spiritual value arising from inherent worth
only sculpting my usefulness in a deterministic role
voyeur’s fantasy allays the weight of moral consequences
fixing upon the screen the sanctioned story
i am a dissociated, breathing pleasure toy, imaginary signifier,
an unintentional participant living in a heightened state of unreality
*Christian Metz, French film theorist
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Chromapoetica 
Keeping it real! This is a very worthwhile and challenging read. Thanks for sharing with us all.
Thank you, glad you appreciated the challenge.
when does the illusion, this disembodied utterance,
enter firmly into the realm of futility? -> doesn’t it do that right form the start?
2nd stanza -> that’s what philosophizing is all about, isn’t it?
little feminist jab in the S3, and then, you let go till L1S4 and that’s what it’s about, but really this is all more than just feminism, women’s right and all, but about respect and also the difference between men and women. men are wired to be visual, and worse than that, is that they don’t get that we are not!!
Sometimes it takes time for us to see specious concepts as illusions, especially if they are deeply embedded in our social environment. Part of the feminist critique of cinema involves questioning socially sanctioned voyeurism, the portrayal of women as objects of pleasure, and the internalization or identification of the viewer. I think our most valuable philosophical ideas find ways to winnow into our psychology and change society. Thank you for reading and your interesting comment.
I agree. Men and women are wired differently, very differently. Our brains see things differently and feel differently too but, we have been ‘conditioned’ since ancient times when religion took the roles that it did into thinking that a woman is subservient to man and that’s how it’s been since, but before all organised religions hijacked and then gave them their roles, men and women were as equals, as it ought to be.
Well said, Fabulous read.
Thank you, the roles ascribed to gender can be highly detrimental to our sense of well-being.
What a fabulous read—and I guess I agree wit Daydreamer too–we are wired differently–
Thanks!
@AudreyHowitt
Thank you for engaging the poem.
mars and venus…and we have to learn to live int he same solar system…each one fighting for their place in it rather than learning a bit more about the other…
Thank you, we’d all be better off with a little understanding.
A great write! we are so different….. 🙂
Thanks ayala!
I had to rub my last two brain cells together to catch this. This is another smart write and brings to light (scientifically) the dance my wife and I have been doing for 26 years.
Thank you for the effort, I do appreciate it.
very real. a quest for the woman’s perspective. even the idea of response, responding, reframing sounds secondary. without initiative. voicing the total subject as per wittig. even in context.
if the gaze is external perhaps the voice can be internal. claimed. it is strange that audience is largely outside of the story in film, and yet it is also held in the director’s perspective. authoritative.
i imagine a symbiotic peace, growth. twining things interdependent. perhaps that is too soft also. thank you for the challenging focus.
Janet, as always you engage at a deeper level and open the gifts poetry has to offer. These issues, for me, require interaction, contemplation, discussion, and refining throughout my life. As a cinephile I am often confronted with a real struggle to make sense of my response to film and how it harms and helps (in the case of filmmakers like Dorris Dorrie) my feminist perspective. I very much like what you’ve said about claiming an internal voice and the director’s perspective. As long as film manipulates what empowered role can the audience play? Perhaps this is part of the increase in popularity of immersive gaming that mimics cinema. The ‘player’ fulfills a more active role in story, in many games going so far as to shape it globally.
Symbiotic peace and interdependence resonate with me they always have. Though my post-modern feminist professor considered me ‘soft’ too :). Thank you.
I thought it was internal struggle between two facets of a character — masculine and feminine. The character of the masculine side is as such — the need to dominate and control, is very loud, the world seems to run on it, and the feminine side and characteristics not as desirable, considered weaker. Typical attitudes, difficult to totally leave behind. The two makes a whole, but so difficult to reconcile because of the difference in manner. I’m rambling again. I do not know if I got it all in the poem, but I enjoyed it and the discussions in the comments nonetheless.
Yes, internalized oppressors are the most dangerous and tricky. You’ve hit on the importance of how external reinforcement contributes to internal struggle, Thank you very much for your interesting comment. I tried to comment on your poem 5 times last night (each time it told me the word verification was incorrect – completely false). Your poem struck a chord with me as I always start on paper and work my way to a final edit on the computer. There was a vulnerability in the voice that I don’t think I’ve seen from you. I greatly enjoyed your poem, sorry I couldn’t comment on your blog.
It’s alright, it seems it has to give someone a problem every other week. Maybe I’ll get rid of that capcha thing because it always seem to be the cause of the hiccup for some. Appreciated your read and feedback on my poem over here. Thank you. 🙂
Anna.. I really enjoyed the sculpted nature of your stanzas. They feel carved….probaly from struggles and feeling positioned as: ‘the internalized observer’…this such a great phrase and the heart of the piece for me.
It’s a subject that needs harrying often… so glad you took it on today. Bravo.
And are you back home now after the travels?
My travels have come to an end for now but I am not home. I am staying with my cousin in Oklahoma. Yes, I tend to carve out lines and stanzas with pieces that continue to carry emotional weight in my life, thank you for your observation. There are too many times in my experience that these issues come up and the response is ‘this again’ as if so much of the world has changed. The state of real human women is not secure in many places in the world and there is a point in trying to find root causes of disparity, the action of societal reinforcing mechanisms, and the function of oppressive power structures in the world.
A very serious look, not just at sexuality, but duality…and the whole control issue. I am still too sore to type much, Anna, but wanted to read your poem. Now I will think about it a bit more–but I do think there is an over-riding tension in male-female relationships just because to them, females *are* objects of pleasure, inescapably, and also I think part of the desire to dominate and erase the other aspects of feminine power comes from their own powerlessness before the strength of their own biological dependent/possessive urges. But obviously, this is a subject that can’t be plumbed in a few painfully tapped out lines. 😉 Hope you’re enjoying the gorgeous, California-like pseudo-summer weather we’re having.
Yes this weather is shocking. February in Conifer is significantly colder, here I’ve taken up jogging! As to the conundrum I see your point and greatly appreciate your comment. I hope that you feel better very, very soon :).
This has a very startling clarity to it that I found enlightening. The thought you provoke is very coherent and effective in turnong the objectivist eye inward, opening upma space for reflection and something more than cold analysis.
Thank you for your insight and close reading.