),

35
 Tile Politics of Wiloleness:
by le.i9h ftar

In recent years, patriarchy has expanded to a c cept as "nor-

mal" experiences of altered .'s tates of consciousness, medi-
tation, dreams, yoga, biofeedback, perception-altering drugs ,
"enlightenment." That is, the basic structures of patriar c hy
have remained constant, whil~ the repertoire of "permissibl e"
experience has been expanded under the gui se of change.
Closely allied with the above-mentioned iltered states
of consciousn ess are ~pparent changes in ' ''life-st y le'' lik e
communal living, humanistic , transpersonal and "androgynous"
interpersonal relatidns ..• again, things which a re billed a s
leading to a better way of life, but which are ultimately
imprisoning if unquestioned.
The more experiences a syst e m e xpands t o includ e
without changing its basic structure , th ~ f ewer
people Will be able to stand outside th e syst e m
and criticize it. The change ~equired to get out-
side will be more far -r eaching . At th e s ame time,
the· system itself will prb~ide what lo oks lik e
change to most people ~hrou~h . its own expansion .

FROM BROWN RICE TO LESBIAN SEPARATISM: ONE GTRL'S TRUE STO RY

Several ' years ago I was heavily involved with meditation ,
yoga, and people who were committed to "natpral' ! life styl es.
I became a teacher of TH, in . fact, and taught it for a couple
of years . . I know that I initially began these practices in
an eff6rt to he~l a spli~ I ' felt within m~self, fo~ which I
had no name. When Zen Buddhists or Tibetan Llamas· pointed
out that life is an empty shell, full of illusion, somethin g
in me resonated. I diq want a
way to unify things, to los e
my separation and isolation. .
The same feelings, a little later but overlapping in time,
led me to come out and ' begin feminist consciousness-raisin g .
Eventually, the contradictions between woman-identification--
or female completeness, self-sufficiency, and spirituality--
and the male systems de e pened. Starting from when I' was
still inside ' of the systems, I began to develop an analy s i S
and a gut-level intuition of th e ir dange r and insidiousnes s .
The crit ique I offer here grows ou·t of my e xp e rience (or
that of close friends) with Zen , TH , Buddhism , Hinduism ,
hatha yoga, macrobiotic~ , and seve ral forms of guru-follow ing .
I lump them together and, (when I'm being polite), call th em
"new mysticism," "new spirituality," or "spiritual psychol o-
gies."
36
F~mlnlfm and the.. n~w fPIRITUALITY
Many cur r e nt ly prevalent systems h ave similar goals (of
se lf- act u a li zatio n, unit y, h a rmon y ) to the above: hum a ni stic
psychology, Jun gian psyc h olo~y, "pe rsonal g r owt h g r oups,"
indee d, hum a nism of almost a n y sort . Take n br oa dl y, this
cr i tique will be u sef ul for t h es~ t h ings as wel l.
KNOf:J TH Y ENE MY
The recent plet h o r a of la n ~uage (books, j a r go n , lab e l s)
for "spirit u a li ty" conveys t he fact that mystic ism , however
watered d own , is now a locus of co n cer n /co ntr ol o n a mass
b asis . The TM moveme n t alo n e c l ai ms 600,000 American ini -
tiates to th e ir system. Beyond t hat, th e influence of t h e
n ew mysti c i s m in general exte nds beyond t h e numb e r s of par -
tic i pant s -- to a point whe r e i t i s in co rp o r ati n g i tself in
a major way into t h e Western ethos . For examp l e, it h as
b ecome commonpla ce to refer to somet h ing as o ne's " karma,"
to talk a bout the yin or ya ng of something, to think br own
ri ce is goo d for you, to ta lk a b o ut th e "guru. " (Ther e are
even commercials starring humorous gu rus.)
Fund ame nt a ll y, wh at I mean by t h e terms mysti c ism, n ew
spirit u ality or spiritual psyc holog i es are those d evelop -
mental systems which purport to l ead to a high e r, mo r e " un i -
fied," or h armon i ous state of conscio u s n ess (nirva n a, a l pha
states, samadhi, e nli g ht e nme n t, etc.) in a (mor e o r l ess)
st ru ct ur e d fashion. They mayor may not have o n e ce ntr al
male f i gure who is the foc us for discipl es: Sri Chinmoy,
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi , Ram Dass, Yogi Bhajan, Guru Ma haraji,
Hare Krishna people, who provides "guidanc e " o r a "c h an n e l"
for "reaching these states ." (Mayb e I s h oul d just put t h e
whole article in quotation marks . )
Some systems, for example Zen and macrobioti cs, do n ot
really depend on devotion to a master, although there are
male leaders. However, the lasting goal of all thes e sys -
tems is to eventually pr ov ide, through devotion, a technique
of "purification," med it at ion , etc., a permanent state of
"non-duality" or onen e ss with the world.
For me , there is a crucial difference between duaZity
and difference, as they apply to males, females and the co n-
structions/percep tions of patriarchal society. My assumption
is that there is a male/femal e differenc e whi c h is at least
biologi cal, a nd whi c h has be e n construed as a duality by
males . This h as g iven r ise to philosophies and syst e ms of
dualism. Since I beli eve it is not possibl e or desirable
to transcend male/ fe mal e difference, I refer to transcending
dualities and dualism , that is, to getting beyond the con-
trol of women . at all l evels . Women are the primary objects/
subjects of patriarch al co ntrol. It is natural and logical
37
 that this getting beyond is inextricably linked with, and
in fact, could define, feminism.
ANVROGYNY, OR HOW TO CREATE A VISEASE, _PATENT A QUICK CURE,
ANV MARK ET IT AS ENLIGHTENMENT
On e aspect of the state of non-dualism is suppos ed to
b e the t r ansce ndence of sex-role stereotype; the e nli g ht e n ed
person may thus incorporate into her/his person a lit y a ny
qualiti es, thos e typi ca lly masculine or thos e typically
feminine. Fo r example , Jesus . has been called an andro gynous
s ymbol b y Christi a n theologians such as John Cobb; in Tr a ns-
cende ntal Me ditation , the movem e nt's spiritual leader may
be cal l ed ei th er Guru De v (mas c uline) or Guru Deva (femi-
nin e) . Buddha was said to h ave been ~'a ndr o g y n ous . "
Int e restingl y enough, this pr o lif erat i o n of a ndr ogy nous
gurus is co in c id e ntal with a n ew "androgynous" image being
tout ed for Western women.
Th e mes of androgyny, "psychic wholeness," a nd transcend-
ing of sex a nd ~e nd er recur again and again in t h e n ew
mysticism. Th e l a nguage used is "yi n" and "y,ang" o r femi-
nin e a nd mas c uline; th e idea is that within each perso n are
b o th masc ulin e and feminine qualities, which can be "rea-
liz ed . " (Alt ho ugh, most hasten to add, it just happ e ns to
be more likely t hat women will self-reali ze as mo t hers,
supporters of me n, nurturers of males; a nd me n as active
parti cipan ts in the world they created.)
Th e last time I r ead about the co n cept of an dr ogy ny , my
hands began tr e mblin g with a n ge r and I threw the magazi n e
across the room ~ Th e magazine was Woman s pirit , the a rti c l e
a revi e w of Jun e Singer's bo o k An drogyny writt e n by Ruth
Mountaingrove :
The pat h to and r ogy n y/gy nandry is o p e n t o e ver yon e :
c e libate, l e sbian , gay man, he t e r ose xu a l. wh e neve r
the ur ge for wholeness pus hes u s into t h e r i sky, lon g,
hard work of a lifetime . Th e o ut come i s unfor see -
a bl e, bound as we are by cu l tural ge nd e r d e fini t i o ns,
but surely it is more t h an woma n , mo r e th a n ma n. A
whole p e rson will embody both, a nd until this i s
actualized, we can not know . . . 1
Goddess, give me the strength to say this c l ear l y eno u g h :
NOTHING ABOUT ME IS MALE.
I DO NOT NEED ANYTHING HASCULINE OR MALE IN ORDER TO BE
WHOLE.
I DO NOT HAVE ANY MALE qUALITIES TO ACTUALIZE--I HAVE
CERTAIN FEMALE POTENTIALS THAT WHILE LIVING UNDER A
MALE SYSTEM HAVE NOT FLOURISHED.

I have scars and a deep anger about that in me whi ch h as

be e n fought or raped by men, by their world. Removing the
scar s, the split, is my self-lo v ing task as a Lesbian femi-
nist .
Th e result will not be more than woman, mo r e than man--
but f ully WOMAN for the first time. And that will come
oompletel y only with woman-identified revolution--psychic,
psychological, social, material.
38
o VERe 0 MIN G T /I E YI N- YANG V UALIT Y, 0 R, (I) IfJ NI NG T /I E WAR HJ
VI ETNA M
Patriarch y creates a nd inculcates dualism. It is commo n
for patriarchs to cre~te needs and then manufacture a pro-
duct to d ea l wit h them--like the me dic a l patriar c hs who
manufactur e a disease for whi c h th ey must co nsequentl y f ind
a "cure" (i.e. Thalidomide babies, vaginal can cer from DES).
Since the late 1960' s, w~at we are witnessing in American
society is the sel lin g of a "cure" for a dis ease which i s
e nd emic to male-centered society--the dis ease of du alis m,
of alienation from the "tr u e · self."
This disease has always existed, but has n ot always been
wide ly perceived as t h e problem per se. Onl y a small, un-
usu a lly sensitive and/or intense segment of th e p op ulati o n
eve r dedicated themselves to und e rst a nding any du alism: the
a hist orical phenomenon of mystics, saints, v isi onaries. I
believe t h at these people always had h o ld of some kind of
basi c iss ue, a nd t h at t h a t is why they were often ostracize d ,
insulated f rom the mainstream of r e ligion and society; why
what they said was often misinterpreted or suppressed; wh y
the image comes throug h of t h e mystic as a wild-eyed "crazy
man" (sic) . Gut i t is important to see that the societal
co n text within which t h ey lived and interacted, if o nl y the
o n e they ca rri ed in their h ead s ba ck to their cave, was
male-dominated, male - s upremacist, a nd anti-feminist. Not
to ign ore t h is would h ave been to ge n e rat e a spiritual-
political ea rthquake.
The union of female self - identif i cation a nd mysticism
is witchcraft . Politically, it has been/is ultimately
threat e nin g in its implications fo r the r a di ca l r estr u cturi n g
of man's world. I t was once subjecte d to brut a l co ntr ol
under patriarchy; now it i s being subjected to extremely
s ubtl e co ntrol .
The kind of widespread "dea lin g wit h " i ss u es of wh oleness
which we a r e now seei n g is a kind of cooptation of the per -
ceptio n s of male-identified mysticism o n a ve ry wid e scale.
I t is being done in a manner whi c h ensures that the connec -
tions between feminism ( Lesbian ism) a nd wholeness wi ll not
be mad e.
Th e n ew mystics are prese n ting a male-identified world -
view to women wh o perce i ve t h e du a li s m in patriarchy, but
who may not yet ha ve formed their tactics for c r eat in g a
non-dualisti c life, a woma n- ce nt ere d "o n e n ess." Th ey h ave,
unfortunately, done a super b j o b of masking the male id entity
beneath a g uis e of androgyny . (More about t his below.)
On a social level, these forms and co n trols are quite
new a nd not yet rigidly in stit uti o naliz e d , but they are cer -
tain to esca lat e wi thi n the n ext co upl e of d ecades if the
present trend continues .
Amidst t he escalation, it is vital for us to understand
that the new mysticism h as to do with the control of women;
that it may b e see n as a sexu al as well as spiritual phen-
omenon; that it repr ese nts a s ubtl er for m of oppression,
not a for m of liberation.
39
 Without being overly simplistic , I feel it is possible
to talk in quite general terms about several beliefs which
all of the "new mysticisms" share, anc! how these beliefs
function to short-circuit woman-ide ntification:

1. Bel~e6 that by do~ng ~ome teQhn~que, one Qan atta~n an

~deal ~tate .

Proust observed with astonishment that a great doc-

tor or prof esso r ofte n shows hims elf, outside of hi s
specialty, to be lac king in se nsiti vity, intelligence,
and humanity. Th e reason for this is t hat h av in g
abdicated his freedom, he has nothin g e l se left but
his techniques. In domains where hi s techniques are
not applicable, he e ither adheres to the most or din ary
of values or fulfills hims elf as a f light.
-Simone d e Beauvoir , Th e Ethi cs of Ambiguity
There are two kinds of problems d e riving from the b e li ef
that doing a technique will bring you to an (the) id ea l
state of being , as the above quotati o n suggests. Th e (irst
problem is with using a technique for growth; the second,
with the function of the goal of "idea l state . "
The maxim "capt ure tile kin gdom of h eave n and all e lse
shall be added unto thee" is the und e rl y in g basis for those
mysti ca l systems which say somet hin g like: "Just do this
practice (i.e. TM, yoga, or Zaz e n ) and e nli g ht e nm e nt will
eve ntu ally be yours." Essentially, I hav e seen this idea
f un ction to absolve participants of all social responsi-
bility for their own psychological growth "on the way to
enlig ht e nment." It fosters th e belief that o n e can buy
one's way out of the a:·Jl·~ 7. Z. :':'ty of existence by putting in
some "x" amount of time.
The logic of this co n cept, in simplifi e d fo rm , goes some-
thing lik e: a) we are all in an impur e, unr easo nin g or
somehow out - of-whack - with-the-universe state; b) all o ur
actions are mediated by this disharmonious state; c) there-
fore, the only valid action is to meditate (or whatever t h
technique is) to achieve harmony and h appiness. Also, as
long as one is medit ating, esse n tially one is on the right
track and other things (like moral d ec isions and social
action) will "be taken care of" in t h e process. It S a
I

kind of existe ntial cowardic~ , the d e liberat e avoidance of

co ntradictions and decisions.
It manifests itself in such ridi c ulous situations as that
of General Franklin Davis, who is a practitioner and ardent
supporter of TM . He goes around lecturing about TN , and is
often cited b y other TN l ecturers as an exemplar of t h e
ability to integrate a secular career with a spiritual di s -
cipline. Obvi ously, Gen. Davis believes that he is develop-
ing spiritually through meditation; just as obviously, thi s
"development" has not caused him t .o exami n e his participati on
in a sexist, rapist organizatio n, the U. S. Army . I would
suggest that in this case the General probably uses the fact
of his involvement with TM to avoid facing his responsibil-
ity--perhaps he feels that the facet of hi s personality under
40
t h e head i n g "g r owth " i s a de quat e l y cove r e d b y do in g TM. And
whil e t h e Ge n e r al may b e a n ex tr e me exampl e, th e p h e nome n o n
varies o nl y i n d eg r ee wh e n eve r an y f o rmul a i s s ub st i t ut e d
fo r h o li st i c c han ge .

2. Bei~e6 ~ h a~ Qe~ta~n ~ n d~v~d u ai6 hav e aQ h ~e v ed a pe~ m a n e n ~

ie vei 06 ~n6~ght -- the ~deai 6tate .
Th e " maste r s," in mys ti ca l tr a dition s , a r e, as t h e l a b e l
imp l ies, ge n e r a ll y a l ways ma l e . Th ey a r e c r e dit e d b y fo l -
l owers wi t h a lmost s up er n a tur a l p owe r s, a nd o ft e n fun ct i o n
in t h e same symb ol i c fa shi o n as th e r e ifi e d ma l e - go d in
othe r r e li g i o n s .
In a du a li st i c soc i e t y, i t is th e n a tur e of symb o l s fo r
Go d to r ep r ese n t wh at i s goo d , r egard less of pr otes t s to th e
co n t r a r y o n t h e pa r t of t h e i r fo ll owe r s ( o r of th e symb o l s).
Wome n wh o re l ate t o ma l e g uru s a s maste r s, i .e . as t h e e pi -
tome of good , cann ot but fee l t h e mse l ves t o b e " b a d " o r
l ack in g in some deg r ee if t h ey a r e tr y in g to imit ate him.
But t h e ; 'mas t e r " can exe r c i se a more i ns idi o u s f o rm of
psyc hi c co n t r o l t h a n a go d- s ubst itu tio n . Guru s c an co ntr o l
t h e l a n g u age we h ave a b ou t who l e ness-- a nd wome n co n tro l
t h e mselves at t hi s l eve l b y r es p o ndin g to th e id ea of no n-
du a li ty a nd free dom. Gu r u s set t h e mse l ves up to " teac h "
( whi c h s h o uld b e " evok e") Self h ood a nd who l e ness, n o n-du al i s m.
Th e y a r e t h e r efo r e d eep l y d esac r a li z in g, p syc hi ca ll y in s id-
i o u s f o r wome n . By bl ock in g self - d ef ini t i o n , t h ey pr ov id e
t h e ul t im ate s ubst itut i o n of ma l e -defi n e d r ea li ty fo r fe ma l e
se l f -p e r cept i o n .
Th e tec hni q u e of r ese r ving some mys ti ca l a u t h o ri ty to a
few c h o i ce me n can b e (an d i s) u se d to c r eate a b ur ea u c r acy
b ase d in sexism, dealing in s p irit u a l growt h . Wh ateve r t h e
maste r s say can b e u se d to just i fy a n y i n j u st i ce o r ill ogic
o n t h e g r o und s t h at i t wi ll help t hose in vo l ve d get to t h at
h i g h e r sta t e , too . ' In some types of yoga, for example , t h e
deve l o p me n tal sc h e ma d epe nd s on pe r f~ct l ove a nd ob e di e n ce
t o a guru-- o n e's own j ud gme n t a nd exper i e n ce are necessari l y
a b a ndo n e d i n or d e r to b e a di sc i p l e a nd expe r ie n ce "pe r fect
l ove." For wome n , t hi s bears a susp i c i o u s r esemb lan ce to
t h e self - s urre nder to ma l es d e ma nde d b y ma rri age, Ch r i s ti-
a n ity, etc . Th e mas t ers, fo l low in g wh at t h e ir maste r s tau g h t ,
u s u al l y perpet u ate sex-role ste r ?o t ypy in t h e n a me of " i t's
in expli cab l e, but it must be n ature ' s way . " Wome n i n t h e
TM organi zat i o n , for example, a r e in for ma l ly ( secr etly) di s -
al l owed fro m teac h i n g me di tatio n in p ri so n s o r me n ta l h os -
p i ta l s . Th e rat i o na le is th ~t Mah ar i s hi h as sa i d t h at wome n
a r e " mo r e de li ca t e" t h a n me n a n d cou ldn' t s t a nd to b e i n
suc h stressf u l e n v ir o nme nt s.
Th e next p r em i se co n ce rn s t h e n at ur e of t h e so - calle d
t r a n sce n de n ce :

3. Bei~e6 that the wo~id ~6 6undamentaiiy d u ai~6t~Q ( y~n­

yang); th~6 d u ai~6 m Qan b e t~an6Qen d ed by expand~ng ~n-
6~ght and pe~Qept~on .
41
 The Eastern co nc ept of yin a nd yang posit s two basic and
antithetica l tensions present in all thin gs. I t i s possible ,
goes th e theory, by asceticism or med~tation to transc e nd
this duality a nd perceive an und erlying uni ty . At t h e same
time, one ne ve r r eal ly lose s the aspect of b ei n g a part of
t h e dualistic world altogether; th e inn e r unit y is incorpor-
ate d int o activity, the "kingdom of Heave n within" fo rmin g
a solid base for "non-attached" activity o n the " ea rthly
plane."
From a fem inist perspective, this philosop h ical twist,
whi c h prevents myst i c ism from becomin g an a b sol ut ely si mpl e
r e j ec tion of the world for a kind of paradis e, is un co nv inc -
ing. Th e theory is that once one arrives a t this ideal-
state-which-is-always-here-anyway, certain dualities a r e
transcended. However, this process usu a lly tak es many years ,
and in the meantime most mysti cs are going about perpetuating
t h e most basic dualism, that of sexism. Misogyny a nd oppres-
sion of women (and given th e facts of women's opp r essio n ,
" neutrality" about feminism is misogyn y ) do not fal l away
like scales with a "myst i ca l " expe ri e n ce. St. Augustine,
for example, who was "e nli ghtened" by certa in sta nd ards, did
his share to contribute to the upkeep of gy n oc id al dualism
in t he world.
To r e it e rat e what was said in t h e i n tro du ctio n , i t is
impossible to talk about trans ce ndin g du a lity whil e co ntri-
buting to and failing to acknowl edge t h e position of wome n
as " Other" in the world. Patriar c hal society incu lcates
du a lit y , and in or d e r to truly r eac h non-duali s m it must
b e conf ronted .
Th e next b el ief seeks to avoid co nfr o nt atio n:

4. 8elie6 that the wOhl d i~ ma ya , an illu~ion, than~itohY

and not-to-be-inve~ted in Oh atta~hed to .
In a n a ndr ocent ric cu l ture women a r e "sex"; we r e prese n t
ge nital sexuality fo r he terosexual males. Sex ualit y is
identified as o n e of the major worldly attachments a nd
d es ir es by mystical systems. Wome n, ther efo re , hav e hi s -
tor i cally repr ese nt e d the c hi ef temptatio n of "the wo rldl y" --
t h at wh ich is t o b e rej ecte d , that whi c h in vites d esi re ,
which should u ltimate ly inspir e a total indi ffere n ce in the
mind of th e true seeker. This b e li ef is still wide ly h e l d
in mo d er n systems wh e r e ce liba cy is r ecommended .
As Nancy Falk observed in a n a rti cle o n Buddhism ,2 women
do come to symbolize in th e l iterature o n e nli gh t e nme nt,
"the ul timate bonds of samsara" (the world of cha n ge and
imp erma n e nce). Th e l ast temptati o n of Buddh a b efo r e hi s
e nlight e nme nt is resisting th e sexual advances of t hr ee
beautiful wome n . When h e succes sf ull y resists, h e r e ach es
nirvana.
I hav e see n sexism flourish within the co nt ex t of asce t -
i c ism a n d ce liba cy just as we ll as it d oes wit h th e pr ese n c e
of sexual intercourse--heterosexuality is lar ger as an in-
stitutio n 3 than ge nital re latin g or the l ack of it.
42
 Ano~ner aspect of the belief that the world is transitory
is that it is easy to rationalize about what is so brief
in the face of eter ni ty. The responsibility for sex-based
oppression is much diminished in the minds of the oppressor
if the suffering of women is seen as a mere moment cf pain
in the fleeting reality of the world. This is an extension
of trading proximate for ultimate, and thereby committing
bot h absurdities and atrocities without responsibility.
An outcome of this interpretation of time is found in
the next belief:

5. Bei~e6 ~n he~ncahna~~on : ~6 you don'~ ma~e ~~ ~h~~ ~~me

ahound, you ge~ ~o come bac~ un~~i you do.
Th e obvious result here can be one of not-doing--if you
can always put off until tomorrow, literally, why do any -
thing today? But a subtler consequence derives from a
belief co nnected to reincarnation--the belief that you are
reborn (or born at all) to finish out whatever karma you
didn't do in the last life. This is (in simplified but
accurate form) the basis of the whole Indi an caste system:
you are born and live where you deserve to be; it's all
your " karma ." If you are rich, you deserve to be, etc. The
only way to escape the cycle of rebirth and karma is to
transcend the world as it is, usually through meditation
or some other path.
This kind of Calvinistic nonsense perpetuated by ideas
a f Karmic Justice serves of course quite well to perpetuate
the caste system according to gender . Social change itself
is invalidated in such a context, as is a radical new self-
defining for women. Some systems even say you have to come
back as a man to be enlig htened.
Th e following belief can also suppress positive becoming:

6. Bei~e6 ~ha~ ~he ~deai ~~a~e ~~ a un~veh~ai, "na~uhai"

,-,~a~e.

Mo st mystical systems have stereotypic descriptions of

the e nlight e ned state, "ways to tell" if you're having ce r-
tain advanced "spiritual experiences"--quite statically
d ef ined states of consciousness or alterations of states of
consciousn ess . The end goals are precise, described in a
linear rather than processual fashion.
And subsequently, old stereotypes about masculinity and
femininity are maintain e d and reified. For example, a re-
ce nt issue of th e East - West Jou rn al , a magazine about the
new spi rituality, ran an article denouncing abortion on the
grounds that there are all these souls out there waiting to
come b ack, and we can't deny them the change; women, in the
n e w spirituality, are to be passive, maternal, devoted to
husbands a nd "naturally " heterosexual--in order to facili-
tate a return to t h e idyllic "natural" state.
 CONCLUSIONS
Th e women say that t h ey h ave been give n as e qui va l e n ts '
t he eart h t h e sea tears that whi c h is humid t h at whi c h
is black t h at whi c h does not burn t h ai whi c h is nega-
tive those who surrender wit hout a str u gg l e . They say
t h is is a concept which is the product of mec h a ni st i c
r e aso nin g . I t d eploys a series of terms wh ic h are
systemat i ca ll y related to oPPosite terms . . . Th ey joke
o n this sub j ect , they say it is to fa ll betwee n Scylla
a nd Ch aryb di s, to avoi d one re li g i ous ideology, o nl y
to a d opt a n ot h er, they say t h at both o n e a nd t h e ot~er
h ave this in commo n , that t h ey are no longer valid .

It is not possible to r eta in the o ld forms of t hese sys -

t e ms in a "non-sexist" way .
Men k eep finding mor e and mor e subtle ways of ass urin g
women that we can b e whole, happy, fulfilled and tr u e huma n
beings without b e ing political , a nd while co ntinuin g to giv e
e n e r gy and primacy to me n.
Most of a.ll, they find mor e and mor e ways of ass urin g us
t hat we n ee d th e m, that in order to b e permanently h appy we
n ee d to find our "masculine compl e me nts, " whether in our
heads or in a mal e body.
Th e definition of "wholeness" offered through new mysti-
c ism is bound e d by ma l e pr ese n ce . Se l f -r ea li zi ng women are
n ot me ntal herma phr q dites, Earth moth ers, yi n, a ndr ogynes ,
free a nimae r e lating to th e ir a nimi , "in touch with t heir
bi sexua l nature."

ANOTHER MOVEL, OR LESBIANISM AS A NECESSARY IF NOT SUFFICIENT

CONVITION FOR ENLIGHTENMENT
"How ca n I co n strict t h is message so it will be under-
stood un easily?"
--Robin 110rgan
Fo r me the way a system of control b ecomes apparent i s
through the presence of alternative mode ls , ot her wo rld s .
Th e n a me t hat my other world has ri g ht now is witc h craft,
wh i c h mean s:

I AFFIRM MY SACREVNESS / MY SEXUALITY AS THE SAME ANV AS

FEMALEj
I AFFIRM MY CONNECTION TO OTHER WOMENj
I FIGHT TO SEE ANV STOP ALL RAPE ANV I AFFIRM MY RAGEj
I AFFIRM THE ABSENCE OF EASY ANSWERS.

FOOTNOTES

1. Review of Androgyny by Jun e Si nge r , written by Rut h

Mountaingrove, Womanspirit, Winter Solstice 19 7 6, 3, No.
10, p. 58 . -
2. Nancy F a lk , "A n Image of Women in Old Buddhist Litera-
t ur e: Th e Da u g ht ers of Mara," i n Women a nd Religio n , ed. by
Plaskow a nd Ro mero (I~ontana: Scholars' Press , 1974).
3. Artemis March, unpubli she d I1S.
4. Monique Witt i g, Les Guerrilleres (NY: Avon, 19 7 3),
44 pp . 7 8 - 80.