{"id":196,"date":"2014-03-26T22:22:42","date_gmt":"2014-03-27T02:22:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/?p=196"},"modified":"2015-01-06T11:02:03","modified_gmt":"2015-01-06T16:02:03","slug":"scared-in-the-dark-yet-safe-because-were-blind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/2014\/03\/26\/scared-in-the-dark-yet-safe-because-were-blind\/","title":{"rendered":"Scared In The Dark, Yet Safe Because We’re Blind"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shani Mootoo states in her novel Cereus Blooms at Night<\/em> states that, in the name of sexuality and\/or gender identity, there is a “limbo state between existence and nonexistence” (Mootoo, 77). I see this as a safety blanket<\/strong>, yet at the same time an unbelievable, undefinable danger zone<\/strong>. This is safe, as priorly stated, yet also scary and shameful, especially in the name of sexuality and\/or gender identity.<\/p>\n

One being neither “properly man nor woman but some in-between, unnamed thing” allows for different interpretations of the “truth,” but in the end, left to be defined by the “victim” (Mootoo, 71). I say victim because this uncertainty is not a choice. It is this “definition” of one’s personal sexuality and gender identity, and the comfort of not associating one way or the other that acts as a safety blanket. It is safe to not know.<\/strong> Although it is safe to be in the dark, it is oh so scary. He\/She cannot see what is ahead of him\/her, what is awaiting him\/her after his\/her “definition” is solidified, which can, in turn, result in a shameful personal and social regression.<\/p>\n

In these two quotes I see a very important connection between the words “unnamed” and “nonexistence.” Remaining “unnamed” can be viewed as “nonexistence” by the said “victim” of sexuality and instills a sense of fear and shame into him\/her. It is this fear and shame that drives one to attempt to “define” the undefined: his\/her sexuality and\/or gender identity. It is interesting that when you put the two quotes together, it suggests that “existence” is associated with defining as a man or a woman, and “nonexistence” is associated with the “limbo state,” being “unnamed” and somewhere in between.<\/p>\n

How is one “properly” one or the other? This is the word that suggests shame. Sexuality, gender and gender identity are choices; choices with social repercussions that can instill a sense of fear or shame into one if they even slightly deviate from the “norm.” Who is to say that there is a “proper” definition of sexuality? NO ONE.<\/strong> To put these two ideas together, the “limbo state” of being “unnamed” creates a drive to define the sexuality and\/or gender identity that is not<\/em> defined, but is linked with the shame of defining a sexuality or gender identity that deviates from the norm. This limbo is such a safe place of blindness, but such a scary place of darkness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shani Mootoo states in her novel Cereus Blooms at Night states that, in the name of sexuality and\/or gender identity, there is a “limbo state between existence and nonexistence” (Mootoo, 77). I see this as a safety blanket, yet at the same time an unbelievable, undefinable danger zone. This is safe, as priorly stated, yet … Continue reading Scared In The Dark, Yet Safe Because We’re Blind<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2034,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93617],"tags":[93572,2123,93556,93570,93571,75632,93518,93583,93577,80547,93568,93576,53734,93578,93582,93573,83307,2290,93513,93561,2323,93580,87008],"class_list":["post-196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2014-blog-post","tag-blind","tag-blindness","tag-cereus-blooms-at-night","tag-danger","tag-dark","tag-darkness","tag-definition","tag-deviate","tag-existence","tag-fear","tag-gender-identi","tag-limbo","tag-man","tag-nonexistence","tag-norm","tag-proper","tag-safety","tag-sexuality","tag-shame","tag-shani-mootoo","tag-truth","tag-unnamed","tag-woman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2034"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}