Saturday, October 25, 2008

women as lovers




I have a poster in my living room from this album, depicting a nude figure bound at he feet and hands with the lines from the song "the Leash" from the album "Women as Lovers." The lines from the song state" to have lied to a lover, if for want of a pure touch, to be common, to be seen as I am." I recently had my parents over for a visit, and as my mom left she asked if I could take the poster down next time she came over. It seemed funny to me at the time.
This album, taken from the Jenilek novel of the same name, is bogged down with the classic identity issues of subjectivity and objectivity. I haven't read the novel but from the title and the issues in the Xiu Xiu album, it seems to recall the same issues that Luce Irigaray develops in her work "The Sex Which is Not One". maybe i'm just drunk right now, I am(HI CHRIS!!!LOVE YOU BUDDY), but the titles even refer to each other.
listening to "women as lovers" has made me dwell on so many issues from the mentioned to themes to how those themes define so many issues in our society: Israeli(subject)/Palestinian(object), Americans(subject)/Native Americans(object), Men(subject)/Women(object), Good(subject)/Evil(object).....yet Baudrillard in his
"Intelligence of Evil" says, "Evil has no objective reality. Quite the contrary, it
consists in diverting of things from their "objective" existence, in their reversal, their return."...from which i draw means some sort of return to a Subject speaking evil, for if the Good is to really fight the Evil, the good can't just objectify evil as something to fight against, the Good must assume that the Evil takes on a subjective voice that "speaks evil" as Baudrillard insists. This reversal gives validation to the cause of the Good. It's not enough to simply want to believe that the Evil sees itself as "good," thereby empathizing with it, Evil cannot Subject itself as the Good and have "good" intentions, Evil must speak "evil" to warrant the wrath of the "good."
What is odd is both Baudrillard and Foucault agree that Violence is neither evil(in baudrillardian terms) or power(in foucaultian terms), but of a different order altogether. So I wonder about the first lines of the song "The Leash," Perseus holds the head of Medussa, oh how I wish i could be her." The final word holds us in suspense. Instant a reversal of subjectivity is implied, from the Hero to the Villain. If the poster in my room implies anything it is asking a question of where the line between subjectivity and objectivity is drawn in bondage/s&m. If the role of master or servant is willingly agreed to, both to feel pleasure ( as seen in Jenilek's novel "The Piano Teacher") then all bets are off, subjectivity is an undecidable feature in the mix. The video "Master of the Bump" recalls such imagery.
"to be common, to be seen as I am" Is this line begging for a draw in the subjectivity/objectivity game? Can the object see the subject as an object and is there any real connection("pure touch")?
My favorite movie that deals with this topic is "Notre Musique" by Godard. Highly recommended. In the end an Israeli student is frustrated by her subjective stance to the Palestinian occupation that she becomes a suicide bomber and asks other Israeli's to join her, in the end she is shot alone with no bomb on her.

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