Lorena Borjas The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master's House

 In this blog I will examine some key-points brought up in The Mater's Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master's House essay by Audre Lorde. I will also discuss how her essay relates to the messages from Section III- And When You Leave Take Your Pictures With You and in How to Tame A Wild Tongue in the Borderlands book.  

  The Master's Tool's Essay talks about how Audre Lorde was asked to comment on some women's papers from the University of New York. The papers are from American women from different "...race, sexuality, class, and age". As she is there she starts thinking on how feminism can come from all type of different women such as poor women, black women, and lesbians. She starts to realize that we live in a world were there is still a lot of "..racism, sexism, and homophobia". Not only that it is still very present now but that this can also be found in the difference between the feminist movement. Which should not, because that would just make us act the same way men had treated us for the longest time, and we would follow into their footsteps. 

 Audre Lorde goes on saying that even though there are different women in the movement they should all come together with their differences, and make it work for the better of the movement. Instead of bringing themselves down they should all come together to overcome or to make a real difference in the movement. She even gives an example that withe women face oppression, but only to a certain level as for poor and colored women face more oppression than what a white women would experience. She explains how that in a way relates to racism in the feminist movement, because the colored women who helps the white women take care of children and has a maid jobs are still underneath the white women even though they might both in the feminist movement. The colored women should be recognized in a positive way just as the white women is.

 Towards the end of her essay she starts talking on how women should educate men on what women needs are. Not only does she say they have to educate men, but also educate white women on black women differences to them. For them to understand each other to move forward.

 The Master's Tools essay relates to Section III And When You Live Take Your Pictures With You when both readings start talking about racism within women. "Although the original intent of including a section in this anthology specifically about racism in the movement was to make a connection with white women, it feels now more like a separation". (p.57) Saying that they were trying to come together past the color of their skin, but ended up realizing there was more differences that were making them feel distingue from white women. There is another quote from This Bridge Called My Back pg.87 were it states "Everyone is capable of being racist whatever their color and condition", meaning that in between the feminist movement there's still racism involved. Lorde says "But to imply, however, that all women suffer the same oppression simply because we are women, is loose sight of the many varied tools of patriarchy" (Lorde,pg.91). Lorde again talks on how women experience different level of oppression. Depending on whether their sexuality, race, class there is a different level of oppression. 

 There is also a connection when Lorde talks about the poor in the Master's Tools essay. We live in the system that was designed a certain way to keep the poor poor and the wealthy wealthy. In the poem And When You Leave Take Your Pictures With You it talks about how no one is happy after a long day of work. People work long hours to gain very little money. How can someone be happy working for long hours doing something they do not really like and for them to still remain poor. The colored women tell them if you think were one thing it turns out to be that we are not as happy as we look in your pictures because what we do is real hard work. In the Master's Tools Lorde gives a similar example where she says that "...women who clean your houses and tend your children while you attend conferences on feminist theory are, for the most part poor..." (Lorde, pg. 96).

 As to how it also connects to feminism when Lorde said we should educate men about our needs as women. In pg.74 Moschkovich  states "...women live in male systems, know male rule, speak male language when around men, etc. But what do men really know about women?". Which goes back to the quote said towards the middle of pg.73 saying "... it is not the duty of the oppressed to educate the oppressor" (Moschkovish). Where there is a little contradiction in one had it says to teach the oppressor and in the other not to teach it, as it should know already what's it doing wrong.

 In regards to how the Master's Tools essay connect to How to Tame a Wild Tongue is how in the Master's Tools essay it talks about how as women we should be able to use our differences and use them as a strength. So in How to Tame a Wild Tongue it talks about how speaking Chicana is one of the differences that should be understood by white women. As for women of color, we also would like to be able to express ourselves freely, with that being either in our own language or through our culture. Chicanas want to be also understood by other feminist, and let them understand why we are the way we are. Understanding why  now we rather not stay quiet again and have a voice.

 Throughout the blog I explained some of the main points of The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's house. I explained what I believed to be the connections with The Master's Tools essay to Section III- And When You Leave Take Your Pictures With You and how it connected to the reading How to Tame a Wild Tongue. 

 Anzaldua, G. (1999). Bordelands= La frontera. San Francisco. Aunte Lute Books.

 Moraga, C., & Anzaldua, G. (1981.) This Bridge Called my Back: Writing by radical women of         color. Waterdown, Mass: Persephone Press.