Gloria Anzaldua's Borderlands:La Frontera is preoccupied with in-between spaces; as a queer Chicana, Anzaldua speaks a language that is neither Spanish nor English, she feels neither American nor Mexican, and her sexual identity is neither entirely masculine nor feminine but "two in one body" (41). Although she focuses a great deal on the lack of identity that stems from being situated in between categories and the oppressive practices both within and outside of her culture, what interests me more about Borderlands is its moments of empowerment--moments in which Anzaldua frames her unique position and history in a positive, self-assertive way. In fact, much of this empowerment mirrors the unique brand of power attributed to governesses by Esther Godfrey in her essay "Jane Eyre, from Governess to Girl Bride" and in this post, I'd like to explore this parallel.
Two moments of sexual ownership stand out to me most in Borderlands (both of which occur in chapter two): the description of an intersexual muchacha that used to live next door to Anzaldua and the description of Anzaldua's own sexual non-normativity. In describing the intersexual individual--one who "for six months...was a woman...and...for the other six months she was a man" (41)--Anzaldua brings up the paradoxical historical position of non-normative individuals; she writes, "abnormality was the price a person had to pay for her or his inborn extraordinary gift" (41), suggesting that although abnormality was (and is) feared, it is also linked to a sort of magical power. Thus what on the surface seems a marker of difference that could be exploited for oppressive purposes becomes also a mark of superiority.
Anzaldua describes her own type of sexual non-normativity in similar terms of empowerment: "I made the choice to be queer" (41). She also explicitly compares herself to the intersexual muchacha, stating that "I, like other queer people, am two in one body, both male and female" (41). This comparison suggests that her non-normative sexuality--like that of intersexes--is not only a sign of difference but a sign of power. Her assertion that she chose to be queer is self-empowering, framing her sexuality in the terms of rebellion against an oppressive culture rather than a marker of difference and victimization. She uses her queerness to refuse oppression and claim a unique brand of power and identity for herself.
According to Godfrey, governesses shared this sexual ambiguity and alterity: "They were feminine and yet they were not feminine; they were sexual objects and gender subjects" (859). She also attributes to them a great deal of potential power in the shaping of Victorian social norms and individuals: "As keepers of middle-class children and thereby keepers of the future, governesses exhibited important influence and power upon the middle class" (857). The combination of this sexual ambiguity with a position of potential power made governesses figures of potential sexual subversion. This sexual subversion, though perhaps not intentional on the parts of the governesses, mirrors Anzaldua's own act of sexual subversion, her assertion that she is "both male and female." And as we can see from Nelly Wheeton's story in Ruth Brandon's Governess, some women made the choice--limited
and influenced by certain factors like a need for social interaction or
occupation--to become governesses, much like Anzaldua made the choice to be queer. In a sense, then, the subversive position of governesses in Victorian society deals in the same logic as that of the subversiveness of intersexual or queer individuals in Mexican and Chicano culture.
This is an interesting parallel, but I am not quite sure I agree with it 100%. Brandon contends that governesses have power over the children of the upper class, or children of the "norm." Does this mean that Anzaldua has power over the "norm" of heterosexuality if she is aligned with the potentially subversive position of governess? Also, there is the whole children factor-- Anzaldua does not speak of children and this seems to be Brandon's main subject of power. Or perhaps you are viewing the parallel as more separate than I am making it out to be-- Anzaldua is to sexuality and governesses are to economic station, with no interplay between the two realms? Or perhaps governesses do posses some sexual power over their oppressors as well, but Anzaldua does not break into the economic factor? I'm not sure how much sense I have made here, but that is not a new phenomenon. I suppose both groups must be considered potential agents of sexual subversions, but does the difference in how they gained this power (or in other words what puts them in the liminal space) make a difference in how this subversion is achieved?
ReplyDeleteAs Anzaldua points out, queer individuals have historically held positions of power--usually framed in supernatural terms--in certain cultures. Thus although an intersexual "witch" wouldn't have power over the children of the community from which she is excluded, she has direct power over the community itself, as individuals come to ask her for advice, magic spells, etc. I don't differentiate between economic and sexual power (or either of these brands of power and the mystical power of revered/feared intersexual figures) as they're really one in the same: both governesses and hermaphrodites (or other queer individuals) occupy spaces outside of the social sphere and have the ability to exert influence on it.
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