Monique Wittig

One Is Not Born a Woman

molly eliza edwards

“once one has acknowledged oppression, one needs to know and experience the fact that one can constitute oneself as a subject (as opposed to an object of oppression), that one can become someone in spite of oppression.” <br /><br />an interesting conversation on the political ideology of feminism and lesbianism within a heteronormative patriarchal society. some interesting points, however the direct comparison of lesbian feminists of in the same political, social and economic position as slaves is a clear false equivalence.

where wittig fails here is blatant racism (specifically antiblackness) and that, although it doesn’t diminish her other points, makes this a little uncomfortable to read, and hard to review.

wittig is right to say that there is a distinction between women as a class and woman as the myth in the cisheteronormative and patriarchal society. she is right to point out how lesbianism is the only way for women to ‘not be women’ – in the context which most society views women – “Lesbian is the only concept I know of which is beyond the categories of sex (woman and man), because the designated subject (lesbian) is not a woman, either economically, or politically, or ideologically.” 

her critique of marxism was interesting too; and i really enjoyed how she acknowledged the importance of being an ‘individual subject’ while still having class consciousness. and her acknowledgment of marxism (leninism too) failing to recognise women’s only oppression was refreshing to see, even though my views on class struggle in general often align with marx, engels and lenin: “For women, Marxism had two results. It prevented them from being aware that they are a class and therefore from constituting themselves as a class for a very long time, by leaving the relation "women/men" outside of the social order, by turning it into a natural relation (…)” 

where wittig fails here is blatant racism (specifically antiblackness) and that, although it doesn’t diminish her other points, makes this a little uncomfortable to read, and hard to review.

wittig is right to say that there is a distinction between women as a class and woman as the myth in the cisheteronormative and patriarchal society. she is right to point out how lesbianism is the only way for women to ‘not be women’ – in the context which most society views women – “Lesbian is the only concept I know of which is beyond the categories of sex (woman and man), because the designated subject (lesbian) is not a woman, either economically, or politically, or ideologically.” 

her critique of marxism was interesting too; and i really enjoyed how she acknowledged the importance of being an ‘individual subject’ while still having class consciousness. and her acknowledgment of marxism (leninism too) failing to recognise women’s only oppression was refreshing to see, even though my views on class struggle in general often align with marx, engels and lenin: “For women, Marxism had two results. It prevented them from being aware that they are a class and therefore from constituting themselves as a class for a very long time, by leaving the relation "women/men" outside of the social order, by turning it into a natural relation (…)” 

an interesting read, nonetheless.

One Is Not Born a Woman

Reviews