October 19, 2016 - 03:14
hello friends,
our take on intersectionality was through the theme of a Hole. Our first passage was from Willa Mae (P.30-31):
"Everybody's got a Hole. Ain't nobody ever lived who don't got a Hole in them somewheres. When I say Hole you know what I'm talking about, dontcha? Soft spot, sweet spot, opening, blind spot, Itch, Gap, call it what you want but I call it a Hole. To get the best of a situation you gotta know a man's Hole. Everybody's got one, just don't everybody got one in the same place. Some got a Hole in they head. Now, you may think "Hole in the head" is just another way of saying stupid, but "Hole in the head" means more than that. It means that they got a lack and a craving for knowledge. Not just the lack, now, but the craving too. A man could have a Hole just about anywheres: in the head, in the wallet (which means he burns his money), in the pocket (which means he don't got no money to burn bt would like some), in the pocket (which means he dont got no money to burn but would like some), in the pants, in the guts, in the stomach, in the heart. You offer a person with a Hole in the head some knowledge and they gonna be in yr pocket cause you done gived him the opportunity to taste what he craves, but if a person's got a Hole in they heart and you offer them knowledge, you won't be able to sway them non. A hole-in-the-heart person craves company and kindness, not no book."
We felt as if this was the heart of intersectionality and in a lot of ways the heart of the novel. Willa Mae is recognizing a basic trait in all human beings... an opening. Something that is innate in everyone, that we all can see regardless of labels. She sees that it drives people and is a point of entry. This hole and sweet spot is what drives intersectionality because everyone can relate. And it's not just based off of how we identify, but off of a basic understanding and will to live.
With that said, the rep/rev of this would be when Billy gets her wedding dress. She understands that Mrs. Jackson knows how it feels to get excited to get married. She understands the feeling of wanting to look beautiful on that special day and the impact it has on. Therefore, she relying on what her mother, Willa Mae, would call a Hole. She's using Mrs. Jackson's sweet spot to get what she wants. However, the rev is that Billy is also exposing her own hole to get the dress. Even though she actively denies the love and connection to her mother, she relies on what her mother has taught her to fufill major milestones in her life... i.e. getting her wedding dress. To close, this is all to show intersectionality at work. Not neccesarily as a thing that find commonality in our identities, but also a force that finds commonalities in experience, emotion, and humanity.