NEB Grade XII Compulsory English Note | Language Development | Unit 20 An Open Letter to Mary Daly

Unit 20

An Open Letter to Mary Daly

Simplified Version of the Letter

Dear Mary,

I am writing to you during this busy and difficult time. I hoped we could meet and talk in person, but that hasn't happened.

I hope you succeed in your fight against the unfair treatment at the University in Boston. I'm glad many women came to support you at the speak-out event. I hope this show of unity will help you grow stronger.

Thank you for sending me your book Gyn/Ecology. Much of it is important and thought-provoking. Like your earlier book Beyond God The Father, your ideas help and strengthen me. Because your past work has helped me so much, I am writing this letter to share my thoughts with you, just as you have shared yours with me.

I delayed writing this letter because it was hard for me to reach out. What I want to discuss is not easy or simple. Throughout history, white women have often failed to listen to Black women or keep talking with us. This pattern is long and discouraging. But if I assume you won't listen to me, I might be following an old, harmful pattern that we as women need to break.

I believe you care about all women. I believe you want a future where we can all succeed. I believe you are committed to hard work, even when it's painful. With this hope, I invite you to talk openly about some differences between us as a Black woman and a white woman.

My Response to Your Book

When I started reading Gyn/Ecology, I was excited by your vision. I agreed with what you said about myths and lies. Your words about the Goddess and how her image has been hidden matched what I found when I studied African myths and religions about ancient female power.

But I wondered: Why doesn't Mary write about Afrekete as an example? Why are all her goddess images white and Western European? Where were Afrekete, Yemanje, Oyo, and Mawulisa? Where were the warrior goddesses of Vodun, the Dahomeian Amazons, and the warrior-women of Dan? I thought maybe you had decided to focus only on Western European women.

Then I read the first three chapters of your second section. It was clear you were writing about non-European women, but only as victims who hurt each other. I began to feel hurt that my history was distorted by the absence of any images of my ancestors in power.

The Problem with Your Approach

Your discussion of African genital mutilation was important. Too little has been written about it. However, to suggest that all women suffer the same oppression simply because we are women misses something important. It ignores the many different tools of oppression. It ignores how these tools are sometimes used by women against each other without them realizing it.

To dismiss our Black ancestors may be to dismiss where European women learned to love. As an African-American woman in a white-dominated society, I'm used to having my experiences distorted and made less important. But it's very painful when this is done by a woman whose knowledge connects so much with my own.

When I speak of knowledge, I mean that deep, true understanding that feeds vision and makes wisdom accessible through language.

What you left out of Gyn/Ecology dismissed my heritage and the heritage of all other non-European women. It denied the real connections that exist between all of us.

Questions About Your Research

You clearly did a lot of work for this book. But so little has been written about non-white female power from a feminist perspective. To exclude this completely from your work denies the source of non-European female strength that feeds all our visions. This seems like a deliberate choice.

When I realized that the only quotes from Black women in your book were used to introduce your chapter on African genital mutilation, I had to question why you used them at all. I felt you had misused my words. You used them only to speak against myself as a woman of color. The words you quoted from me could have illustrated many other parts of Gyn/Ecology just as well.

So I must ask you, Mary: Do you really read the work of Black women? Did you actually read my words, or did you just look through them for quotes that would support ideas you already had? This is a real question.

The Larger Problem

To me, this feels like another example of white women taking the knowledge and work of women of color and putting it in a separate, limited box. You're still working only from a white, Western European perspective.

Even your words on page 49 of Gyn/Ecology - "The strength which self-centered women find in discovering our background is our own strength, which we give back to ourselves" - sound different when we remember the old traditions of power, strength, and care found in the bonds between African women. This strength is there for all women who are not afraid to discover their connection to themselves.

Have you read my work and the work of other Black women for what it could give you? Or did you search through it only to find words that would make your chapter on African genital mutilation seem legitimate to other Black women? If so, why not use our words to support other places where we connect? If you weren't trying to reach Black women, how did our words help make your point to white women?

The Impact of Exclusion

Mary, I ask you to be aware of how this helps the destructive forces of racism and separation between women. It assumes that the history and myths of white women are the only legitimate history and myths for all women to use for power and background. It suggests that nonwhite women and our histories are only worth noting as decorations or examples of female victims.

I ask you to be aware of how this dismissal affects the community of Black women and other women of color, and how it weakens your own words. This dismissal is not very different from the attitudes that make Black women targets for the murders happening even now in your own city. When society dismisses us, it encourages our killers. When feminist theory dismisses us, it encourages its own destruction.

This dismissal creates a real barrier to communication between us. This barrier makes it much easier to turn away from you completely than to try to understand the thinking behind your choices. Should the next step be war between us, or separation? Becoming part of a solely Western European history is not acceptable.

A Call for Recognition

Mary, I ask you to remember what is dark, ancient, and divine within yourself that helps your speaking. As outsiders, we need each other for support, connection, and all the other necessities of living on the margins. But to come together, we must recognize each other. Yet I feel that since you have so completely failed to recognize me, perhaps I have been wrong about you and no longer recognize you.

I feel you celebrate differences between white women as a creative force for change, rather than a reason for misunderstanding and separation. But you fail to recognize that, as women, those differences expose all women to various forms of oppression from male-dominated society. Some of these we share, and some we do not.

The Reality of Different Experiences

For instance, surely you know that for nonwhite women in this country, there is an 80 percent death rate from breast cancer. We have three times as many unnecessary operations and sterilizations as white women. We have three times as many chances of being raped, murdered, or assaulted as white women. These are facts, not coincidences or paranoid fantasies.

Within the community of women, racism is a real force in my life in a way it is not in yours. The white women wearing KKK hoods in Ohio handing out hate literature may not like what you have to say, but they will shoot me on sight. (If you and I walked into a classroom of women in rural Alabama, where all they knew about us was that we were both lesbian feminists, you would see exactly what I mean.)

The oppression of women exists across all ethnic and racial boundaries, true. But that doesn't mean it's the same within those differences. The sources of our ancient power also cross these boundaries. To deal with one without mentioning the other distorts both what we have in common and how we differ.

Even beyond sisterhood, racism still exists.

Breaking the Silence

We first met at a conference panel called "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action." This letter tries to break a silence I had imposed on myself shortly before that date. I had decided never again to speak to white women about racism. I felt it was wasted energy because of destructive guilt and defensiveness. I thought whatever I had to say might be better said by white women to each other. It would cost the speaker less emotionally and probably be heard better.

But I don't want to destroy you in my mind. I don't want to have to do that. So as a sister feminist, I ask you to respond to what I've said.

Whether or not you do, Mary, I thank you again for what I have learned from you. This letter is my way of paying you back.

In the hands of Afrekete,

Audre Lorde

Key Terms:

• Afrekete, Yemanje, Oyo, Mawulisa: African goddesses and spiritual figures

• Vodun: An African spiritual tradition

• Dahomeian Amazons: Legendary female warriors from the African kingdom of Dahomey

• MLA: Modern Language Association, an academic organization

• Gyn/Ecology: Mary Daly's feminist book

• Hag: A term Mary Daly used positively to describe wise women

Points to Remember

1. Lorde wanted to write to Daly earlier but couldn’t meet her.

2. She wishes Daly strength in her fight against unfair treatment at her university.

3. Lorde thanks Daly for her book, which was meaningful and helpful.

4. It was hard to write because white women often ignore Black women’s voices.

5. Lorde believes Daly wants a good future for women, so she speaks about differences.

6. She wonders why Daly did not include African goddesses in her book.

7. Daly mentioned non-European women only as victims, not as powerful figures.

8. Lorde feels hurt when her heritage and history are ignored.

9. Daly used Lorde’s words but only in a negative context.

10. Lorde questions if Daly truly reads Black women’s work.

11. Excluding Black women’s voices supports racism and weakens feminism.

12. Daly’s book has created distance, but Lorde does not want separation.

13. Daly values differences among white women but ignores those between white and Black women.

14. Black women suffer extra oppressions such as cancer deaths, sterilizations, and violence.

15. Racism affects Lorde’s life deeply, unlike Daly’s.

16. Oppression affects all women, but in different ways.

17. Lorde had promised not to speak about racism to white women again.

18. She breaks her silence to write honestly to Daly.

19. Lorde asks Daly to listen and respect her as a sister.

20. She thanks Daly for past learning and offers this letter as repayment.

Working with words

A. Find the words from the text for these meanings. The first letters have been given for you.

a. reluctance- unwillingness or disinclination to do something

b. represive- preventing the expression or awareness of thoughts or desires

c. mystification- the infliction of serious damage on something

d. ghettoized- restricted to an isolated or segregated place, group, or situation

e. herstory- history viewed from a female or specifically feminist perspective

f. genital- relating to the human or animal reproductive organs

g. hysterectomies- surgical operations to remove all or part of the uterus

h. paranoid- obsessively anxious, suspicious, or mistrustful

i. eventration- thrusting forward of abdominal organs through the abdominal wall

B. Complete the chart.

Verb	Noun	Adjective
committ	commitment	committed
nurture	nurturance	nurtured
legitimize	legitimization	legitimized
sterilize	sterilization	sterilized
oppress	oppression	oppressed
allude	allusion	alluded
defend	defense	defended
victimize	victimization	victimized

C. Consult a dictionary and define these terms.

racism- unfair treatment of people of a particular race in a society

lesbian- a gay woman

radical- very basic and important

feminist- a person who supports equal rights for women

patriarchy- a system of society in which the father or eldest male is head of the family

D. Underline the consonant clusters in the following sentences.

a. Fluffy went flip-flop all over the floor.

b. The whites sing a song about the striking stars.

c. Here are some flowers and a flask of tea of your favourite flavour.

d. Smita fell ill with flu.

e. My friend is frightened of frogs.

f. Thumbelina stumbled out of the green bush.

g. She heard a rumble and a cry.

h. ‘Climb up’, said Tom.

i. Freedom needs to be strived for.

j. Children were munching crunchy French fries.

Comprehension

Answer the following questions.

a. Why does Audre Lorde think that Mary got a sort of victory in the University of Boston?

Audre Lorde thought that Mary got a sort of victory in the University of Boston by successfully overcoming the repressive forces present within the university.

b. Why is Lorde thankful to Mary?

Lorde is thankful to Mary because Mary had Gyn/Ecology sent to her.

c. What impression has the writer had about the way white women looked upon black women?

The history of white The white women who are unable to hear Black women’s words, or to maintain dialogue with them, is long and discouraging.

d. Why did Mary not cast black women as goddesses in her book according to Lorde?

According to Lorde Mary did not cast black women as goddesses in her book because she thought Mary made a conscious decision to narrow her scope and to deal only with the ecology of western European women.

e. Why did Lorde think that she misused her words?

Lorde thought that she misused her words to testify against herself as a woman of color.

f. For Lorde, how were women, especially from the black community, undervalued?

For Lorde, women were, especially from the black community, undervalued with

g. How does Mary take white women as? Does Lorde agree with Mary’s view?

Mary take white women as as a creative force toward change. Lorde doesn't agree with Mary's view. She feels that Mary celebrates differences between white women as a creative force toward change, rather than a reason for misunderstanding and separation, and fails to recognize that, as women, those differences expose all women to various forms and degrees of patriarchal oppression.

h. What is Afrekete? How does it connect to this lesson?

Afrekete is an African goddess. She connects to the lesson because Lorde signs her letter "In the hands of Afrekete," showing pride in her African heritage that Mary's book ignored.

Critical thinking

a. "The oppression of women knows no ethnic or racial boundaries." Do you agree or not? Justify with your reasons.

In all ethnic groups or economic classes, women are always oppressed. Women consider they are free from any sort of oppression as they belong to the rich class or so called upper caste, but they fail to recognize the differences that expose all women to various forms and degrees of patriarchal oppression. Any kind of oppression that prevent them from being flourished in the society. For instance, the women who belong to poor class struggle against, or die of breast cancer; eventrations, hysterectomies and sterilizations, whereas the women who are rich or belong to the high class may be raped, murdered, or assaulted. It can be said that the oppression of women knows no ethnic nor racial boundaries.

b. Why is it important to question our beliefs and values? How are they set up in a person’s mind?

Many of the beliefs aren’t our own but are adopted from our groups or the result of other environmental influences. We take them on without thinking and often out of the fear of denial. Our beliefs define what is possible for us. They act as a lens through which we see, and relate to the world. They determine what is right or wrong, based on what we experienced in the past.

Questioning our beliefs is very important for the expansion of our field of possibilities. Until we question our beliefs they will determine our life mostly from the shadows. But the time when we shine light on them through questioning, we open a door to a change or new world.

Writing

A. Have you ever faced or witnessed cases of racial or sexual discrimination? Write a short account.

On 15 June 2021, Rupa Sunar, a Dalit media person went to the house of Saraswti Pradhan in Kathmandu’s Babar Mahal with two friends. They discussed and agreed on the terms and conditions of a rental agreement. House-owner Pradhan informed Sunar of the rules that she should not make a noise, should to be out late, and cooperate with her. At the end of the meeting, Pradhan asked Sunar about her caste. Upon learning of her ‘lower’ caste status, she said that she would convey her decision after she discussed with her family. The house owner called Sunar’s friend an hour later, and told that she could not rent the room to a ‘lower’ caste person.

B. Write an article for a national daily on "The Status of Women in Nepali Society."

The Status of Women in Nepali Society

By Sonam Lama

September

In Nepal, there are high levels of gender discrimination. Although our constitution provides for protection of women rights, the Government has not taken important action to implement its provisions.

The status of women in Nepal cannot be said to be good. Patriarchal practices, which determine the women's lives, are supported by the legal system. Women face valid discrimination, particularly in rural areas. Literacy rates are importantly lower than men's, and women work longer hours. Violence is still common, and there are not enough women in professions.

The women of all classes, castes and religious groups are oppressed. They do not have right to the property. They are not often involved in making policies and decisions of family as well as society.

Nowadays some empowerment programmes are being run to encourage the women. They are however incapable to participate into the public affairs due to the dominant ideology of culture being practiced. They are compelled to enjoy limited position in the public sphere. Men are believed to be the sole breadwinners of families; and women’s work is confined to the household.

The workload of Nepalese women is very huge. They work long hours every day. They are mainly engaged in agricultural works, carpet industries, and wage labour activities. Furthermore, They are compelled to work as prostitutes, and to be sold as commercial sex-workers.

To remedy the situation, women should be empowered by promoting their sense of self-worth, their ability to determine their own choices, and their right to influence social change for themselves and others.

The Status of Women in Nepali Society

By Suman Thapa

In recent years, Nepal has made important strides in promoting gender equality and empowering women. The country has adopted policies and programs that aim to increase their participation in decision-making processes, and improve their access to education, health care, and economic opportunities.

Despite these efforts, women in Nepal continue to face several challenges. Discrimination, violence, and evil cultural practices are still present in many parts of the country. The situation for women in the workplace is also challenging. They are underrepresented in formal employment and often work in low-paying jobs without job security or benefits. In addition, gender-based violence in the workplace, including sexual harassment, is common.

One area where progress has been made is in the political sphere. Women now hold important positions in parliament, government, and government offices. This has helped to increase women's voices in decision-making and to promote policies that benefit women.

In terms of education, the government has made significant investments to increase access for girls. The enrollment rate of girls in primary schools has increased, and efforts are underway to improve access to secondary and higher education. 

In conclusion, while Nepal has made significant progress in advancing gender equality and women's empowerment, there is still much work to be done. Eliminating discrimination and violence against women, increasing their access to education and economic opportunities, and promoting their full participation in decision-making processes are crucial steps towards a more equitable society for all.

Grammar

Adjective order

1. Determiner - a, an, the, some, his, her, etc.

2. Opinion- beautiful, comfortable, delicious stylish, etc.

3. Size- big, small, tall, short, little, tiny, medium-sized, gigantic, enormous, etc.

4. Shape- round, rectangular, circular, triangular, oval, spherical, conical, etc.

5. Age- young, new, old, antique, etc.

6. Colour- red, golden, etc.

7. Origin- Japanese, Nepalese, Indian, etc.

8. Material- wooden, woolen, leather, metal, plastic, silk, cotton, ceramic, etc.

9. Purpose- running shoes, sleeping bag

B. Choose the correct alternative.

a. an old foreign car/a foreign old car

an old foreign car

b. a beautiful white dress/ a white beautiful dress

a beautiful white dress

c. a nice tall young man/a tall nice young man

a nice tall young man

d. a big black wooden desk/ a black wooden big desk

a big black wooden desk

e. a delicious Italian pizza/ an Italian delicious pizza

a delicious Italian pizza

f. a huge brown bear/a brown huge bear

a huge brown bear

g. a purple cotton sleeping bag/ a cotton purple sleeping bag

a purple cotton sleeping bag

h. a beautiful old Indian village/an old beautiful Indian village

a beautiful old Indian village

i. a cute little kitten/ a little cute kitten

a cute little kitten

j. an expensive antique /an antique expensive table

an expensive antique table

C. Put the adjectives in the following sentences in the correct order.

a. I bought (red/ a /comfortable/new) scooter.

a comfortable new red

b. She reached home and sat on (relaxing/old/her/wooden) chair.

her old wooden relaxing

c. We ate (Chinese/delicious/some) food.

some delicious Chines food

d. I need (golden/delicious/some/round) apples.

some delicious round golden

e. We like to live in a (calm/unmediated/remote) place for some time.

a calm unmediated (specific) remote (origin)

f. She is wearing (silver/beautiful / a(n)/ old) ring.

a beautiful old silver ring

g. I am looking for (golden/stylish/a/Japanese) watch.

a stylish golden Japanese

h. She dropped (old/china/attractive/a(n)) cup and smashed it.

an attractive old China

i. He wants to marry (young/pretty/educated/a(n)/rustic) girl.

a pretty educated (specific) young rustic (origin)

j. We stayed in a (luxurious/five star/new) hotel in Dubai.

luxurious new five star

Additional Exercise

Put the adjectives into the right order. Don’t use any commas.

1) We saw (plastic / a / blue) bottle.

2) She wore (woollen / beautiful / a / long) scarf.

3) They bought (new / German / expensive / an) watch.

4) He drives (fast / little / a / red) car.

5) We stayed in (wooden / small / a / old) house.

6) She carried (black / leather / big / a) bag.

7) He lives in (modern / tall / a / white) building.

8) They gave me (woollen / warm / a / lovely) sweater.

9) He saw (African / wild / a / big) elephant.

10) She found (round / silver / a / small) coin.

11) We watched (old / Japanese / an / interesting) movie.

12) He wore (blue / cotton / a / nice) shirt.

13) They planted (green / tall / some / beautiful) trees.

14) She opened (old / wooden / the / heavy) door.

15) He read (famous / French / a / long) novel.

16) We saw (brown / young / a / friendly) dog.

17) She baked (delicious / small / some / chocolate) cakes.

18) He bought (expensive / black / an / Italian) bag.

19) They stayed in (lovely / old / little / a) cottage.

20) She wore (woollen / red / her / favourite) hat.