#bsueng490 "KIlljoy? Just watch me. Bring it on....You too; you too. A fragile movement. Snappy.....We are willing to participate in a killjoy movement. We are that movement. Watch us roll." (267-268)

#bsueng490 The new otjize working exactly the same despite the new ingredients proves the power was within Binti the whole time just like the Meduse told her. She can still have her own culture even if it changes and I love that for her even if her family might not.

#bsueng490 "And true, unless one lives and loves in the trenches it is difficult to remember that the war against dehumanization is ceaseless." (291)

#bsueng490 "When I arrived in my room, the trance lifted from me without warning and I suddenly had no idea what to do next" (33) I think this concept is so interesting and I want to know more about this trance. I like Binti gets some guidance since she's mostly on her own especially from herself.

#bsueng490 Ok I’m glad to know I‘m not the only one not happy with the proposal. Sam never really won me over he seemed to kinda be always out of the loop.

#bsueng490 "What is interesting is how these men choose to navigate and access their privilege within the confines of a particular social role that limits, devalues, and often stigmatizes them as 'not-men.'" (127)

#bsueng490 I felt that the original setup and naivety of Frank and Cassie who were blinded by the unique situation was too convenient of course it wouldn’t be that simple of an understanding the economic crisis is just one factor

#bsueng490 I think the whiplash from Cassie being locked in to having to leave that headspace and deal with real world stuff is making it really hard for her to be consistent and her doubters are going to be able to take advantage.

#bsueng490 Cassie feels comfortable enough now she's found a sense of identity in Lexi's life maybe from being able to avoid the past in Lexi's present that can cover for her own life. Cassie feeling safe now with that rule and her not reporting is letting her slip into an easier way to live.

#bsueng490 Cassie might be leaning to far into the fantasy and starts to imagine herself in Lexi's life maybe because she doesn't feel fulfilled in her own.

"So long as she did not become a single mother reliant on welfare, she could gain access to sexual pleasures which in the past always the privilege of men." Of course women can only have the freedoms if they put extra work in to earn them. Men get them by default. Women can't be lazy. #bsueng490

I like the idea of her reclaiming and finding freedom through a means that would otherwise constrict her and hold her down in society. #bsueng490

"How can one tell the story of a rain that fell on him, when he is ignorant of where the rain started falling on him?" (211) This is interesting by the end since up until the end we barely heard from Ada once she started understanding from Leshi and taking control to return to Ala/Yshwa. #bsueng490

#bsueng490 I think it would've been more interesting if we heard more from Saint Vincent because he was fronting more but we still only heard from Asughara. I want to know if he felt fulfilled doing what he was doing in the body.

"...Bodies are maps of power and identity...A cyborg body is not innocent...it does not seek unitary identity. One is too few, and two is only one possibility." (353) connecting with Freshwater - Ada being a collection doesn't need to unify. She needs all of her parts/roles to be her. #bsueng490

pt. 2 The whole conversation of Ada not feeling like she fits either gender is interesting that it comes from the We narrators. I don't think Asughara would entertain that idea at all so she hasn't mentioned it. Also, Saint Vincent manifesting feels like both parts are represented. #bsueng490

"The Ada liked being seen as a boy. She felt like it fit, or at least tthe misfit of it fit, the wringness was right.... The Ada felt like a trickster, which felt right. She could move between boy and girl which was a freedom, for her and for us." (123) #bsueng490

#bsueng490 Asughara splitting from the assault trauma tracks with DID and the first personality splits. Also both her and Ada front at different times that is essential to DID. The marble place being so cold and clean is interesting since Asughara is the messy addition but Ada's mind is still hard.

#bsueng490 "...the 'act' or performance that one's body is, but also in the tacit conventions that structure the way the body is culturally perceived." (485) I think that's interesting that the body can still be a performance even under different cultural perceptions.

#bsueng490 I wonder if Saul hadn't chopped up the Python in the bathroom the gods wouldn't need vengeance.

#bsueng490 "Lib felt at once what she'd never really known until this moment: the body's claims were undeniable." (260) I wanted to use this quote for my discussion catalyst too but I had so many. I think this realization proves Lib had not really connected with her feminine after her marriage ended

#bsueng490 The two approaches discussed towards motherhood being either calculated but cold or with love I think totally relates to Lib’s struggle so far. She wants to remain cold and distant to Anna only being an observer but now she wants to cross the boundary that emotions are coming into play.

#bsueng490 This section really shook things up I don't know what to think! Of course something had to be going on in the family but it feels like everyone even Lib is unreliable. As we know more about her past she feels less connected to reality and seems to be slipping into a declining mental state

#bsueng490 I was thinking about Anna in relation to the anorexia discussions. I feel like she fits into some descriptions like she tries to help others over herself and I think her not eating is a form of rebellion. But I think she isn't trying to look more feminine but maybe the ideal holy woman.

#bsueng490 Anna finds her agency through her angel in the house image she looks young if she was older I don’t think she would be convincing. If women are the moral compasses then a girl must be the most pure and devout. Her youth gives her ability to abuse her body. What will she do when it fades?

#bsueng490 "the woman writer who perceives the implications of the house/body equation must unconciously realize that such a trope does not just 'place' her in a glass coffin, it transforms her into a version of the glass coffin herself." (119 Gilbert and Gubar)

#bsueng490 “the greatest discovery of all something even more profound than sex by which I mean mascara.” - The Mermaid and Her Daughter
Real asf actually but also valid because discovering the value of taking hold of your femininity and girlhood is such an important discovery.

#bsueng490 "No one calls his manservant a 'partner,' however ably he may serve his master's interests." (Gilman 71)

#bsueng490 The shapes in the wallpaper develop as the author builds resentment towards her situation and looking for some kind of escape in her prison with actual bars on the windows she envisions another woman who reflects her.

I think this is so comprehensive of the ideology that Milkman represents and the massive effect on society that he had even with just his presence. #367britlit