The master's tools

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Clitorises come in many forms. I read about women in a part of Africa, back in the day, when women couldn’t own land, have a bank account, a house, a garden. They also could not have a clitoris. If they had a clitoris, they could not get married, because no man would want them. So, if your mother didn’t excise your clitoris, she doomed you to no land, no bank account, no house, no garden, no man to feed you. Essential joys-choices are taken from us. Nowadays, our clitorises are ‘you have to be the secretary’, ‘you have to wear dresses’, ‘you have to wear high-heeled shoes’, ‘you have to give me a blowjob’. The currency changes appearance. The currency used to be clitorises, now it’s heels.

Audre Lorde says you can’t use the master’s tools, and I think some women can’t recognise the tools.


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Reference: Lorde, Audre. “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House.” 1984. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Ed. Berkeley, CA: Crossing Press. 110- 114. 2007. Print.

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