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6855: Re: 6929: Sexuality scholarship--McAlister comments (fwd)
From: Moibibi@aol.com
Are our worlds so different, the one made for anthropologists who observe,
dissect and dissert on the sexual preferences of some Vodou followers and the
one of a Vodou practitioner who, by chance, has access to a computer while
living Vodou realities?
Thank you for opening my eyes to the existence of a great philosopher such as
Foucault but I can't resist to tell you that I do not find much in his
abundant writings that relates to MY society. He is a contemporary
philosopher who writes about a society that is not mine.
Many view my society as one resembling the one of medieval times in Europe,
rightfully or not. The fact is that at least half of my sisters and brothers
have never set foot in any school. Foucard speaks about a society that has
had time to evolve when we haven't evolved much in almost two centuries of
history. Sorry, but I do not see much similarity. If we had a chance to
develop, may be with the help of anthropologists, just like you, I might have
a different vision.
I can understand that you live and work in a faculty system that is very
demanding, that there are current ideas that have to be thought about.
However, I can't refrain from wondering why such a smart scholar like you
takes such stand as the one of an easy armchair anthropologist?
Do you really believe that developing such essays as Sex and Vodou will ever
help Vodou to be recognized as a bona-fide religion? Why isn't there any
anthropologist that would decide to research our rich oral tradition?
Herskovitz did it in Dahomey, didn't him? Our tradition is as rich as
difficult to penetrate and we do need people like YOU to research in order to
give a better name to Vodou.
I do resent a particular subject as sexuality in Vodou for the simple reason
that just 15 years ago, too many of my sisters and brothers in Vodou lost
their life. The idea, in 1986, was "to clean the country of everything which
diminished it". Vodou was the first thing to get rid off. If any hougan or
manbos happened to be homosexual that was a double reason to have them
killed. Some things are not easy to forget.
Well, Elizabeth, I have a lot of respect for you. A friend of mine told me to
buy your CD: Angels in The Mirrors, that I might like it. I did buy it for
the good reason that I saw that "a portion of the proceeds will be donated to
The Lambi Fund of Haiti". It made me very happy to realize that finally
someone was sharing her benefits with those who provided her the material to
work with.
You may choose the easy way; you may agree with those who find interesting to
publish on the internet the photo of "an homosexual in Vodou", I don't. You
are entitled to your opinions and we have the right to disagree.
(If you really don't want to look "snotty", just don't call me bèbè!)
Bébé PL