6855: Re: 6929: Sexuality scholarship--McAlister comments (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

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