What Is Feminist? –The Dragon With Many Heads and The Dragon With Many Tails
I’ve been talking and thinking a lot lately about feminism and feminist actions. Most vividly, the topic came up around a play I wrote (Because I Am Your Queen). From the beginning, I wanted to create and foster a feminist project that empowered women both in its development and doing, as well as in its content.
In other words, I wanted a play that practiced what it preached, without preaching, of course (I hope)! What are feminist practices in the creation of a play? In its production? In its rehearsal process?
For that matter, what are feminist practices full stop? Canadians, for example, have been wrestling lately with the question of what constitutes a feminist government.
One might not think that a man from the 17thcentury would have much to say about feminism. Without intending to, Jean de La Fontaine once again provides a framework for our thinking with one of his fables.
An envoy from the Turkish Sultan, so the story goes, preferred the singular authority of his ruler to the widespread powers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where he was visiting.
A German said to him: Our Emperor has his dependents, each of whom are so powerful in their own right, that they could support a full army of their own.
