Thursday, September 07, 2006

Jane Caputi

I know Jane Caputi best as the collaborator with Mary Daly on Wickedary. I am an admirer of Mary Daly's work because of the breadth of it's vision and because in addition to having a radical analysis as a feminist and ecologist, she has a relationship to the Catholic Church via her training as a theologian and her former affiliation with Boston College. Daly has always fascinated me.

Today though I read an interesting squib about Jane Caputi. Someone emailed this to a list that I am on:

The Pornography of Everyday Life

A 33-minute film written by Jane Caputi

"Pornography" (sexualized domination and objectification of women and
others put in the role of women) is really a mainstream worldview, one
supporting not only sexism, but also racism, militarism and environmental
destruction. Pornography as such appears not only in overt, but also in
everyday forms like ads and other forms of pop culture. While pornographic
imagery is usually thought to be the opposite of religion, it actually is a
form of patriarchal religion and works by appropriating previously sacred
icons and images of women, sex, and the feminine principle and then
profaning and defaming them. To resist, visionary artists and thinkers
re-imagine female sexuality and/or the female divine, restoring respect to
the feminine principle, and calling for new understandings of sex, mystery,
connection, eroticism, and ecstasy.

A DVD is available for $25.00. That sum covers costs of duplication,
shipping and handling; part of each payment will be donated to the Feminist
Scholarship Fund, Boca Raton, Florida. If you are interested, please send a
check made out to Jane Caputi, LLC, to Prof. Jane Caputi, Women's Studies,
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431.

A google search revealed no more about the film, but it sounds quite interesting and like an outgrowth of some work that Caputi has done in her other books. Caputi's work is not adequately captured in her books, however; this syllabus provides more insight into her thinking and work as a feminist.

I would consider Caputi and Daly "deep ecologists" and "ecofeminists."

Now if only someone would buy this DVD and put it on YouTube. . . . .




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