I think that “master’s tools” quote gets misused a lot. I’m not sure Lorde meant “sparkle” and such when she said it. I think it’s important to keep in mind what she was talking about — the exclusion of women of color from feminist fora — when we discuss that quote.

Not meaning to put you on the spot there, Octo. Just — I think a lot of people neglect the context of that quote so they can say that women’s individual choices, like sparkle, involve collusion. When really, I can’t say I know if Lorde would have thought so (though she definitely had some negative things to say about pornography and pornographized sexuality, so maybe so)…

…but it does seem to me that she’d be rolling over in her grave to see people using a quote about how women’s differing backgrounds have been ignored in white feminisms to make the point that some women make bad choices.

You bring up some interesting issues. First, w/r/t those outside typical beauty standards. If there is a reclaiming going on, is that feminist more so than when those within typical beauty standards do it? I don’t know. On the one hand, it could send a message of power to other women. On the other, it’s using some traditional tools to do it. Hard to say.

Regarding WOC –

First, were you referring to “outside of societal beauty standards” as based on race, or based on body type? (I think many WOC are within societal beauty standards, even given the white-centrism of those standards, and many who are within the SBS’s are not excluded, as much, from Sparkle).

I love the mission statement of BGB. It works for burlesque, it would also work for a whole bunch of venues that don’t represent WOC well. So from that standpoint I can see how this is a feminist statement, as it naturally extends this idea to other venues beyond the sexuality/nudity which are all well and good but don’t go beyond the traditional female role. In any case, it certainly is a great self-actualizing statement. In a way, maybe a white woman cannot accurately say whether it’s a feminist statement in this context. I do feel strongly that a feminist statement must empower women to do more than feel good about our individual bodies, but must also empower us vis a vis men. But perhaps this does occur in such a context.

I loved the book “Naked.” And I understand the story about the girl’s mom’s makeup ritual. When I was a pre-teen and young teen social pariah (think Ally Sheedy in Breakfast Club), I adopted similar kinds of masks, and they worked pretty damn well.

In the essay “Playing the Vixen” by Margeaux Watson in “Naked,” Margeaux, who is an entertainment correspondent for Entertainment Weekly and also writes for O (Oprah’s Mag), Vibe, Rolling Stone and GQ, says that she finally took control of Sparkle (she describes her body as “a living, breathing, gorgeous instrument of power”) by “achieving professional and financial success.” She still gets unwanted comments, but now feels unintimidated by it.

Isn’t the answer, then, just to love people for who and what they are? If a woman doesn’t want to sparkle- great. She should be supported and accepted by her feminist peers. If a woman wants to sparle- that’s great, too. She should be supported and accepted by her feminist peers. Where I think there is valid room for criticism is when either camp tries to say the other is not “real”- not a real feminist, not a real woman- if they don’t do what that particular group advocates.

I wrote about this in the context of some specific posts at my place a while back.