- Jan 2025
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shange-fall24.dhcbarnard.org shange-fall24.dhcbarnard.org
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My mouth murmured, filled with lip, tongue, moustache
From Shireen: The line is erotic, to the extreme, sexual, and goes against the Victorian ethos of sexual pleasure. The fact that Twanda has no qualms about enjoying physical intimacy erases the domination of her desires. This brief moment of indulgence ignores the cultural conventions of proper posture, of being a lady, and of a lady that she is. It revels in the carnal plenitude of the touch and her ownership of her body. In the way of demon tradition, putting Beverly's realistic advice in juxtaposition with her own indulgence, Twanda recognizes the notion of female orgasm as legitimate and self-autonomous, free from norms' definitions.
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I married myself today in front of the $6,000 opal next to the $4,000 aquamarine from Brazil
from Shireen: The luxurious stones mentioned here embody Twanda's worth and agency. She places her marriage under the category of valuable minerals, thereby denying society's expectations of validation through particular relationships, as important as such a commitment as a diamond is as an engagement ring. The careful choice of individual stones that have geographical connotations – opal and aquamarine – suggests that Twanda is a world thinker, and the show reflects her attempts to cross all logistic and pseudo borders. The act of marrying oneself becomes a way of taking back one's power and loving oneself in a society that continues to disempower Black women.
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we fight for love, por amor y la luna; for the future, y nuestra derecho; to know how to read; to have a pair of shoes; to watch our children grow,
from Shireen: Twanda's self-marriage is at once a parody and a fantasy of revolutionary desire. What "por amor y la luna" (for love and the moon) brings back to earth is this: the struggle for the barest humanity –education, food, to live– becomes epic. Finally, when Twanda declares that marriage is not an individual decision but a communal and political one, the gender inequalities are dealt with, too. The use of the phrase 'to’ twice is instructive as it opens the demands for relevance and immediacy. Here, marriage represents togetherness and endurance, and love is connected with a vision of justice and freedom for the generations to come.
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I had missed my engagement party cause I had impulsively accepted my hand in marriage without so much as calling my mother.
From Shireen: It combines comedy and critique of conventional gender and generational roles and expectations in marriage. Erasing the step of gaining familial approval, Twanda also lambastes engagements and weddings as mere shows. This explodes the lie of the selfie generation; this is the ultimate act of authenticity of self-love without the prompting of an Instagram likes button. In addition, there is no evidence of parental influence, which seems to enhance her independence, and she tries to make her own choices in life. In a funny yet profound way, this overture rewrote marriage not as a communal affair but as a personal endeavor.
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I am marrying myself under a new moon in East Texas: care-taker, provider, disciplinarian, the only alternative,
From Shireen: The necessity for empowering oneself is perfectly expressed on a deeper level; it accurately captures Twanda's self-marriage; she says, 'This is my wedding because I need to marry myself: More than Married.' By taking all the stereotypically male external partner roles herself, she underlines that women, especially Black women, have to be strong for everything and everyone all the time. The "new moon" would represent new change and transformation, and she is taking a new stand for the rejection of the so-called patriarchal norms. Through this ritual, Twanda changes the meaning of marriage – this is a union with herself – a statement that her worth, affection, and care flow from within her, making her both the subject and the object.
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