The Feminist Case Against Cross-dressing

[geoff]

Hello Jeremy

Here are some thoughts I had

The Feminist Case Against Cross-dressing

Scene 3

Hera enters. She wheels on a manikin draped in a baby blue baby-doll nightie.

Hera
Oh spite, be damned, witness this hatred, ...what "hatred" (i understand it could be something from the previous scene, but it feels of context, especially when the next line continues with "this sluttery..." to show a continuation of a feeling through repetition). I wasn't fond of the opening line because it felt tangential to the rest of the stanza and piece...
This sluttery and degradation of wanton
And flighty females to dress them thus. ...need "them"? or could it be replaced with "themselves"?
Is it not enough to endure the pain of birth?
Yet before, and after,
to be dressed in scantiness revealed ...I'm at odds on "revealed;" another participle could be used more accurately I feel
And break the pleasure of a wife’s
Rehealed virginity: for pleasure.
For shame! For double shame of giving
Twice the pleasure than a woman receives; ..like this and the previous line; well-expressed
And all the while risking the pain
Of children and the worry of nurture.

And these children,
When pulled from the body,
Are split into warriors for the state to slay ..."state" is an interesting word for the piece. it brings the issue to a larger societal and cultural level. It continues with the "patriarchy" described later on...
And subjects to be dressed thus, be tricked, ..."subject" instead of "subjects"?...
Be downcast and exploited of their maidenhood.
It is the curse of patriarchy:
Which word when sliced ...think another pronoun besides "which" could be more accurate...
Makes war of patriotism
And anarchy within the lives of women.

And just as the glories of the female form
Have increased allure, when draped sheer...small note on the tense; would just "increase" work better than "have increased"? Have the "glories of the female form" changed over time? while there is a critique on dress, such a change is not something the piece has really explored in my opinion
In disguise of the impurity: so
Aphrodite’s waters,
Masks the sin of pettier pleasure ...lots of repetition of "pleasure" in the piece
And call it love. I would as rather
My pearl were plucked,
That I might be senseless
To assault. Than I would dress thus. ..."then"

And this curse I lay,
may it carried by the dutiful wife: ...maybe passive--"may it be carried"
Since her life is without joy,
And her trust without reward,
For men take
The form of beasts at will
To double their double pleasure.
Let men be narrow in sensuality.
For if his licentious joys increase,
Even in the scruples weight,
The balance will o’er tip
And his need for woman will disappear.

I like the consistent wording used throughout and think the form is appropriate. I had some minor grammar questions and things, but enjoyed the read. Thanks for sharing

-geoff