Clarification
24 04 2007Carmen, I’d like to apologize for any confusion I may have caused with my discussion of the Vagina Dentata theory. I have not been saying that I believe this theory, or that it’s psychologically/socially valid, just that it’s an interesting viewpoint to examine. I believe that it is very important to examine different perspectives, especially when I don’t necessarily agree with them. This is a psychoanalytical film theory, and not even a very widely supported one, as is plainly stated in Freeland’s essay. But this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t consider it. If we don’t think about it, how can we discredit it?
I was not in anyway attempting to undermine feminism, motherhood, or devalue life. Nor was I trying to degrade vaginas. I think vaginas are wonderful! In fact, I happen to have one.
There’s no confusion. This discussion is quickly digressing into base and pointless chatter about a topic that has been invented and blown up out of proportion. Bravo to you and yours.
I’m very sorry that you feel this way. Provoking “base and pointless chatter”, especially about worthless topics, is never my intention. As for it not being “culturally relevant or productive”, I think that any theory, no matter how ludicrous, is both culturally relevant AND productive, if only for the simple fact that someone took the time to think it up.
And yes, of COURSE this is a ridiculous theory. I’m not disputing that fact. We all know it’s ridiculous. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t worthwhile–or at least entertaining–to examine. I understand how this particular theory and our discussion of it could disgust you, but perhaps instead of arguing about whether this is “pointless” or not, we could discuss the ways in which the actual theory is flawed. I feel that this would be a much more productive–and academically oriented–use of time.
No one here invented this topic or the tradition. One of our theorists discussed a similar idea in her essay. The idea was essential to her argument, though she didn’t specifically mention the vagina dentata tradition (oddly, since it would have supported her point very well). In the context of our class work the idea is relevant and legitimate for discussion and analysis.
I highly doubt that Serena would be discussing this so extensively had it not been in our own group’s FTA essay (as it also happened to be in her *section* to present on). As she also has a penchant for cheesy horror shark films (among others) she saw a perfect place and time for presenting them, as they are relevant in the precise horror film/feminist reading of a film according to Freeland. There was no invention here, to anyone who actually believes Serena constructed this age-old theory. Sorry.