Email from abroad

"One thing struck me about your thesis and your bibliography (this is me don't forget) and that is how are you tying gender into all this? For instance - something struck me about the football game ( and the same thing hits me again and again when listening to the news, looking at captions under pictures and soon). You talk about the number of "people" in the stadium and the"fans".

I've put those words in inverted commas because I wonder what those collective nouns are hiding - where they "people" or were they men with a few women? Were they fans or again where they actually men who happened to be fans? If you think about the way collective nouns are used in reporting events, especially from societies where men predominate - they hide lots of things...."

This is the second time in two weeks this topic has come up re:my thesis. Its true, when I look at my bibliography, that I have defined everything from a masculine point of view, and thus made assumptions about the subjects of my discourse. The only female writer I can say had an impact on my thinking is Silvia Federici (Caliban and the Witch), but she didn't get a nod in the actual text.

It is clear that I need to take these issues into consideration. When looking over my main theoretical arguments, particularly in relation to discrimination, gender has a significant aspect to contribute. Hmm, that sounds like I am belittling it. No, what I mean is that I cannot exclude it from the discourse; I cannot pick and choose.

To my critics, I say Merci; this is an ongoing body of work and mental evolution for me, and you are contributing to its shape. Weiter so...

Further reflections on a changing society

Serbia, the Serbian man: such complex constructs of history, time, religion, porno, and handbags. Yes, male handbags, or as the Serbian man likes to call them, Pederuca. You will recognize in the first part of that word 'pede', which is French is slang for homosexual. Thus these handbags a basically fag bags. But these are not items worn by the gay community, rather, they are high fashion among the hetero community. Yet they retain the title of Pederuca within the mainstream; a sort of recognition of the homo-erotic nature of this highly chauvinist male culture.

Thus the Serbian man can recognize his fag-ness without having to confront his own repressed desire to try 'it', even if only once. But it also serves as a way for the men to try and dominate each other (as if that isn't homo erotic), by making fun of each others Pederuca. I can hear them now: "nice pederuca, what, are you a fa***t?" Its similar to how American baseball players like to slap each others asses, or how high school jocks do the "sack whack." Alternatively of course, one might conclude that this is in fact a sign of how secure the Serbian man is, in his sexuality. Maybe, but if he is, then why is he so afraid of Homosexuals?

Serbia is on many levels a very intolerant society, including towards differing ethnicity, skin color, gender, and sexual preference (unless you are two hot lesbians making out in public, then they love it).  I am no expert in these issues, but I remember reading somewhere that we (earthlings) have a tendency to strike out at things we don't know, or understand. In the modern era that has evolved into what we call discrimination (racism, sexism, nationalism, patriotism, etc). It's all still based on fear in any case. So if the Serbian man is so safe with the knowledge that he really only wants to be with women, then why the hate?

The 'Out' Serbian Gay community is very small as a result, and it is fairly intimidated by everyone else. As a result of my flatmate, A., being gay, I have met a lot of the gay community here in Belgrade, thus I have this insight. The hate that this community feels is the product of the mainstream ideology not being entirely sure of its own identity, seeing in the "alternative" lifestyle a challenger. For what ever reason (I blame religious indoctrination, and recommend Caliban and the Witch to anyone who disagrees) this paradigm exists, it is symbolic of an ideological struggle and, more significantly in my opinion, a shifting society. With Serbia becoming a more open place welcoming in a growing number of tourists, western rapprochement, and with a growing gay community, the ideology is necessarily changing also. Even though ideology has never been a stable thing, the majority always try and make it so, in an attempt to stay on top, and react with violence when it is challenged, clinging to symbols of their ideology (i.e. the Orthodox Church).

Don't believe me? Go down to the Church next to the small Roma pre-school for the Gazela kids, and ask the Clergy why they are building a wall on top of the wall. Surly they won't tell you it's because they can't stand the thought of Roma being given a chance. Or you could ask a Serbian man if his Pederuca doesn't make him feel...a bit gay.