Let me preface this by saying I know nothing. There isn’t enough research or statistical data out there to prove something as true, and I believe very little of it. The media is as biased as a soccer mom at her kid’s game, and print media is slowly selling its soul to the market.
And yet, in all this bullshit, an individual in the United States is called upon to make rational and educated decisions on everything from the strength of his federal government to how many toilet paper squares he should use in order to save the world. Causes are commodified, diseases are color-coded, as is our threat level, and it seems the only way to solve a major problem is by throwing money at it.
How is it, then, that an individual could possibly take a stance—on anything?
Hearing a lecture on either end of the Israeli-Palestinian debate is enough to make anyone want to move to another planet. Everyone attends with preconceived notions, savagely hunting for more quotes to use in an argument. Glances are exchanged, ethnicities gauged by the shape of the eyes, shade of the skin, length of the nose. Some are clearly on the offensive. Others immediately consider themselves victims. The stance is already taken; the position assumed.
Going to a poetry reading is no better. Omission of an egoistic “I” does not imply objectivity. On the contrary, the more impartial a poem appears to sound, the heavier its tone and subject matter. A simple description of the drip of a faucet oozes with sex or violence. One can be sure the poet’s mind is made up. This is his manifesto. And when a literary journal purports to be “feminist,” either in tone or content, one shouldn’t expect to find many tributes to Bukowski or popular rap icons. It couldn’t be open to such possibilities. It has taken a stance.
The very nature of affirming something excludes everything else, and how can we learn or grow as budding scholars, as citizens, as human beings really, with a partitioned comprehension, a denial of alternate or radical perspectives, erecting walls where doubt should be? Cynicism is not a bad thing. Doubt is even better. By establishing a thesis, do we not automatically mark the space for an existing antithesis?
I’m taking the stance to hold no stance at all.
What are my thoughts on poetry? I don’t know yet. Is Canadian money prettier? Hard to say. Do I think it’s a good idea to get a G-spot injection? Damned if I know. Could I possibly be a feminist and dance to rap songs? Who knows, but it sure does feel good. I’m actively allowing for the potential to change. I am open to it. I will embrace it. And if I’m in a position to teach kids something, I probably won’t slant the truth for the benefit of my beliefs, only because I don’t know what the truth is. There are simple philosophical questions that still don’t have answers. Socrates was right. Or maybe he wasn’t. It doesn’t matter.
The point is to accept anything, loosen yourself up a bit. One can get entirely too rigid staying in one pose all the time. The limbs get cramped. The skull gets stiff.
I suggest doing the Superman.
Marina Blitshteyn
Literary Editor
