When I came to class on Tuesday after reading Spivak's essay, I was feeling
terribly daunted. I hadn't read any of the books she used to illustrate her
ideas (though I was pretty familiar with the plot of Frankenstein), and found it very difficult to get through
her writing and extract anything useful, if only because I didn't know what she
was trying to say most of the time. Our discussion & small group work in
class were helpful, but I still didn't take very strongly to Spivak's
ideas. I suppose, as I've said before on this forum and in class, feminism is
something that I feel involves a connection on a personal level as well as on an
academic/activist level... and I felt virtually no connection with her essay at
all.