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I much preferred Allen's essay on interpretation far more than Kauffman's essay. While the latter raised some interesting but perhaps ultimately unusable (for lack of a better word) ideas and points, it just didn't seem like a theory that could work beyond its theoretical context. Allen's essay definitely struck a chord with me, and I think part of the reason why was the skillful way in which she showed how we really are a product of the societies we are raised in (ironically enough, the very same point Kauffman makes, but to different effect). Upon first reading of Allen's intentions to interpret the same Indian story from three different perspectives, I wan't expecting such vast differences to appear.

Something else that really struck me was Allen's contention that Western patriarchy has influenced and to some extent, disrupted the non-patriarchical society of the Indians, which is (or perhaps was) ruled by equality and that this occurred through the Westernizations of the Indian stories which are then passed back to the Indians themselves. The Westenized version of the story was an all-too-familiar one, as Allen showed that it definitely fell into a certain narrative, with a hero battling "evil" in order to win the hand of the beautiful princess stuck in a loveless marriage. The Indian version was so vastly different from this version, it was almost hard to believe they were the same story.

I think what I liked the most about Allen's essay, and also could most easily identify with, to a certain extent, (again, echoing the conerns of Kauffman) was her interpreting the story from first, the Indian point of view, then the modern feminist point of view, and then finally from an Indian-feminist point of view. It is a similar process I feel I subconsciously undergo when reading any type of story- but especially Western stories.

One issue underlying feminism and many other types of "ism" movements, etc. is that intersection between race/ethnic identity and gender or gender and sexuality, or religion and gender, etc., etc. I have always felt and believed that to be a feminist is something different than being a women of color who is a feminist. Personally, I have always felt that dealing with my own issues of race was enough on my plate without getting into the whole issue of feminism. As much as I would like to embrace feminism, I'm not sure I have "room" for it in my life right now. It's a juggling act and not a very fun one. That is not to discount the challenges feminists do face or to say that my struggles are more or less than anyone else's, but just that for me, it's almost too much to handle. I suppose that's why I was drawn to this class in the first place- to learn more about feminism and perhaps in better understanding it, be able to become more engaged with it.