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As I read Simone de Beauvoir's Introduction to The Second Sex, I couldn't help but be reminded of Kauffman's statement about how she thought feminism was about justice rather than happiness. I feel like I end up relating everything to that statement, but I think that the notion of transcending "othering" goes along with it quite well.

Susan Stryker talks about reclaiming words as a way of gaining power from one's otherness; yet de Beauvoir seems to be saying that one cannot really gain power unless one is no longer the other. She states that "those who are condemned to stagnation are often pronounced happy on the pretext that happiness consists in being at rest." To me, that statement provides some insight into Kauffman's statement (which, up until now, I have somewhat disagreed with). If women find happiness in a system that still subjugates them, will progress cease to be made? Is happiness the same thing as complicity (I suppose I never really thought of it that way)... as submitting to the way things are? I like EMaciolek's idea that reclaiming one's status as the other is a way to gain power and transcend otherness... but I'm still not sure what to think.

So when asked how "otherness" might be transcended, I honestly have no idea. In some ways, such as how Stryker talks about reclaiming words, it seems that "otherness"can become a source of power; yet de Beauvoir seems to think that "happiness" in the sense of accepting one's status isn't a means of transcendence at all.

... blah. I feel very confused by all of this right now.