Hi Gerburg!
Hi!
Great to meet you again! We have a You Tube channel, and I would love you to become part
of it. You were one of the most important
teachers in my academic life, in feminist
theory as well as in sociology, and it is
a pity that you hardly were translated into English!
As you know, I started out as an actress,
and I was rather slow in finding my way into
academia. Also, my writing is somewhat complicated
and hard to translate…
I recall a conference in Austria where at
some point the simultaneous interpreter simply
gave up…
That was in Graz. The result was that Ian
Hacking, who was also there, claimed my talk
was the worst he ever heard. I don’t care.
In other words, yes, I could try some pieces
for your channel. What would you suggest?
One of our ongoing themes is the life of puppets.
Perhaps you want to start with your version
of Hail Mary?
Oh, you mean the “Blessed Wonder-Barbie”?
OK…
Barbie is the idol of endless reproduction.
By means of her “eternal youth,” she anticipates
on the last phase of the history of body modeling.
She is nice, hard, and shiny. Millions reach
out for her, as if she was genetic information
turned into a form that everyone can claim
for her- or himself, once the archaic debt
that the phenotype has on the genotype is
eventually paid. Barbie is the antibody per
se, in the face of which the double helix
turns into a rosary. Every nucleotide is a
prayer to her who prevents us from the horror
of the disintegration of the flesh.
And the prayer?
Here it comes.
O you, transsexual clone, who already do nothing
but mimic gender identity, as an imitation
without original. Bring us through your form,
through its norm, beyond gender difference,
beyond birth and death, towards the immortality
which becomes plastic in you. Blessed are
thee, for you are washable. Blessed are thee,
for you are sterile. Blessed are thee, for
you are immune. You are at the height of our
time. You perform the genotype as phenotype.
You are euphenic, O marvelous Barbie, pray
for us.”
Wonderful! Thank you! I am sure our audience
will appreciate it…
You are welcome. It was overdue to do something
against the white male mode of your channel.
Bye, bye.
