The consciousness of one's physical self had to be repressed because, socially, the female body was so visible, an ongoing provocation and incitement of specular curiosity and fascination. Shirley Geok-lin Lim More Quotes by Shirley Geok-lin Lim More Quotes From Shirley Geok-lin Lim Poetry must speak of others, in order to speak for the poet's imagination, in order to speak of itself; it is slowed down by poetics after its flight is over. Shirley Geok-lin Lim flight imagination order As I grew older - and even when I was younger - it had puzzled me why I continued and continue to be heterosexual. Shirley Geok-lin Lim puzzled grew As a first-generation "Asian American woman," for one thing, I knew there was no such thing as an "Asian American woman." Within this homogenizing labeling of an exotica, I knew there were entire racial/national/cultural/sexual-preferenced groups, many of whom find each other as alien as mainstream America apparently finds me. Shirley Geok-lin Lim justice america firsts If I could write a novel while I'm walking, I probably would. Shirley Geok-lin Lim novel walking writing Working women went through a time when they believed that. Shirley Geok-lin Lim working-women Writing a poem is unwriting a knot, like untying a shoelace that is clubbing your foot. Shirley Geok-lin Lim shoelaces feet writing Poetry has roots, but they are sometimes cut off and still poetry is written. Shirley Geok-lin Lim cutting roots sometimes [My muse] she's impatient with me, because I don't do what I should do: sit down and write. Shirley Geok-lin Lim muse down-and writing At a certain point, the struggles with teaching and mothering and so on and so forth, those decline, those lessen. Shirley Geok-lin Lim decline teaching struggle Heterosexuality - whichever gender you are - says that the other gender is very important to you. Shirley Geok-lin Lim gender heterosexuality important Agency over one's sexual self - and the articulation of that kind of agency - might seem transgressive to readers who don't expect it in a woman's text. Shirley Geok-lin Lim agency self might I'm in my 60s, and a cancer scare just makes you more aware of mortality. Shirley Geok-lin Lim mortality cancer scare People called me a tomboy. That was the term used then. I was very much someone who was comfortable in male clothing, and even later when I grew up, I was constantly wearing dungarees, wearing guy shirts. Shirley Geok-lin Lim males guy people Even today, I'm much more comfortable dressed in a male kind of way. Shirley Geok-lin Lim males today way "Stop Already" is a fairly new poem in a group that was just published by Feminist Studies, which is why I sent them to you. Shirley Geok-lin Lim groups feminist study I was not - even the notion of "could not" seems to suggest a moment of recognition, but it was such a repressed dimension - I was not able to NOT wear a shirt like my brothers could. My brothers would, in the heat, run around shirtless, and I wouldn't do that, obviously. Shirley Geok-lin Lim able brother running With so many brothers, I could always find a pair of shorts to borrow and run around in. Shirley Geok-lin Lim pairs brother running I also wanted to be like my brothers, physically, and yet not physically. So I would constantly - and I think nowadays it's taken for granted that this is what girlfriends do - I would constantly wear their shorts, put on their shirts. That did not seem odd because we were desperately poor for quite a while. It wasn't as if pretty little girlie things were available to me. Shirley Geok-lin Lim girlfriend taken brother Growing up in Asia in a particular time period - the '50s and '60s - I attended a Catholic missionary school where I was taught by nuns and where consciousness of the body was repressed. Yet at the same time, the female body was a highly visible and sensitive site. Shirley Geok-lin Lim growing-up catholic school As the only girl growing up for a long time with only boys, as you pointed out, it seems like I was always surrounded by guys. There was this sense in which my female body was a problem. Shirley Geok-lin Lim growing-up girl boys
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