"The Two": How Lesbianism Challenges the Phallocentric Worldview

"The Two" an examination of a story from The Women of Brewster Place 

Women in our society are treated as objects with which to reaffirm the phallocentric male ego, so often that it’s hard to remember the deep vastness of women’s lives go beyond the men who define themselves by filling a hole that exists only in the intrigue of their own minds. Given the pervasiveness of the patriarchy, it’s rare to find even a single female character who isn’t defined in relation to the men in her life, much less a whole book filled with their stories, but that is exactly what Gloria Naylor gifts us with her debut novel The Women of Brewster Place. The stories of seven minority women defined by the healing bonds that form among them. I could and would happily discuss the ways in which the Lesbian Continuum defines each of these relationships, but in the interest of conciseness let’s focus our microscope upon Lorraine and her partner Theresa, the only ‘openly’ lesbian characters in the novel and the ways in which their relationship challenges the phallocentrism of the society in which the story is set.

Lorraine isn’t by any stretch of the imagination the ideal strong female character(™), who opposes masculine domination. Her life just isn’t about men. Since coming out and losing the support of her family in the process, her life has been geared toward her passions: being an educator and Theresa’s happiness. Unfortunately the two are at times at odds, due to the era (the 1970’s) she lives in and the conservative crusade, a witch-hunt against LGBT teachers in primary education, that began within it. She’s caught in the Epistemology of the closet, wanting to be out with Theresa (an advocate of unapologetically being who you are), but having to stay put behind the closet doors to avoid the social and financial ramifications of her orientation. She already lost a job to discrimination, once she simply can’t risk it again. Really that’s how they end up in Brewster. It was supposed to be a safe place to hide, from a disapproving society.

Clip of Lorraine and Theresa The Women of Brewster Place movie adaptation by Oprah

But even there in the outskirts, phallocentrism reigned in the image of one, C.C. Baker. A boy whose entire self worth rested between his legs.

"C.C. Baker was greatly disturbed by the thought of Lorraine. He knew of only one way to deal with women other than his mother. Before he had learned exactly how women gave birth, he knew how to please or punish or extract favors from them by the execution of what lay curled behind his fly. It was his lifeline to the part of his being that sheltered his self-respect. And the thought of any woman who lay beyond the length of its power was a threat."

"A threat" to the existing power structure, for how can a man assert his worth, his control over someone who doesn't fall prey to that which they have allowed to define their person-hood. I'd like to say that this quiet imbalance of C.C. Baker's world didn't have lasting ramifications on anyone beyond himself, but the system seeks to crush all those who defy it. Lorraine's life was not about men, but her society was a male dominated one. C.C. and his little crew hunted her down and raped her. She died from internal injuries. They had ripped her seam from seam, all to prove the power of their pathetic little penises.
          The world is an ugly place. The Patriarchy is ugly, it compresses men and women alike down to nothing more than their genitals and perpetuates a cycle of violence against women. That's why novels like The Women of Brewster Place and characters like Lorraine and Theresa matter so much, because they say we are more than a hole, we are people.