Monday, April 09, 2012

The Dykes of Charity




I remember back in the 80's and early 90's being very unimpressed with the sisters of Mother Theresa's order, the Missionaries of Charity, for their taking up AIDS work. When gay men were rejecting the Church's assessment of their sexuality and asserting themselves, they were to be condemned. But when they were sick and dying, these little sari-clad women would come and take care of them. It felt like a case of moral oneupsnunship, preferring you when you are weak to when you are strong.



I just made a hitherto unmade connection between these nuns and the lesbians in the AIDS organizations I worked in back in Toronto. Most of them really disliked men. We were the agents of The Patriarchy. Gay men, being somewhat at odds with The Patriarchy on erotic grounds, were slightly less obnoxious to them. But only slightly. Yet they wound up taking care of gay guys with AIDS. The similarity between them and the nuns just passed through my head.


PS. While googling for fotos, I found this site. If you want to laugh and get dizzy at the same time, enjoy.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Women taking care of men. If they can't find a way to do it conventionally, they'll find a way to do it unconventionally. If they won't do it willingly, they'll do it voluntarily with a grudge.

It's almost like there's some biological need in women to nurture.

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