|
|
THE INQUISITION AND THE COLONIZATION OF THE BODY
In order to reclaim our bodies and our communities we must follow the
basic principles of nature in which diversity ensures strength and resilience
in any system. Indigenous peoples recognized this basic diversity principle,
and had many ritual and healing practices which cultivated and preserved
diversity of the body, the voice, and the mind.
Yet, during the days of the inquisition and witch hunts in Europe, all
kinds of people who possessed valuable knowledge about the Earth, the
healing herbs, and the human body including dancers and actors, were decryed
to have the “devil” in them and were hunted down, tortured
and killed. Those of us of European descent carry the legacy of this violence
and repression in our bodies. Into our cellular memory was driven the
information that to be caught dancing was to be killed. We need to reteach
our bodies that it is okay and even critical for us to move again, reclaiming
our right to move freely and uninhibited by convention.
To this day, people who step away from the extremely narrow range of
culturally accepted movement and touch are considered “crazy”
and are ridiculed, rejected and even straitjacketed and drugged. I believe
this is one of the reasons why our culture is so obsessed with sex. When
we engage in sexual activity, we experience one of the only culturally-sanctioned
opportunities to move our bodies in ways that are expressive, instinctual,
experimental.
If people were free to move as they were inspired, and if the varieties
of publicly accepted touch were expanded beyond a handshake or slap on
the back, there would be fewer cases of STDs, fewer unwanted pregnancies,
fewer barroom brawls, and fewer advertisements using bikini-clad women
to sell lawnmowers. Given the limited options permissible for touch and
movement in modern culture, people can easily confuse violent, aggressive,
or sexual urges with the urge to move, or to be touched, held,
or hugged. Practices such as release-style movement and contact improvisation,
which involve partnering, are wonderful ways of reclaiming touch and movement
as our birthright.
top | table
of contents
ANTI-COPYRIGHT LICENSE
This license allows you to legally make copies of this document for non-commercial
use, as long as all copies are given away free of charge. all or part
of this document may be freely pirated and quoted. the author, however,
requests to be informed at  . |
|
