In the words of Swedish physician and writer Hans Rosling, “Human beings have a strong dramatic instinct toward binary thinking, a basic urge to divide things into two distinct groups, with nothing but an empty gap in between.” This concept of duality is a significant theme in Gloria Anzalua’s Borderlands/La Frontera. In fact, it is the core around which she constructs her narrative, and a tool she uses to address socially constructed binaries in her culture. Most notably, Anzaldua discusses the binary of man and woman, as well as light and dark, and the assumptions and limitations they each entail.
The binary of male and female is quite prominent throughout Anzaldua’s piece; it even seems to be a true driving force in the writer’s life. Essentially, she illustrates the power that men in her culture hold over women. Males establish the laws that govern society; women, on the other hand, are defined by and imbued to value their chastity, marital status, and compliance. Females live as inferiors, whether from a physical, sexual, or economic perspective. However, Anzaldua refuses to conform to these norms; in fact, she uses her gender and sexuality to challenge this inequity. She reveals that she has “made the choice to be queer”, a lesbian woman of color. As such, she has partaken in what she deems one of the ultimate cultural and religious taboos, for her community disdains premarital sexual behavior of any kind, let alone homoesexuality. Thus, she has faced rejection from both her nation and her race, but somehow, this has only spurred a sense of boundless belonging within her.
Another dichotomy prevalent in Borderlands/La Frontera is that of light and dark. Anzaldua first discusses this concept when she introduces the Indian goddess Coatlicue and similar deities. Initially, the powerful goddess is presented as “complete”, embodying aspects of seemingly ambivalent elements. However, according to Anzaldua, she has been split into different deities, either portraying attributes that men in power relate to darkness, such as sexuality and creativity, or those they deem light, primarily motherhood. Regardless, the writer continues to venerate Coatlicue, for she is a symbol of duality - a sort of social borderland. To Anzaldua, the goddess also seems to represent female power and defiance, not to mention a personal state of control and freedom: the “Coatlicue state”.
Strikingly, at times, Anzaldua herself falls victim to the binaries imposed by society. To begin with, she participates in the attribution of gender and pronouns to qualities and ideas, as well as the segregation of people on the basis of sexuality. For instance, she writes, “Only gay men have had the courage to expose themselves to the woman inside them and to challenge the current masculinity.” Here, she essentially propagates a straight/gay binary, and even goes on to describe colored homosexuals as having superior knowledge. However, it is important to note that Anzaldua’s aim is not to deny the existence of duality; she clearly recognizes it, but chooses not to allow it to define her and her life. It is comparable to the Tao principle of the yin/yang: opposites exist, but they are both necessary, intertwined, and above all, equal.
While Anzaldua describes the dichotomies that have had an influence on her life and her ancestors, duality exists in virtually every aspect of society, and religion is not an exception. Most people are familiar with the main different factions of Christianity, Catholicism and Orthodoxy, but many are unaware of the fact that Islam is also a divided faith. There are two main Muslim sects, the Sunnis and the Shia, and this schism is actually the root cause of a lot of conflict in the Middle East. Often, their disagreement is manifest in both politics and society, with each sect having even adopted a distinct color: blue for the Sunnis, and green for the Shia. In some areas of the Arab world, there is extensive social segregation between people of different sects, and this can even be observed amongst children. People can typically easily identify the faction to which others belong based on their names, how they pray, and the time at which they break their fasts during Ramadan. One would probably not ponder much upon such seemingly simple details, but for many, they can be life-defining.
Disregarding duality is not an easy feat; from that of male and female to light and dark, binaries are deeply embedded in language and culture, and Anzaldua seems to recognize that. Through Borderlands/La Frontera, however, she asserts a call for action, a desire to create a “cosmic race” and a “new mestiza consciousness.” Put simply, Anzaldua disdains the idea of limitations; even her book itself is both prose and poetry, both English and Spanish. Today, binaries continue to exist, but the fine line that separates them has undoubtedly begun to fade.
References
Anzaldúa Gloria. (2014). Borderlands/La Frontera (Fourth). Aunt Lute Books.
Rosling, H. (n.d.). Quote from "Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think". Goodreads. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9291648-human-beings-have-a-strong-dramatic-instinct-toward-binary-thinking