Lakshmi said that, according to French feminist theory, you couldn’t ignore the men, because their views on women were baked into culture at such a deep level. Just by using words, you were perpetuating their ideas, because they were the ones who had made up language. “So what are you supposed to do? Not use words?” “Well, they say that women have to make up their own language, and their own kind of writing, outside of the patriarchal hegemony.” I stared at her. “You’re joking.” “No, not at all. It’s called écriture féminine.”
