Pleasure in Knowing, Pleasure in Looking: Viewing Images at the Intersection of Lorde and Davis

Angela Davis’ intentional focus on the widely critiqued subject matter of feminism during the latter half of her lecture at NYU Skirball, and our recent exploration of Audre Lorde’s essay, “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power,” have prompted me to think about my research in a different way. With the flooding of new ideas inspired by my classmates and many of the readings given to us this semester, I’ve been in a constant state of deliberation. Pleasure in knowing, pleasure in looking? Who’s gaze and what kind of gaze? Where does the power lie in these looking relations? Can we as black spectators challenge our notions of self-pleasure through visual images? Keeping the proverbial expression, “when you know better, do better,” in mind, I use my title to question a few key points that not only have greatly shifted my deliberation, but also affirmed my research interests in the uses of black feminism(s) in conjunction with black spectatorship and visual culture analysis.