Visibility (Situational Irony)
In "Poetry Is Not a Luxury,” Lorde explains, “that visibility which makes us most vulnerable is that which is the source of our greatest strength.” Black women, she says, are mistreated and oppressed wherever they are made visible, and, because of others' racist attitudes, they are hyper-visible, drawing attention and emotional projections. At the same time, and perhaps contrary to expectations, visibility is necessary for survival, allowing the hyper-visible person to voice demands, ask for help, and create disruptions.
Eroticism and Pornography (Situational Irony)
Lorde argues in "Notes on the Erotic" that eroticism, though often confused with pornography, is in fact distinct from it. Ironically, these two concepts are not only distinct; they are polar opposites. Lorde argues that the erotic is an expression of feelings which arise in response to the sensory world. The pornographic, meanwhile, is an expression of "sensation without feeling," in which all feelings which arise in response to the sensory are repressed and discouraged. These two concepts exist in proximity to one another and both concern the sensual, causing people to think them synonymous, when in fact one is a direct denial of the other.
Capitalism and Socialism (Situational Irony)
Though Lorde describes herself as a socialist, in "Notes From a Trip to Russia," she suggests that socialism is by no means a cure-all for society's ills. In fact, she finds, Soviet socialism corrects many injustices but is often used to cloak other biases and bigotries. For instance, Lorde expresses concerns about the treatment of Jews in the Soviet Union, and finds that she is usually rebuffed when she inquires about it. Generally, she concludes that, under American capitalism, it is easier to change peoples' attitudes and prompt a reckoning with regards to the oppression of minorities. However, it is difficult to introduce meaningful structural change in a legal or political sense. Under Russian socialism, meanwhile, top-down structural solutions are abundant, and have a meaningful impact on the quality of people's lives, yet attitudes are entrenched. Ironically, the general belief that socialist policies offer a correction to inequality makes it harder to create change on an emotional level, whereas, in America, an emphasis on tone and attitude makes it harder to create structural changes.
Hypocrisy Within Oppressed Populations (Situational Irony)
Lorde does not shy away from pointing out the irony in the bigotry she sees from activists and others who are themselves oppressed in some regard. In essays like "Sexism: An American Disease in Blackface," she speaks bluntly about the presence of misogyny within Black communities. In "An Open Letter to Mary Daly," and "The Uses of Anger," she cites examples of racism within feminist circles. The deepest irony here, she argues, is not merely that those who perpetuate these bigotries repeat the mistakes of their oppressors. It is the fact that they undermine their own movements, excluding potential allies who bring diverse new ideas and experiences to the cause.
