Walking in the [House Full of Punks]

Although De Certeau is difficult to follow in his intricately woven rhetoric, I think what I took out of his essay Walking in the City is that our systematic destruction of our own physical culture, something which shames us as a society, will lead to the downfall of said society. The shunning of myths, legends, and the misinterpretation of the importance of socially unifying things such as walking are mistakes which are being reinforced by the ability to hide one's eyes at all times behind mirrored windows and the complete avoidance of such vital interactions as window shopping and wandering through the streets of the city.

In a way, the Taqwacores are rejecting this modern mentality of stark avoidance of reality. Rather, they dive into social interactions, pushing their personalities on those around them, and loudly proclaiming their place in society. They are doing what de Certeau surely would approve of; they are following the more primitive instincts to culture and they don't walk with their eyes downcast, but rather with their mohawks upcast and their eyes in search of God. They are the reintroduction of feeling into a culture full of nonfeeling and avoidance of feeling. They are passionate and follow their instincts, like de Corteau's walker following the streets of Paris.