I apologize that, due to Wolf’s writing resonating powerfully for me, I’m falling back on massive quotes more than I would like to. In my defense I will note that I feel she writes with more clarifying passion than I do, and I want to share that in its purest and clearest form with my…
In my last posting on Vagina: A New Biography, I closed with the virulently damaging effects of rape — physically, sensually, and emotionally — for women. As the author notes, there have not yet been any books written to study if men can suffer similar ill effects from rape — though some data seems to…
In an instant, I realized that original sin did not, as the Judeo-Christian tradition has it, originate in human sexuality. Our species’ original sin was in deviating from our earliest tradition of reverence for the feminine and for female sexuality, and all that it represented for us. Our original sin lies in five thousand…
The horrible reality of domestic violence and rape isn’t new, of course — Freud originally reported the emotional trauma which ensues in girls and women who cannot prevent persistent sexual abuse or incest. Unfortunately the sheer number of abused women and children in this condition, throughout all levels of society — along with public outrage…
This double standard (as in asking less of girls so that they think that’s all they’re capable of) is bad for girls — but let’s be honest here: it’s bad for boys too. Some of the examples in the book — of abuse heaped on girls for being physically more capable than boys (91-92) —…
I was originally an anthropology major with a sociology minor. As a consequence of that training, I have read an awful lot of papers on how minorities are treated, and so I genuinely thought I understood what it meant to be a(n often feared or hated) minority. However — as I discovered when I read…
Checklist for the Day: roses chocolate card. Check. Success. Boyfriend brownie points Redeem for valuable prizes! Today only, double bonus value: Try dinner candles jewelry lingerie more Sweetly sincere silhouetted sparkles Smiling empty glittering chains All payment Money is love is sex. Reading of the inspiration: Vali Brother of demanding murdered Spring Solely bred…
Finished a book and two articles so far; two somewhat disturbing and one very encouraging. M. Shawn Copeland’s article “Body, Representation, and Black Religious Discourse” I found disturbing for several reasons. For a single example, she has actual, chilling quotes from women, or relatives of the women, who were violently sexually abused as slaves. Like…
After Patriarchy: Feminist Transformations of the World Religions, edited by Paula M. Cooey, William R. Eakin, & Jay B. McDaniel Conclusion In closing, this book interested me for a number of reasons — primarily that of why intelligent and educated women stay in religions which effectively exploit them. I say “intelligent and educated” because I…
After Patriarchy: Feminist Transformations of the World Religions, edited by Paula M. Cooey, William R. Eakin, & Jay B. McDaniel Judaism Continuing with the quick review of the articles contained within this provocatively titled book, we move to Judith Plaskow’s “Transforming the Nature of Community: Toward a Feminist People of Israel.” She argues that Jewishness…