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Spiritual Transformation & Non-Violent Feminist Practice, pt. 2

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Reflecting on spirituality vs. ethics, I was fascinated to realize I’d made one of the mistakes the author notes: considering non-violence as equivalent to passive resistance — as nothing more than yet another tactical tool to be used in accomplishing social justice. Instead, Fernandes refers extensively to Gandhi, noting his belief that non-violence is a…

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Spiritual Transformation & Non-Violent Feminist Practice, pt. 1

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This is a review of Leela Fernandes’  Transforming Feminist Practice: Non-Violence, Social Justice, & the Possibilities of a Spiritualized Feminism. The title of the book was the basis of an interesting personal challenge: as a friend put it to me, why apply women’s spirituality to feminism or issues of social justice? For that matter, why…

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The “Goddess Array” in Wolf’s Vagina: A New Biography, pt. 3

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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…

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The “Goddess Array” in Wolf’s Vagina: A New Biography, pt. 2

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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…

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The “Goddess Array” in Wolf’s Vagina: A New Biography, pt. 1

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  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…

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Are women now better than men? The Frailty Myth, pt. 3

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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…

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Are women now better than men? The Frailty Myth, pt. 2

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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) —…

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Are women now better than men? The Frailty Myth, pt. 1

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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…

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While Reading “Her Blue Body”

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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…