6 Steps To A Great Woman's Life

1.  Accept nothing less than the best for and from yourself.
2.  Trust your gut.
3.  Allow others their opinion, but don't let their opinions of you make or break you.
4.  Do something on behalf of yourself every single day.
5.  Nice counts - so does standing up for what you believe in and for yourself and others.
6.  Raise hell, raise Cain, raise children, raise whatever you damn well want to - just LIFT UP something, somewhere in your life.

The Spirit Denied

I believe that the feminist movement is really about the spirit denied.  I believe that women have powerful spirits full of great strength, determination, and an inner knowledge that men don't have. We are the co-creators of life - yet we are the sole carrier of life.  We are the 'hands that rock the cradle of the nation', and for this reason, I believe men have taught each other to fear us. Many Native American tribes knew this and to this day it is the Clan Mothers who hold power in their societies. Many pagan and naturalist religions personified it in crude sculpture form - the big belly and breasts - the rounded hips - the ultimate sign of fertility and of life.

For that, women had to be cut down and controlled. The Church was deliberate in its march to undermine women and our strength. They were upheld in this because they controlled politics. This has followed us up through the centuries until it is almost genetically bred in us - to the detriment of BOTH sexes.

I have sympathy for men. Their path is not an easy one and is filled with expectations that are all but impossible to fill. But I am also filled with anger towards men, for as much as women continue to struggle to break the ties that bind us, they have NOT stepped forward as a sex to help - in a sense, reinforcing the bindings that keep us AND them locked into roles neither really wants.

When I think of people in my life, it has been the WOMEN who have been there to salute my triumphs and to comfort my despair. It has been the women who have given me the support and encouragment I so wanted from a man to show me, and for which I have not gotten from them. It has been women who have sustained me, lifted me, and encouraged me. In a sense I have been lucky.

As for women who have 'snapped' and have attacked the men in their lives...well, didn't a poet say something about dreams too long deferred...that they finally curl up and rot in the sun.

Ashamed of Women

Being sick enforces the old childhood luxery of being on the couch and watching television all day - something my normal schedule does not allow.  Cuddled up in my jammies and blanket with the Kleenex box close by, I watched TV until I couldn't stand it anymore.
Jeez - the images of women I saw had me in tears by the end of the day.  From all the commercials with the women STILL doing all the housework to women's reality TV shows that showed either Bayside bimbos or manical trailor trash screaming at each other.  OMG - what have we allowed the media to force down our throats? Why haven't we raised a cry about it?? Are we all asleep and don't care?
There is also an insidious trend I found with news journal programs from "Snapped" to "Dateline" (a version on W the women's channel), concentrating on women who kill.  There is this implied tone that you - yes, you women out there in the world - this could be you and we know it and you know. It is a terrible thing to kill your husband/lover/partner and we are watching you.
Yes - taking another's life is tragic...but after watching one of these whose husband openly cheated on her, brought home a STD, and mocked her in front of her children, I would kill the bastard, too.
What takes my breath away is that it is implied any relationship is better than nothing and if the man gets mad/beats/cheats/walks away, we should take it and sink mildly back.  Wait - flashback - didn't I protest with millions of other women back in the 70's re. this issue - NO MORE SILENCE. That a human being would callously plan a murder is one thing...but there is a lesson about personal boundaries and whose crossing them first.
I also found that, if I were an African - American woman, I would be pounding on the door of every media company's CEO, and be demanding to be heard. I kept dozing off during a show called "Bridezillas", but every time I'd come to, I'd seen a black woman being a bullying, mean, downright nasty attituded human being. I was wondering not only at their reasons for getting married, but where was the pride - their pride - in allowing themselves to be portrayed like this! I finally turned everything off.
When I'm feeling better - I'll be writing!  Moreover, if it was by husband and son watching spilled soda crawl towards the rug, and did nothing but debate how many sheets of paper towels it would take to clean it up, dinner and the rug cleaning would be ON THEM!

Dreams Denied

I remembered something yesterday - something I hadn't thought about in years.

I suddenly remembered my 5th grade classroom and we were having to get up and give impromtu speeches on anything that came to our minds. Naturally, me (the future theatre major) popped up and down several times (who says public speaking isn't fun?).

My last topic was on becoming the president. I distinctly remember saying, "I would like to be president. Wouldn't you?" My teacher gravely shook her head and said, "Oh,no, women can't be president."

I was wounded and hurt. My thought as I went back to my desk, "Why ever not?"  We had been studying the presidency - no where in the rules did it say anything about gender as a qualifying factor.

Seems today - most major European countries have had or have a woman leader.  The world hasn't gone to pieces. Yet, in the good 'ole US of A, the concept makes men shiver and, I suspect, wake up in a cold sweat during the night.

The US - the most advanced and with the most opportunity - yet still - still -

Among things that men seem to fear most is - us.

H.C. may have put 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling - it's only a matter of time.

Welcome to Crone's World - A Feminist View from the Front

My generation is from the 70's where women were still discovering how to be women and feminists were proud of that title. We marched and Took Back the Night, Our Bodies, Our Selves, and promoted Self Love over Free Love.  Those were heady days, days when one felt one could do anything - achieve our dream as women in our own right.

What the hell happened?

Somehow our generation ran smack into bringing up the 80's women who seemed content to ride our coat tails, and shuddered at the image of a feminist equating it with 'man-eater', dressed themselves in bows and lace, and then produced the 90's generation of women, who seem to take hard fought for rights for granted - blissfully unaware that these rights are being eroded even as I write this.

Say it ain't so!

It ain't.  There are still plenty of women working together for women's rights - not only here - but around the world. More women have achieved leadership positions in the US in business, finance, economics, and politics, education, the sciences and the arts. The children of our children's loins have had their balloon deflated and are beginning to see that, in the case of women's rights, the fight has to move forward. Unequality and our rights is still our - A WOMAN'S - fight.

Still I am being niggled at inside by annoyance as I see a general passive attitude still permeate like an annoying hot, wool shawl over us - from my generation to today's. The attitude that allows us look at today's political campaign and realize that, despite a woman having the popular vote, an unqualified man was chosen. Instead of being up in arms over this, women of all ages, genders, and enthnicities have caved in and are saying, "Well - at least he's a Democrat; we'd better fall in line and back him because he's better than a Republican."

I'm a life-long Democrat and I'm thinking - THIS is a reason???

Barack Obama has made no promises to our sex- our gender. The fact that he has been making nice with the Conservative Right lately beeps a big RED ALERT to me and to other women. He is NOT even considering a woman, any woman, seriously as a Vice-Presidential candidate! Look who he is hanging out on platforms with! Sorry, ladies, nary a woman in sight!

I say it is time to rally, girls, women, teens and crones. I think we should be promoting a Women's Party candidate. I think the time has come.