Thank you. Comments like this genuinely encourage me to keep writing.
I’ve been trying to connect physiology, history, symbolism and women’s experience in a way that feels honest and coherent, so I’m really glad it you were into it.
I think what I'm doing is a kind of female revisionist reading of history — going back and re-examining mythology, religion and symbolism through women’s experience rather than inherited patriarchal narratives.
My favourite blog - and this came after working in a remote aboriginal community:
Please keep writing! I think we need more people who understand Christianity and what it is and has been done to women (and that we, women, have perpetuated). Especially in the modern age where we have a meaning crisis, religion is becoming passe, but we also have a resurgence of some people seeking their salvation and stability in religion. We need to be able to create and believe in new stories outside of the patriarchal narratives.
I was raised protestant, so we didn''t venerate Mary like Catholics do, and some people try to portray Catholicism as uniquely women-friendly as compared to Protestantism. I think this is misguided, because as you explain, Mary is *constrained*. She submits, she does as she is told, she has no teeth. I really appreciate your use of the word "ferocity". It's interesting how I've never heard a sermon venerating Jael smashing a tent leg through a man's head - it's always about how teenage Mary submitted to God's will and carried a baby without protest.
I'm going to be chewing on " They were asked to generate life while being denied the authority to defend it" for a bit. We admire the female mammals, like the female bears, who fiercely defend their young, but then we are repulsed when a human female shows aggression or anger.
Fucking brilliant. Thank you. This is the first article I've read of yours, I'm looking forward to exploring the archive!
Thank you. Comments like this genuinely encourage me to keep writing.
I’ve been trying to connect physiology, history, symbolism and women’s experience in a way that feels honest and coherent, so I’m really glad it you were into it.
I think what I'm doing is a kind of female revisionist reading of history — going back and re-examining mythology, religion and symbolism through women’s experience rather than inherited patriarchal narratives.
My favourite blog - and this came after working in a remote aboriginal community:
Please keep writing! I think we need more people who understand Christianity and what it is and has been done to women (and that we, women, have perpetuated). Especially in the modern age where we have a meaning crisis, religion is becoming passe, but we also have a resurgence of some people seeking their salvation and stability in religion. We need to be able to create and believe in new stories outside of the patriarchal narratives.
I was raised protestant, so we didn''t venerate Mary like Catholics do, and some people try to portray Catholicism as uniquely women-friendly as compared to Protestantism. I think this is misguided, because as you explain, Mary is *constrained*. She submits, she does as she is told, she has no teeth. I really appreciate your use of the word "ferocity". It's interesting how I've never heard a sermon venerating Jael smashing a tent leg through a man's head - it's always about how teenage Mary submitted to God's will and carried a baby without protest.
I'm going to be chewing on " They were asked to generate life while being denied the authority to defend it" for a bit. We admire the female mammals, like the female bears, who fiercely defend their young, but then we are repulsed when a human female shows aggression or anger.
https://preventivehealth.substack.com/p/the-indus-valley-seal-is-proof-that?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=5v5e3s