It is hopeful that the language of patriarchy, currently having its
last gasp at destroying the Earth, has been unmasked by the global
feminist movement, which has given everyone another sort of language. On
some intuitive level, we all know that the personal is political.
When men get their kicks from insulting female schoolchildren for
giving us the correct climate science, we understand that their own
women and children are not in safe hands. It is truly hopeful that more
people in the world know this than don’t know this.
Deborah Levy in
yesterday's Guardian
I hope Deborah Levy is right.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rosemarie.
ReplyDeleteAlso- her choice of words intrigue me here- "...we understand that THEIR OWN women and children are not in safe hands."
Isn't that language pretty dang patriarchal too?
You might like this Christmas poem by Kaitlin Hardy Shetler:
ReplyDeletesometimes I wonder
if Mary breastfed Jesus.
if she cried out when he bit her
or if she sobbed when he would not latch.
and sometimes I wonder
if this is all too vulgar
to ask in a church
full of men
without milk stains on their shirts
or coconut oil on their breasts
preaching from pulpits off limits to the Mother of God.
but then i think of feeding Jesus,
birthing Jesus,
the expulsion of blood
and smell of sweat,
the salt of a mother’s tears
onto the soft head of the Salt of the Earth,
feeling lonely
and tired
hungry
annoyed
overwhelmed
loving
and i think,
if the vulgarity of birth is not
honestly preached
by men who carry power but not burden,
who carry privilege but not labor,
who carry authority but not submission,
then it should not be preached at all.
because the real scandal of the Birth of God
lies in the cracked nipples of a
14 year old
and not in the sermons of ministers
who say women
are too delicate
to lead.
Amazing. Thank you for this.
DeleteI like this poem very much.
DeleteI hope it is truly a last gasp. I'm not convinced yet. I am waiting...
ReplyDeletewe can only hope. their women are brainwashed into thinking they benefit from the patriarchy but hope and resistance lie with their daughters.
ReplyDeleteNot all men, surely.
ReplyDeleteMay the feminist men bring more and more of their kin to see the patriarchy for it's terrorism and challenge each other to speak up against it.
ReplyDeleteall we can do is to continue to assert our power and our wisdom. I hope we will prevail, but, like Robin, I'm not entirely convinced.
ReplyDelete