Addressing My Shadow Self

In the USA during the 1960′s legally a woman couldn’t:

Open a bank account or get a credit card without signed permission from her father or hr husband.

Serve on a jury - because it might inconvenience the family not to have the woman at home being her husband’s helpmate.

Obtain any form of birth control without her husband’s permission. You had to be married, and your hub and had to agree to postpone having children.

Get an Ivy League education. Ivy League schools were men’s colleges ntil the 70′s and 80′s. When they opened their doors to women it was agree that women went there for their MRS. Degee.

Experience equality in the workplace: Kennedy’s Commission on the Status of Women produced a report in 1963 that revealed, among other things, that women earned 59 cents for every dollar that men earned and were kept out of the more lucrative professional positions.

Keep her job if she was pregnant.Until the Pregnancy Discrimination Act in 1978, women were regularly fired from their workplace for being pregnant.

Refuse to have sex with her husband.The mid 70s saw most states recognize marital rape and in 1993 it became criminalized in all 50 states. Nevertheless, marital rape is still often treated differently to other forms of rape in some states even today.

Get a divorce with some degree of ease.Before the No Fault Divorce law in 1969, spouses had to show the faults of the other party, such as adultery, and could easily be overturned by recrimination.

Have a legal abortion in most states.The Roe v. Wade case in 1973 protected a woman’s right to abortion until viability.

Take legal action against workplace sexual harassment. According to The Week, the first time a court recognized office sexual harassment as grounds for legal action was in 1977.

Play college sports Title IX of the  Education Amendments of protects people from discrimination  based on sex in education programs or activities that receive Federal financial  assistance It was nt until this statute that colleges had teams for women’s sports

Apply for men’s Jobs   The EEOC rules that sex-segregated help wanted ads in newspapers are illegal.  This ruling is upheld in 1973 by the Supreme Court, opening the way for women to apply for higher-paying jobs hitherto open only to men.

This is why we need feminism - this is how we know that feminism works

Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 - April 12, 1975)

An American-born French dancer, Josephine Baker grew up in poverty. Between the ages of 8-10, she was out of school, helping to support her family, taking on jobs such as cleaning houses and babysitting for white families.

At age 16 she was touring with a dance troupe from Philadelphia. In 1923 she joined the chorus in a road company performing the musical comedy Shuffle Along and then moved to New York City, where she advanced steadily through the show Chocolate Dandies on Broadway and the floor show of the Plantation Club. In 1925 she performed in France at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, where she introduced her danse sauvage. She went on to become one of the most popular music hall entertainers in France. In 1936 she returned to the states, but despite being a major celebrity in Europe, was not accepted by American audiences, who referred to her as a “Negro Wench”. So she returned to Europe.

In the late 1930s, she became a French citizen, and performed in several films before WWII halted her career. During the German occupation in France, Josephine worked with the Red Cross and the resistance, passing along secrets she had heard from the Nazis to French Military officials, after performing for them. Passing along said secrets by writing with invisible ink on music papers.

In the 1950s and 60s, she returned to the US to help the fight against racism. She refused to perform for segregated audiences, which forced some club owners to integrate their clubs. She also began to adopt many children of different nationalities and races, calling them “The Rainbow Tribe”.

Josephine was an amazing woman, who worked hard and did so much for the world, and we love her here. 💜

Extra Trivia

Josephine was a bisexual who had an affair with Frida Kahlo, the two having met in 1939.

In 1963 she was one of the few women allowed to speak at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Her opposition against segregation and discrimination was recognized by the NAACP

Unusual for her time, she was a woman who never had to depend on a man for financial stability, and was more than willing to leave a bad relationship (her first marriage only lasting a matter of weeks)

What to do when you don’t feel or look beautiful? Every where around me is beautiful women and some days I look at myself and feel I don’t measure up :/

Cultivate yourself in ways that make the way you look the least interesting thing about you. Read and learn, develop hobbies, pour yourself into friendships and craft and experience. The more varied and creative and entertaining your life becomes, the less and less it matters the shapes your flesh and bone make.

Who cares if your forehead has a line or two when you fill your days exploring the landscape around you? Who cares if your stomach pooches when you've read a hundred fantasy novels that take you far away? Does the sharpness of your jaw matter when you're laughing so hard with women you love that your gut feels like it's going to split? Does your calf firmness mean anything to the vibrancy of your vegetable garden?

Then, when you don't feel beautiful, think of all the things about you that are. Your knowledge, your kindness, your place in your community.

On your deathbed, will you wish you'd spent more time on your appearance, or more time pursuing that which you love?

We celebrate David Bowie, Freddie Mercury and Prince for their gender-nonconforming amazingness as we should, but let us not forget

Annie Lennox

Grace Jones

Sinead O‘Connor

Dolores O‘Riordan

Patti Smith

Tracy Chapman

Please add if you like, i do not own the photos

"Why do we romanticize the dead? Why can't we be honest about them? Especially moms. They're the most romanticized of anyone.

Moms are saints, angels by merely existing. NO ONE could possibly understand what it's like to be a mom. Men will never understand. Women with no children will never understand. No one but moms know the hardship of motherhood, and we non-moms must heap nothing but praise upon moms because we lowly, pitiful non-moms are mere peasants compared to the goddesses we call mothers.

Jennette McCurdy, I'm Glad My Mom Died

This book is difficult to read, but it has so many gems like this one. Of course, there are people still saying that she shouldn't talk like this about her mother, as if the person who abused her in more ways than one is owed that level of grace in death. If her mother was still alive, she still wouldn't be free to talk about her experiences without judgement. Mothers are deified just for popping out a few kids, even if they turn out to be severely maladjusted. Jeanette has already made it clear that she doesn't intend on having kids in the near future, which many people seem to have an issue with. They think having kids means that she has healed from her trauma, which is a sinister mode of thought. Her refusing to do so already make her more sensible in my eyes compared to the women who will still have kids and wind up continuing that cycle of abuse, rather than healing from it and staying childfree.

And it's funny how mothers and fathers can come online and complain about their kids and even outright say that they hate them just for being born (TikTok is a breeding ground for these attention-seekers). However, when their kids call them out on how terrible they were as parents (or will even cut them off completely) they aren't given that same freedom to do so without the backlash of being "ungrateful".

And people are wondering why the number of parricide cases have been sky-rocketing lately...

Watching one of your own get humiliated, tortured, objectified and dehumanized is abuse and a threat. Every woman who’s been exposed to depictions of women being used, brutalized, raped and objectified has felt it on her skin, it was abuse to her, threat to her entire kind, and to her personally. She was being told, in that moment, what the world does to women, what it would do to her. The rest of her life is then just waiting for her to be forced into it, or doing it willingly in hope it wont be so brutal. This is what living on earth is for women. Watching our own being tortured and waiting for our turn.

This is what pornography is doing to us. It’s what media is doing to us. It’s what photoshopped, unnatural and objectified depictions of women are doing to us. It’s what objectifying via makeup is doing to us. Every image and video of women who are presented as something to be used and consumed, is abuse to womankind.

My gripe with this perceived "God" stated eloquently.

I always thought about how the goddesses and gods of greek myths did not shy away from their almost human nature, despite being divine. There wasn't any justification in their actions. There was only influences like love, defeat, death, etc. These stories even showed these gods being unjust to the people below them, and I don't feel like I'm being told that they are right. Also, notice how the stories of every other culture are considered "myths", but the more religious doctrines that center a male god are considered factual? How would they know when these words have been altered and misinterpreted purposefully for centuries?

What Are Women's Lands?

Reposted from The Women's Land Blog

Women's lands are privately-owned land that center women. The ethos of women's land can be simply summed up as women primarily focusing their energy towards each other. 

In general, men are not allowed on women's land. 

However, women's lands aren't about the absence of men. Rather, women's lands are about the presence of women, and what women can do to lift each other up when we choose to intentionally live together in community. 

History Of Women's Lands

The first women's land was started in the United States in the late 1960s. 

Over the next several decades, more and more women's lands were founded as intentional communities. Over the years, many disbanded, mainly due to internal conflict, lack of funding or the death of a key organizer. 

However, a small handful of the original women's lands are still in existence and currently operating, with women living on them. 

Where Are Women's Lands Located?

Most women's lands are located in rural areas in the United States. Many women's lands are set up so women who live there are surrounded by nature.  

In 2023, there are about 50 women's lands located around the United States. The sizes of these women's communities range from 2-20 women, depending on the particular women's land. Ages of women who live on the land range from 25-80 years old.  

There are also several women's lands located internationally, including in South America and Europe. 

How Do Women's Lands Make Money?

Some women's lands make money through a cottage-industry system, where women on the land specialize in producing some specific kind of craft or produce that they can reliably sell to support the costs of living on the land. 

Other women's lands support themselves by charging rent, usually at a lower-than-market-rate, to women who live on the land. 

Traditionally, most women who live on women's land have worked some kind of day job in nearby local towns. 

Today, with remote work widely available, there are lots of options for women who want to live on women's land to support themselves. It's become a lot easier to explore the possibility of renting for lower-than-market rate at a women's land near you. 

Women's Lands & Lesbians

Historically, women's land are lesbian-majority spaces. Most of the women who come to women's land to visit or live there are lesbians. 

Many of the women who live on women's lands are lesbians. Many of those lesbians are artists or writers, or both.   

However, most women's lands are not lesbian-exclusive. Most women's lands welcome straight and bisexual women as residents or visitors. 

What Is Living On Women's Land Like?

Living on a women's land typically means a lot of contact with nature, and a lot of community with other women.  You'll have your own space, but you won't be alone.  

You may find yourself skill-trading with other women: teaching them something you know, and learning something they know in return.

You may also find yourself bartering items, or giving and receiving gifts from other women on the land. 

It's common to have some sort of shared chore system to make sure all the work to upkeep the land gets done. Back in the '70s, this sometimes meant working 8-hour shifts nearly every day just to finish all the many chores of the land: chopping wood, carrying water, cooking meals and washing dishes. 

But these days, most women's lands no longer have regular communal meals, instead opting to host communal dinners only on holidays or a regular day of the week/month. Also, more infrastructure has led to significantly less chores. 

Rents on women's lands are usually significantly below-market-rate for two reasons: to enable women to come live on the land, and in exchange for help with the land chores. Today, most individual women who live on women's land spend less than 10 hours per week on land chores. 

If a woman is upkeeping a woman's land on her own, she's probably spending significantly more time than 10 hours per week doing land chores, and could probably use some help.   

Many women's lands also host regular or semi-regular events on the land for the women who live there. Other women in the local neighborhood may also be invited.    

A World Without Men

Most women's lands do not allow men, even as visitors.

Some women's lands allow a male service provider to visit the land on case of need, and often when a woman can't be found to do the same job. 

Some women's lands allow male relatives of women who live on the land to visit.  

Some women's lands allow the sons of women who live there to temporarily live on the land, often (but not always) until age 18.  

There are several women's lands that allow trans women and AFAB non-binary people to visit or live there. 

However, most women's lands are exclusive to biological women. 

Average Age Range On Women's Land

On any given women's land, ages of the women who live there tend to range between 25-80 years old. 

It's very common to go to women's land and meet older women who would be happy to teach you new skills, mentor you, give you advice, lend their wisdom or even just a listening ear. 

If you're a younger woman, you'll find no shortage of elders to learn from. You'll also find your skills very much appreciated, whether you are able to help lift heavy items or assist the older generation with your computer skills. 

If you are an older woman, you'll find many other older women living on women's lands, all helping each other out to the best of their ability in various stages of retirement. Common shared activities are doing puzzles, making art, writing workshops, drum circles, playing scrabble, playing cards, building bonfires, howling at the moon and taking care of animals on the land. 

How To Visit Women's Land

The first step to visiting a women's land is finding out whether or not you have a local women's land in your area. Some states, like Oregon and California, have more women's lands than others. 

The next step is getting vetted. Once you've figured out where the closest women's land is to you, you need to reach out to that women's land directly to indicate that you want to visit. If you don't have their contact info, or can't find it on the internet, you can email the author of this blog post to request information about women's lands near you. 

Each women's land has their own vetting process for new visitors. After all, this women's land isn't just a tourist spot. It's also the home of the women who live there. You will need to build trust with the women of the land before you can get an invite to their home. 

Getting vetted could be as simple as a phone call, or as in-depth as sitting down for a coffee in a nearby town. The woman vetting you may even reach out to a few women she knows to see if someone has heard of you and can vouch for your good intentions. 

If you have dreams of living on a women's land, it's a good idea to start off as a visitor. You'll need to get to know the women on the land and build some trust with the community before the woman who owns the land is ready to rent to you.  Focus on ways you can give back, like bringing a small gift (of food, vegan to be safe) or asking if there are any small chores you can help out with while you're visiting.  

Renting On Women's Land

Women's lands often have a series of rustic cabins or cottages that you can rent at below-market-rate. But what's living on a women's land like?

1. WI-FI: Many women's lands have limited or slow wifi. Some have no wifi, either because no one needed it or because not having wifi was an intentional lifestyle choice. If you want high-speed wifi, prepare  to step up and help your local women's land figure out how to install or upgrade their wifi.   

2. Water: While many women's lands have hot water, not all do. However, all women's lands have running water. At some women's lands, you may need to carry water to your dwelling. 

3. Plumbing: Almost all women's lands have plumbing or at least outhouses. Some have regular plumbing, while others have various eco-friendly solutions, like composting toilets.  

4. Kitchen: Each women's land is different. A women's land may have a communal kitchen, or kitchen facilities may be located inside each individual dwelling. 

5. Laundry: Some women's lands have shared washer/dryers. Others handwash and line-dry their clothing. 

6. Firepit: Many women's lands have shared firepits where women can sit around and talk. 

7. Electricity: Most women's lands have electricity. Some women's lands may have limited electricity, so you'll need to be mindful of how much power you're drawing. 

If there's one takeaway, know that most women's lands, to one extent or another, have limited amenities. 

If you move to a women's land, you'll be living rough and close to the land. 

But while you'll have your own space, you'll never be lacking in the company of other women, whether for a neighborly chat or a listening ear. 

Find Women's Land Near You

The location of women's lands are typically secret or underground. If you're a young person, or a young lesbian who wants to visit women's land, you may have trouble finding women's land near you. 

Because women's lands are so deep underground, finding them can entail some serious legwork. You may need to know the right woman to find out where your local women's land is, or even what the women's lands name is!  

To find women's land near you, visit the women's land map. Reach out directly to the women's land in your area, or in an area you'll be travelling to, for more info about how you can visit. Expect to undergo a vetting process that can be as quick as a phone call or as extensive as an in-person meetup.  

If you are a lesbian in the United States, or a woman of any sexual orientation who wants to learn more about women's lands near you, email findwomensland at gmail dot com to get information about women's lands in your local area. 

Apollo and Poseidon both tried to take Hestia's virginity, her one-in-herself intactness. Rather than succumbing to their desires, however, she swore an oath of eternal chastity. What Hestia resisted by rejecting Apollo and Poseidon is metaphorically significant, corresponding to the intellectual and emotional forces that can pull a woman away from her center.

Hestia represents the Self, an intuitively known spiritual center of a woman's personality that gives meaning to her life. This Hestian centeredness may be invalidated if she "gives in to Apollo." Apollo was God of the Sun, and Apollonian has become equated with logos, the intellectual life, the primacy of logic and reasoning. If Apollo persuades a woman to give up her Hestian virginity, she will subject her inner, intuitively felt experience to the scrutiny of scientific inquiry. What she feels but cannot express in words is thus invalidated; what she knows as an inner wise woman is thus discounted unless it is supported by hard evidence. When “male” scientific skepticism is allowed to penetrate spiritual experience and to demand "proof," the invasion invariably violates a woman's sense of intactness and meaning.

Alternately, if a Hestia woman is "carried away by Poseidon," she is being overwhelmed by the God of the Sea. Poseidon represents the danger of being flooded by oceanic feelings or by contents that well up from the unconscious. When this flood threatens her, she may dream that a huge wave is bearing down on her. In waking life, preoccupation with an emotional situation may keep her from feeling centered. If the turmoil leads to depression, Poseidon's watery influence can temporarily "put out the fire at the center of Hestia's hearth."

When threatened by either Apollo or Poseidon, a Hestia woman needs to seek her one-in-herselfness in solitude. In quiet tranquility, she can once again intuitively find her way back to center.

-Jean Shinoda Bolen, Goddesses in Everywoman